Motorcycle Repair: Kawi EL250 Carb Problem, vacuum hoses, overflow conditions

Question
After bike sat for 6 mos. LBS cleaned carbs. Ran OK for 3 mos. I can start but off
choke will die. Removed carbs and cleaned with carb cleaner. No help. Removed
carbs again, jets and needles and cleaned again. After reassemble it is leaking
fuel through tubes from floatbowls. Do I need to get re-built kits? Are the floats
sticking?

Answer
Danny, you could have a couple of problems from what I can see on the PARTSFISH online service. Certainly, sticking float valves or sinking floats will cause fuel overflow conditions. While they are doing that the idle circuits are getting overloaded with fuel, so makes it hard to idle properly. As long as the idle jets are clear, then I suspeect that the some of your problem could be coming from the air cut (anti-backfire) valve diaphragm that is external to the carb bodies and connected with vacuum hoses. When those go bad, you get a big air leak at idle and everywhere else. You may need to get new float valve sets, if they seem hard or dented from years of use.

Bill Silver