Snag List - Resolving the Carburettor Flooding

Morning

Last Saturday I resolved the issue that I had with the constant flooding of the carburettor - on a number of occasions the petrol started to run out of the carburettor when I opened the fuel shut-off valve.

Initially I thought that it was a problem with the needle and seat and I replaced the needle. When I tested the fitment of the needle (after replacing the needle), by sucking on the seat to see if the needle closes properly, it worked. But the problem reoccurred.

So...   I took off the carburettor and disassembled the carburettor bowl and took out the needle and seat. I then took an ear bud and installed the ear bud in my drill. Next, I put some metal polish on the ear bud and I ran the ear bud up and down the inside of the seat, until the seat was shiny. I also polished the needle in a similar fashion. I then used carburettor cleaner to clean the muck off the parts. This meant that the needle should not stick in the seat. I tested the needle and seat again and the needle did seal properly.

I also checked the float level of the carburettor - the manual says that the float should close 1/4" below the top of the bowl. It was closing just a fraction too high and I carefully took out the float and adjusted the level a bit lower.

While I was reassembling the float and tested the float level, I noticed that the float was sticking against the side of the carburettor bowl - there were a number of small "pimples" on the inside of the carburettor bowl from the casting process. 

I took out the float again and polished the inside of the carburettor bowl with my Dremel and a small sanding disc. After cleaning all of the dust off with carburettor cleaner, I reassembled the float and tested the float level and too see if the float still sticks to the side of the carburettor bowl. It did not and the float level was exactly correct. 

The carburettor then went back on the motorcycle. When all was fitted as it should be, I started the bike. It literally started on the first kick (after priming the engine with 2 kicks). And the bike ran beautifully! 

In the end I think the real issue here was the float was getting hung up on the side of the carburettor bowl. And that has been resolved.