[Bilgemaster]

About those rattle-loosening fasteners: A good habit to get into might be putting a drop or two of that Harbor Freight Medium No. 42 threadlocker stuff onto every nut or bolt or screw you henceforth wrench on. It's not a magic elixir, but it's cheap and really will help keep those fasteners where they belong. A bottle in the tool pouch and a few strategically handy around the shop should only set you back about 10 bucks. I also tend to give any oily threaded bits a little love with an alcohol swab swiped from the doctor's office for good measure beforehand, but that's just me.

[Stogierob]

tool kit!  right!  i bought a tool roll several months ago.  time to get that kit into the bike's toolbox...  i'll add some blue thread locker to the kit. 

got the bike started again today.  seems like insufficient fuel flow is the next hurdle.  we can get it running if we keep the throttle at 1/3-1/2 open while kicking the shit out of it. (20-40 kicks)  thankfully, youngest is 17, strong (not that strength is involved in kicking a 350), and determined to get that bike running as well...

Stogierob

[Bilgemaster]

If you haven't cracked open the carb for a good cleaning of its bowl and jets, that might be a good idea, seeing as how long it's been sitting. Or, seeing as how you're already at least getting some  life out of her, you might just try "The Sea Foam Shortcut Purge":

• If it's more than a month old, empty whatever gas is in the tank
• Dump in about 2/3 of a bottle of Sea Foam
• Turn the fuel tap onto "On" (not "Reserve")
• Fill fuel tank with nice fresh gas, turn off fuel tap, and come back tomorrow
• Fire her up and commence running through that tankful, and when you tank up again pour in the remaining 3rd of that Sea Foam

If you're already getting any life out of her at all, then that initial stronger concentration of Sea Foam and gas marinating in the carb bowl overnight will likely loosen up any cruds just enough for the rest of the more dilute Sea Foam to rinse them away pretty well. Don't be alarmed if there seems more white exhaust smoke than usual. That is normal. After the Sea Foam purge treatment, an ounce or two of Marvel Mystery Oil with every fill up will serve to more gently keep the innards clean. It's also a great dessert topping!

This Sea Foam overdosing thing is a pretty well known "easy fix" for irritable-running bikes, especially after a long winter layup. Berry's Chemtool B-3, Techron, or similar fuel additive solvent-cleaners might also do the trick, but Sea Foam's most often mentioned as the cure for those laid up cloggy ethanol-spew blues, which sounds just like what you may be dealing with.

[ddavidv]

Check you have adequate fuel flowing from the tank when you turn the feed on. Could be possible the screen in the shutoff valve is partially blocked or the valve itself.
Tap the float bowl with a screwdriver handle to loosen a stuck needle valve.
It shouldn't take any throttle application to start in my experience but I also have a Keihin replica carb on mine.

[tooseevee]

Check you have adequate fuel flowing from the tank when you turn the feed on. Could be possible the screen in the shutoff valve is partially blocked or the valve itself.
Tap the float bowl with a screwdriver handle to loosen a stuck needle valve.
It shouldn't take any throttle application to start in my experience but I also have a Keihin replica carb on mine.

         Your last sentence is also true on my AVL with Mikuni TM32. It does not want the throttle touched AT ALL to start, kick OR electric, or it will have a hissy fit  . It does NOT want the throttle touched until it has run 30 or 40 seconds, then I can rev it a bit if it makes me feel good. The revs increase a bit as it warms up and at the first stop sign it wants its idle speed screw tweaked down just a hair. It never shows ANY sign of dying. 

[Stogierob]

we're down to 20-30 kicks to get the bike started. 

i did the seafoam soak overnight and i'm burning through a 50/50 tank of gas and seafoam.  i have to keep the throttle open a bit if I leave the 'choke' button up on the carb, or i have to keep the throttle open more than a bit if the button is down. 

the shifter will upshift positively, but downshifts are non-existent.  i have to get slow enough to use the neutral lever as a reset, then i can decide where to go from there.  not an elegant setup, considering the kickstarter is almost covering the return to netutral lever.  remembering that 1st is up, and all other gears are down is still a bit of a challenge.

progress continues...

Rob

[ddavidv]

If you were to give a little shot of starter fluid into the intake would it start right up?

[Stogierob]

If you were to give a little shot of starter fluid into the intake would it start right up?

that's how we got it running in the first place!   i'm trying to learn the bike and figure out what it wants from the humans who will ride it.  since it will start without starter fluid, we're happy to just crank away....

[Adrian II]

Has the carburettor been stripped and THOROUGHLY cleaned in toluene and/or left for a good while in an ultrasonic cleaning bath. The starter side of the carb will have not only the pilot/starter jet which can be clogged with crud but several VERY tiny drilled passages for air and fuel which can also get clogged and make starting hard or impossible.

When stripping the carb don't lose and tiny washers or gaskets. You can buy service kits for the VM24 and 28 Mikarbs at you-know-where.

A.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/New-Royal-Enfield-350CC-VM-24-MIKCARB-Overhauling-Kit-GEc/153278364984?epid=0&hash=item23b01a3d38:g:5a0AAOSwhyRbztPt

[tooseevee]

we're down to 20-30 kicks to get the bike started. 

Rob

     That's silly. You know there's something ELSE wrong. Doesn't accomplish a damn thing to just keep kicking 10, 20, 30 times.

       C'mon. Get a grip

[Stogierob]

     That's silly. You know there's something ELSE wrong. Doesn't accomplish a damn thing to just keep kicking 10, 20, 30 times.

       C'mon. Get a grip

i'm far from saying this is either normal or that i'm done diagnosing the problem.  i'm just thrilled that i'm making progress.  the latest issue is that the seafoam cleared the overflow tube in the carb bowl and all of my gas drained on to the garage floor.  thankfully, it was only about 10 ounces.  next project will be confirming if the floats are actually closing off the fuel needle in the bowl.

Rob

[Bilgemaster]

Yeah. I think you may be on the home stretch. It's probably just some crudlets in the needle valve assembly inhibiting smooth operation, though it could be a sticky float for the same reason. Short of pulling off the whole carb for a thorough cleaning and maybe rebuild, it may at least be time to just drop the carb bowl for a good blast of it and every nook, cranny and jet you can reach in there with some spray carb cleaner. WEAR SAFETY GLASSES!!! That spray shit will ricochet off in every which direction, and will do those baby blues no favors.

By now that Sea Foam may have hopefully softened up any cruds in there enough to be able to blast-rinse them away short of doing a full carb teardown...Though that certainly wouldn't be the worst  idea anyone's ever had. No, that might be that remake of Arthur  with Russell Brand. That was awfully hard to watch.

[tooseevee]

Yeah. I think you may be on the home stretch. It's probably just some crudlets in the needle valve assembly inhibiting smooth operation, though it could be a sticky float for the same reason. Short of pulling off the whole carb for a thorough cleaning and maybe rebuild, it may at least be time to just drop the carb bowl for a good blast of it and every nook, cranny and jet you can reach in there with some spray carb cleaner. WEAR SAFETY GLASSES!!! That spray shit will ricochet off in every which direction, and will do those baby blues no favors.

By now that Sea Foam may have hopefully softened up any cruds in there enough to be able to blast-rinse them away short of doing a full carb teardown...Though that certainly wouldn't be the worst  idea anyone's ever had. No, that might be that remake of Arthur  with Russell Brand. That was awfully hard to watch.

     His carb needs a full teardown and cleaning. I think we all know that. All the fuel draining out on the floor is just another! indication. And all the intake rubber replaced and resealed also. Probably.

      I remember years ago (so long ago I don't even remember which carb it was) the bike was just not right. It was "OK", but something was just not right.

      I dropped the bowl, the float valve was working exactly right, pulled all the jets from underneath, blew them out. Pulled the mixture screw, blew it out. Back together - same thing!

      Dropped the bowl, pulled the jets AGAIN. This time I got in bright sun with a a loupe and finally saw it! A tiny piece of grit was jammed in the bore of the Pilot Jet and my best blow job had done nothing to move it.

        I striped a piece of multi-strand steel electrical wire down and got it to move with one of the strands.

         Problem solved.

 

[Bmadd34]

I have found that the easiest tool (and most accessible) is a bread tie (The tiny plastic coated bit of metal wire that holds your loaf of bread closed) also called a "twist tie", depending on where you're from. Simply peel the plastic of about an inch or so from one end and go to town. Got a jet with a slightly larger diameter, fold the tie in two. Easy and efficient. Another trick to use would be to remove the air filter bits and hold your hand over the intake while you (Or preferably someone else) kicks it over a few times. A lot of times this will clear the slow jet pretty quickly, depending. Give these a go and let us know what comes about.

[Adrian II]

And if the crescendo of replies saying "you probably need to give your carb the cleaning-out of its life" proves to be correct, flushing any cr*p out of the tank and fitting an in-line fuel filter should prevent the need for a repeat performance.

A.