Motorcycle Repair: 1981 yamaha 250 exciter, gas tank repair, pet cock

Question
QUESTION: I have been fixing this bike for about a month now. gas tank repair and carb. has been socked in the most expensive cleaner. new gaskets, pet cock kit and the carb. parts are new. must be getting there, the bike would only run on full choke, but now can get it on half. still can't figure out why it stalls when the choke is pushed in. any suggestions???

ANSWER: Jodie, I'm a Honda mechanic but the problem you are describing is a dirty carb that's making the engine run too lean.  I've never had any luck cleaning carbs by running carb cleaner through them.  I've heard folks say they did but it's never worked for me.  I'd recommend you take the carb apart and clean it good.

Regards
Rich

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: It's been taking apart and cleaned well. It was soaked in the cleaning solution for 2 days. Should I invest the money and have it acid soaked at the dealer? Don't know what else to do, don't believe there is any carb. adjustments, only the throttle adjust. Thanx

Answer
A lot of times soaking them won't be enough.  Remove the jets and look through them. You should be able to see if they are clean because you will see light through the small hole in the jet.  If they aren't clean you can take some stranded copper wire and run one of the strands through the jets to clean them out. Once you get them clean, it will run fine.

Regards
Rich