Interesting find in carb

[shakey0818]

A week or two ago i was riding down the beach and went through 2 small streams about 1.5ft deep.The bike stalled and i haven't been able to start it sense.It doesn't even sound like it wants to start and the headlight is dimmer than usual.At least i think it is.I disconnect all the electrical and inspect.Found nothing frayed and all the connections were dry.I then take the plug out and it is dry and charcoal/black in color.I didn't know the gap size so i didn't gap it.This may be why it isn't starting.Maybe not.I then take the carb out and almost take it completely apart.It is spotless.I couldn't get some of the brass pieces out.You can see in a few picts that they are starting to strip.Not sure what they are for anyway.Here's the interesting part.I look in the corner of the bowl to find this small hole.It doesn't go all the way through to the outside it just goes through that part of the carb.I doubt that would cause it not to start.I can't figure what caused this.I was thinking of using some JB Weld to plug the hole.It's mind boggling why i can't get this dam thing running.After many struggles with this bike and trying to learn it has been running like a dream for the last few months.I am taking the winter off so i really can't afford to take it to the shop.

If anyone could give me a few pointers or tell me how the hell the hole got there i would greatly appreciate it.

Thanks,Rob

 

[flyandride]

Sounds like you really need a service manual.  Those brass pieces are the jets, very important parts.  If the carb is that corroded you should replace all of them.  The hole in the float bowl is probably from corrosion.  I've seen that before and have repaired using JB weld.  Take apart the whole carb and soak everything in Pine Sol.  But don't take it apart where you get to torx screws.  You can use carb cleaner but not on rubber parts.  Sounds like from the description of the plug that it's running rich.  A jetting kit would help, JD is probably the most popular and best.  It would give you a chart with elevation and bike mods and recommend which jets to use.  

[FORMA MOTO]

No excuse for that level of neglect.

[shakey0818]

No excuse for that level of neglect.

What neglect would that be?I clean the carb,plug and inspect the filter after every ride.The bikes got less than 1,000 miles on it.

[Micfasto]

Your bike is destroyed by the salt water at the beach and lack of care after riding it near salt water. I would guess all your bearing and pivots are junked as well. Salt water kills mechanical things. If your carburetor looks like that I can not imagine what the rest of the bike looks like.

[FORMA MOTO]

I'm not implying that the neglect was yours, but that carb is filthy and probably corroded inside and out.

 

You must treat all your fuel to prevent ethanol poisoning of the carb., and you must wash your bike thourghly after getting any salt water on it. 

 

It's not designed to see any saltwater, ever.

Edited February 25, 2014 by TheKoolAidMadeMeSick

[grayracer513]

That hole in the carb is present on any number of Keihin 39-41mm carbs.  It leads into one of the vent passages, and causes no problems whatever.  Don't bother with it.

 

The rest of the carb looks fairly bad, however, and if you're having problems getting it to run right, start by discarding and replacing the pilot jet.  It's the hacked up one at 6:00 o'clock to the main jet socket.  By appearances, the entire carb will need to be disassembled and all the passages brushed free of corrosion.  You might be ahead of things to scrap the carb and pick up a clean used one from eBay, especially if your bike happens to be an '02 or earlier.  Then by a rat bike to ride at the beach.