Carby choke cable

wrightmor

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Just started riding bike again after 3 year storage. Had to replace throttle. Bike runs really great. Nice smooth ride. Pulls hills well. Speed OK. My question is this. To have the aforementioned ride, I have to have the choke cable fully engaged. When I stop I have to disengage choke to keep engine running. Something tells me that in spite of smooth ride, I shouldn't have to be using choke this way. My guess is I need to adjust gas/air mixture on carb. But bike is riding so good, I didn't want to touch anything til I heard something from you guys. Will it hurt to keep using it as it is? Sure don't want to mess up my engine. In case you haven't guessed, I'm really not much of mechanic, but am learning a lot just playing with bike and reading these forums. I did do search prior to posting this. Didn't see any similar questions. Forgive me if I missed it.
 
Just started riding bike again after 3 year storage. Had to replace throttle. Bike runs really great. Nice smooth ride. Pulls hills well. Speed OK. My question is this. To have the aforementioned ride, I have to have the choke cable fully engaged. When I stop I have to disengage choke to keep engine running. Something tells me that in spite of smooth ride, I shouldn't have to be using choke this way. My guess is I need to adjust gas/air mixture on carb. But bike is riding so good, I didn't want to touch anything til I heard something from you guys. Will it hurt to keep using it as it is? Sure don't want to mess up my engine. In case you haven't guessed, I'm really not much of mechanic, but am learning a lot just playing with bike and reading these forums. I did do search prior to posting this. Didn't see any similar questions. Forgive me if I missed it.

Methinks you have an air leak at the mainifold. Probably you dont have the rubber o-ring in the carb where the mainfold goes in and or dont have any high temp silicone sealant on the surfaces. It could be the manifold to cylinder suface, but just tightening it should be okay if there is a gasket in there.
No, you shouldn't be using the choke to drive with. It has an airleak. No matter how lean you got that stock carb tuned, it cant be that lean from the lean-rich needle setting. That more or less controls the ratio at idle range. Even a miserably lean (small hole) jet from the factory couldn't make it so lean that you can't drive without the choke....
 
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carb is almost level. Keep in mind, I had almost a year of good riiding (no choke) before my move here. You may be on to something with air leak. Sorry, just don't know what manifold is... embarrassing. but i can slip my whole carb off the motor with just a twist and a slight pull. I can twist carb at anytime. bolt holding carb on can hardly be tightned anymore. Maybe couple of washers would help? have no rubber O ring, but a hard plastic looking ring around the throat of carb. Can I paint this with permatex and solve anything?
 
did you drain the carb 3 years ago before putting it into storage?

me thinks a tear down, soak in some nasty stuff overnight, and a thorough removal of all gum deposits from the jet would cure it...

permatex/silicon the carb on, fo sure! they gotta be tight!

otherwise...what engine? it has a choke cable...unusual around here...

check plug condition.

research what a manifold is.
 
My bike motor is Gruber Skyhawk with 66cc. Not been able to work on it much this week. Speaking of storage, not totally accurate. I have tried to make it perform during the summer months, but that entailed riding with screwdriver in my pocket to adjust carb idle screw and mixture screw. Neither adjustment seemed to make difference. I pushed bike almost as much as I rode it. When I replaced the throttle, it runs like new with the choke cable engaged. Not enjoyed bike like this since right after I did the install. I want to attach pics of the choke cable and carb. Chokeswitch on handlebar actually has the word 'shift' on it making me think, maybe OK to ride as is. But I plan to do check for those air leaks as soon as weather let's up here. Thanks for all the great inputs.
 
If the carb is loose enough to just wiggle it off, then it's WAY TOO LOOSE, And you for sure have an air leak. the intake manifold is the thing yer carb fits on. this has to be tight and pushed all the way up, sometimes you ca get bt without a O-ring, But it's not recommended. The EASY way to check for an air leak is to carefully drizzle water on both intake connections while the bike is running. if there's a leak the engine will slow or stall. It's a cheap, easy, FREE test. I've been doing it this way for years. Some will say to use WD 40 or some other chemical, BUT, WATER IS FREE, Do this test AFTER you think you have it sealed.
I would NEVER pay this much for one, but Heres what it looks like
http://www.ebay.com/itm/INTAKE-MANI...ies&hash=item20d5b286e0&vxp=mtr#ht_492wt_1168
And then the O-ring

http://www.ebay.com/itm/E-Z-SEAL-O-...ccessories&hash=item19e0c89bea#ht_11218wt_930
 
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There is in the 'throat' of carb that slides over the intake manifold a filler type material that takes up gap between carb and neck of manifold. It looks to be cylinder type filler about half inch long and is tight in carb. I will have to get my O ring or washer past this in order to seat it in place in carb. May be able to fold O ring and push it thru to desired location. Haven't seen the washer (if I decide to go that option). But it prob will not be as flexible. Can this little filler (someone may want to give me right name of this item) be removed and reinstalled with no damage? It is tight. How do I get it out without messing it up. Cud I push the O ring thru without even disturbing this thing that I am calling the filler?
 
There is in the 'throat' of carb that slides over the intake manifold a filler type material that takes up gap between carb and neck of manifold. It looks to be cylinder type filler about half inch long and is tight in carb. I will have to get my O ring or washer past this in order to seat it in place in carb. May be able to fold O ring and push it thru to desired location. Haven't seen the washer (if I decide to go that option). But it prob will not be as flexible. Can this little filler (someone may want to give me right name of this item) be removed and reinstalled with no damage? It is tight. How do I get it out without messing it up. Cud I push the O ring thru without even disturbing this thing that I am calling the filler?

I think you have a "sleeve" inside of the carb throat. It fit's onto the manifold tube end. I just pushed the little rubber o-ring in there. The rubber 0-ring should be 19 mm wide, which is the same width as your manifold tube end. So you shouldn't really have to fold it. Its okay to bend a rubber o ring though. Use some high temperature silicone gasket sealant too. Tighten it up, almost all the way, but not all the way. Wait a day for it to dry and then finish tightening it.
 
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