Kick only, carbs do not seem to pull fuel???

smurph

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I have a 81 XS650 bobber, sporty tank with strait through petcock, Pamco, good voltage, stock BS34 cleaned and synced with vacuum gauges, uni foam pods, valves adjusted and timed correctly. Kick only, seems like when bike sits overnight it doesn't seem to pull fuel into the cylinders, plugs look dry. Crack the screws on the float bowls and fuel flows out.
If I get it started eventually, sometimes using a starting type fluid directly in spark plug holes or if I pull the caps off of vacuum plugs on carb boots and get it running seems to run good. Bike doesn't seem to want to run with the choke on, only if I have the throttle just cracked open till it warms up for a min. then I have to let it idle (idles very low as it warms up the idle picks up and idles and runs fine) then can kick start it on half a kick anytime after that. Even if I start it a few hours later it seems to start pretty easy. Any longer time (more than 5-6 hours) gets hard to start again.

Which way to go with the carbs?
Problem with choke circuit?
Timing again? Has kicked back a few times, though that was with starting fluid.
Anybody run a primer?
Just seems that if I wired a starter to it and was able to crank it over a few more revolutions than the kicker can do, it would fire right up.
 
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I'd say your choke jets may be plugged which means the chokes aren't functioning. The choke jet is off to the side in the float bowl near the bottom of a bored passageway. It's easily overlooked when cleaning the carbs and due to it's location, one of the 1st things to plug up if the bowls are dirty .....

ChokeJet.jpg


ChokeJet2.jpg
 
OK I will double check that again. Pretty sure I was able to spray carb cleaner through there and blew it out with compressed air. Won't hurt to try.
 
Visually inspect it as above to make sure it's clear. Another thing with this type of "choke" - it's really not a choke in the true sense, it doesn't block off air flow. It's a separate enriching circuit. Don't apply any throttle while using it until the engine catches, then roll the throttle open a bit.
 
Pulled the carbs again and did the light test, saw light in the bottoms, but I proceeded to clean them with carb cleaner and compressed air again. I also cleaned the jets and all the passageways as well with the carb cleaner and compressed air. Double checked float height, diaphragms, everything was good. Installed again, kicked a few times with the switch off, few more times with it on and she fired right up! So far, so good.

5twins thanks for the tips, it is much appreciated!
 
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