[Deanzo]

Start Rant....

What the hell is wrong with the motorcycle industry in New Zealand!
It's always like this...

Ordered 3 items here that are in stock (the jets, cheap easy parts)

A number of days pass, items turn up, but the sent they wrong ones,
Sent them back,
More days pass, items turn up again, and again they send the wrong parts,
Sent them back,
Still waiting for the 3rd try.....

End Rant



Then on the other side,
Order parts from the other side of the world (Ken, CRF Only) also ask for something he doesn't stock.
Tells me what day that item he doesn't stock will be in, so the whole order can be sent, on that day all items are shipped, few days later turns up here.

The motorcycle industry in New Zealand is so broken, it's more often like this than not

Have changed out all my bearings (shock, linkage, swingarm)have parts from the US, long weekend tomorrow, and held up by a few jets ordered 15 days ago, what a pain.

[JimDirt]

Yea that does suck , i would personally call the dealer back and cancel the order and demand a refund (if you paid in advance)

And most here know Ken will go out of his way if necessary to make sure he provides good service to his customers !!

[crfsonly]

Unfortunately it's not isolated to New Zealand. Many of our customers are our customers precisely because of previous purchasing experiences with our competitors like you described. As Jim said, we will always do our best to go above and beyond to provide the best customer service possible. Part of that is good communication with the customer along the way. Thank you both for the kind words!

Ken

[Deanzo]

So it's all back together,

And other than one thing, goes very well.


That one thing, I can't get it to idle under 3000rpm.

It will idle very clean, little movement up or down at or higher than 3k rpm when set with the idle screw.

Here's were I must have done something wrong, my idle screw now has a half way/mid point which is it's lowest setting, turning it left of right from there move the idle up.

Other info,
If I turn the fuel screw all the way in it will kill the motor ie it's working.
Choke works fine.
Pull the hot start, motor revs up, close it, revs back down.
Nice and crisp to ride (better than before)
Just can't set the idle lower.

Any idea what I put back wrong, upside down or inside out ?

[JimDirt]

I would look at the floating valve plate on the slide , i would guess you installed it upside down , look at it thru the back of the carb , the hole should be at the bottom , that would be the first place i look , or check the adjustment of the throttle cables , but the issue is most likely in the carb either in adjustment , or how it was assembled

[Deanzo]

Thanks Jim,

Will pull the carb (if need be) this week


99.9% sure I put the valve plate the right way up (hole at the bottom) but will check,

I did check the free play in the throttle cables first (when I couldn't set the idle lower) I added some, then added more than would ever be needed, no change.


Would the floating valve seal stop the idle from setting lower ?
I know it can stop the idle running clean.
In this thread/how to.....
http://crfsonly.com/howto/keihin-fcr-ca ... rf450r.php

2nd picture from the bottom (or 7th picture down)
Using both the orientation of the picture and the parts on it.
Which way up dose the valve seal go.
Should the valve seal (the one to the right of the plate) sit on the plate that way up (with the raised part up), or up the other way (raised part down, onto the plate) ?

I forgot to look/think about it when I change mine.
Using that orientation, mine is for sure up the other way.
I just can't tell from the picture which way up the seal that's on the plate is sitting.

[JimDirt]

I am pretty sure it will only go one way , if its on backwards it will hold the plate up slightly off the slide , but if i remember correctly its in the orientation it is in the picture ... Maybe PM Ken , its been so long since i looked at one , i forgot how they go together , but Ken can tell you

[Deanzo]

Been super busy at work of late, and haven't done much riding.

Anyhow,
Pulled the carb again and installed the 2nd lot of parts I ordered, but sadly no luck.

I have now tried......

All new jets,
New needle jet holder
New floating valve seal (uninstalled and binned, put it on upside down, plate up the right way though)
New floating valve plate on the slide
Another New floating valve seal
New Power Bowl
New Flex Fuel mix with new spring, washer, oring (made sure old oring washer came out)
Well cleaned.
Hot Start cable removed
New choke knob installed in place of hot start cable.
Throttle cables snap back and working fine, free play set, unset and set again.
JD needle checked, looks almost new.
Checked, checked and checked again the boots were on right, both sided of the carb
Valve clearance checked, have not moved in last 10 hours, 100% spec.


The odd,
When I put the first new floating valve seal on, all be it the wrong way up (the seal, the plate was up the right way) the idle was high, couldn't change it, would still hang from time to time when riding, ie cut the throttle, revs would not drop.
Out side of that, bike runs GREAT.

With the new slide plate and another new seal but installed the right way up (again plate was always the right way up) now I can change the idle again, but can not get it to idle clean, up/down all over the show, will also hang time to time when riding, ie cut the throttle, revs would not drop.
Out side of that, bike runs GREAT.

It also doesn't like to start with out choke, like it's super lean.

With all the dust that got in, could the intake valves not be closing right, letting in air, but the clearance still show as in spec ?
If so, how do you test that ?

Other ideas ?


Edit:
Just booked it in for a leak down test (don't have the gear to do that myself)

[JimDirt]

The Leak Down Test was what i was going to recommend , also , have you tried unplugging the Throttle Position Sensor on the carb ?? , see if it makes any difference with the idle issue

You have about covered everything else , unless its a tooth off on timing or something , i don't know what else it would be , leardriver should be able to go over your carb settings and tell you if anything is off with it , as i am not sure what else to recommend , you have replaced just about everything in/on the carb , so that leaves ignition or TPS

[Deanzo]

Funny you should bring up the TPS, didn't think of it when I was working on it.

When I dropped the bike off this afternoon, the guys asked if I had tested that, which I said I hadn't.

At least when we get to the bottom of this issue, I've got an almost full rebuild on my carb lol


Some time back, had the cam off the bike, put it back on with it out by one tooth, couldn't get the bike to start, know to look out for that one

[Deanzo]

Heard back from the shop today......

Leak Down Test, 40% loss at the valves, they said that wasn't good

Looks like my head is going to go on a wee trip to Ken.
Hate to think what the top of the Piston will look like when I pull the head.

I know I ate ALOT of dust.

[Aussiecrf230]

Unfortunately it's not isolated to New Zealand. Many of our customers are our customers precisely because of previous purchasing experiences with our competitors like you described. As Jim said, we will always do our best to go above and beyond to provide the best customer service possible. Part of that is good communication with the customer along the way. Thank you both for the kind words!

Ken

With customer service like Kens there are no competitors. It is amazing to feel important when you just want to buy what you want.

[JimDirt]

Wow , that really sucks Deanzo , well at least with Ken you will get a good job and good parts

On a side note , if your getting dirt past the filter , try the PC Racing seal for the airbox , it made all the difference on my 450X for keeping the airboot and valves clean , i now have 10 years of riding on my X without even a valve adjustment after swapping to Stainless and finally keeping the dirt out (on the original piston as well,and clutch, and levers , and.....well you get the point .....

*just look on the list for the 250X*

http://www.crfsonly.com/catalog/product ... ts_id/3205

[Deanzo]

Hey Jim,

In another post somewhere you talked about the PC Racing seal, I've fitted them to all 3 of my Hondas now.
Though this issue is all on me, I had the rear frame up, then didn't seal the air boot to carb right then ran it that way over summer on lots of very dusty rides

Sucks, but it's happened, so just need to fix it and learn from it.

The 40% number I've been given does worry me, as it's very high, and I can start the bike and it rides for the most part just fine.
It's just will not idle, and will hang sometimes, outside of that, feels fine.
But at 40%, should it even start, and ride fine ?

I have an 07R head that I got from Ken,
But still have my stock head which has not zero'd out yet, but it was only lasting for 5 hours then needed a shim, so changed it before it stopped me riding.

I'm going to pop the other head on to check if it fixes my issue, before paying out a lot of money and it being something else, and the leak down test wasn't done right.

I also want to test my TPS, do you know how I can do that, what to check, what it should be ?

Thanks
Dean

[JimDirt]

Yea you most likely (i am guessing) put the boot on and on the underside or the right side it was tucked in , i am always careful of that and triple check the seal when lifting the subframe has been done

Yes 40% is a lot , it would be accurate as long as you were on TDC on Compression Stroke (the exhaust and intakes should both have slack) with the cam lobes facing 2 O'clock (facing back of engine) , and all 3 timing marks are aligned (cam ,Ignition side ,clutch side) , you would also be able to HEAR the air and where its going , for example , if it was the Intake valves , then you would hear the air thru the carb , if it was rings you would hear it coming out of the oil fill or any other plug from within the engine is , or if it were Exhaust valves then you would hear the air coming out the pipe , it is very noticeable , so it would be hard to mistake that much of a leak , 1-3 % would be the most i would allow and even that is a sign that there is a bad leak , so (if you can) recheck and look/listen for those key signs

The TPS testing procedure is in the manual (if you don't have it i can post some pics direct from the manual for you) and its fairly simple , but the bike will run just fine with it disconnected (as far as idle goes it will not give the issues your experiencing) , so the only time it activates is at higher RPM , it adjusts the timing slightly to keep the engine from Detonation/pinging , on a EFI bike , it has a different effect , as it works in conjunction with the Injectors and the timing