Motorcycle Repair: Yamaha XT225 carb, vintage honda, xt225

Question
I have a 2003 XT225.  It sat all winter with fuel in the tank.  Not surprised when it wouldn't start, pulled the carb off, opened it up, and cleaned it (twice).  Ran it from a bladder with fuel/cleaner mixture (2:1) per the cleaner recommendations - started hard, ran with lots of smoke, but ran and even idled and powered up well.  

Once the bladder was finished, I let the bowl run dry.  Then I hooked up the tank, and nothing.  Wouldn't even start.  Bad gas?  It's the same gas I mixed with the cleaner.  I know the petcock flows fine as I filled the bladder from it.  

Thanks in advance for the tips.


All the best,
Nathan Straub

Answer
Nathan, not really an vintage Honda question, but I did look up the bike on bikebandit.com   http://www.religioustolerance.org/hom_caus1.htm

I see that the carb has an air cut valve diaphragm that you might want to check.

2:1 gas/carb cleaner is a really strong brew. Normally, the suggestion is that you mix the fuel/cleaner in that strength, let it sit for a few hours or overnight, then drain the mixture, refilling with pure gasoline.  You may have fouled the spark plug with the excessively strong fuel mix.

Make sure that the idle jet didn't plug up again with debris...

That's all MrHonda has for your Yamaha, at this time...

Bill Silver