800 will only start when choked

[Brilamb2]

Me and a friend of mine use something called K 100. It has done wonders for the carb on my 800, and it actually made the carb of his v star 250 his wife rides look new inside. I'll try to find a link to it, but for now here's a pic

[Never too late]

Well thanks everyone for your feedback including your offer Troll of helping me rebuild my carb!

I was hoping it was something less than a carb rebuild.... Yesterday on a last ditch attempt I drove a couple of blocks around my house attempting to keep the revs up ( and work the Seafoam around) only to push it back home defeated!

I am going to work on it this weekend and keep you posted

Cheers NTL

[CDNRatMan]

   I hould have had you do mine during Drift In one night while we were all sleeping and you were awake...lol....

[Troll]

If you've never done a motorcycle carb, then this is a perfect chance to learn something new. Sounds like the pilot jet is plugged with varnish. All the jets in this carb are replaceable, so there should be no issues. Before starting on the job, I'd order the jet kit from DynoJet. Comes with tools and instructions...You will need to rejet anyway to get the lean surge the EPA required fixed, anyway. http://www.dynojet.com/jetkits/motorcycle/kawasaki.aspx kit # is 2186....$65.00
If you need help doing it yourself, just post here, I'll be glad to help. Here's a shot of a carb rack off a V-Max I just did. The bike was sitting for about 6 years. EVERYTHING was plugged up!

[kw-retrorider]

Bought my 800 from a guy who said it ran perfect....when I got there, he couldn't make it run, because it had been sitting. Rest of the bike was straight. He diddled with it for about  2 months and the best he could after all the basics discussed was to get it to run only on choke.

I made an offer and trailered it straight to the dealer for state inspection, tires and most importantly, to have the carb rebuilt.....that was 12k miles ago. So if the bike has been laying around, ethanol may have gotten to it. I like the cleaning the jets idea.

The only thing that doesn't make sense is that you have been running it .... so I'd look for the obstruction you broke loose. Don't know what kind of mileage you have on it....mine had only 10k when I had that rebuild done...best thing I ever did and have zero problems since...always put the ethanol deterrent in every tank full.  Stick with it....you'll get it. Try everything else first...carb rebuild is pricey, but if you know that's it...worth it.

[gdrudd13]

One thing you might check is the tank petcock. It actually has a screen on it. I know on mine it went bad, most likely because of gunk in the tank. I just bought a new one since it was only a little more than the rebuild kit. I would check the carb first, but keep the petcock in mind if cleaning the carb doesn't work.

[kfoster]

Sounds like it is time to pull the carb and clean the pilot and main jets. If you need to use the enricher to start it each time, you have an obstruction in fuel delivery. It sounds like you have looked at the obvious already. It may also be a good time to add an in-line fuel filter in-between the tank and the carb.

[CDNRatMan]

Well one thing is my 800 has the soul of a wife, it is the coldest bike I have ever owned. Almost every day I need to choke it to start it, but only a few seconds and it is good to go. Good for the rest of the day also, but if the temps go below 60*F then need to choke more often.
49 is also correct it could be just a lot of crap from the tank floating about.

[pcarrell]

I was thinking the same as 49.  It sounds like you have a fuel starvation issue to me.

[49Reo]

The one big downside to adding 'cleaners' like Sea Foam, Lucas, STP, etc, s it loosens up gunk in the tank and lines; this will in turn clog filters, jets, etc. did that on my wife's car one time; added fuel injector cleaner of sort( can't remember the brand) a week later the car quit and had to be towed home. Changed the fuel filter(clogged) and good to go. Used the stuff on a regular basis after that.

[Never too late]

Hi Everyone

It's been awhile, but I still have my awesome 2001 drifter 800.

Went out recently on a 30 min trip to visit a friend (nice easy ride), it rode fine but on the way home it sputtered at each stop... Stalling out until I choked it to restart. Did that about 20 times until I got home.

This was about the 10th time out this year.  Used Seafoam in gas tank in attempts to rid the carb of any gunk.... No help so far.  Now it starts when choked only and when the choke is off it stops.  Any simple starting points: I have opened the gas cap while starting and it starts only when choked.  I have tried to start it in pri and again it only starts when choked.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks again NTL