Motorcycle Repair: wont start, honda z50, bill silver

Question
Hi i have a 1981 honda z50 that won't start check for spark and its getting just cleaned the carb put fresh gas in push start and all it does is pops a couple of times and backfires have any answers. thanks

Answer
Mike, has the bike been sitting for a long time? If so, any old gas in the carb probably plugged up the idle jet.

I went to the online PARTS FISH site and see that the idle jet is probably pressed into the carb body, so cleaning it will require a small wire and a little carb cleaner to clear the passage. You can take a strand out of an old wire brush and poke it in there to clear the gunk. If there are old gasoline resides in the bowl, remove the carb and clean it thoroughly.

Note that there is a petcock screen up inside the fuel tank that should be checked for blockages. The whole fuel system must be CLEAN to have good operation.

Other thing to check is the ignition system on that model still has points and condenser. Point contacts have to be clean and the gap has to be set so they just open at the F mark alignment on the flywheel.

If carb is clean and timing appears to be correct, the condenser could have failed. That causes an erratic spark and excessive wear on the point faces.

Bill Silver