305 Dream- this newb needs help

[davesdreamin]

Any members in the SF area that would like to help a newb out with some carb trouble.

My Dream was running when I got it. It stopped starting up all of a sudden. The carb was dirty. Took it off and cleaned it. Replaced the fuel line from petcock to carb because it was brittle and putting junk into it. Put a small inline fuel filter on just to prevent anything going into the carb. It still wont start. It backfires here and there, but most of the time when I kick it, nothing. I look at the points and it seemed good. I'm getting spark on both plugs. Is there something else I'm missing?

Man I just want to ride this bike again! I'm trying to the shop.

Thanks,
Dave

[kfsrq]

There are lots of little passages in the carburetor that can easily get clogged. A friend of mine found, after a lot of searching, a passage that was clogged with a bit of muck, and cleaning that out solved his problem. I have no idea which passage.

He was working on a CB77 that ran OK on one cylinder; when he swapped the carbs, the problem changed sides, so he was certain the carb was the problem. I realize you do not have that option ... unless someone lends you a carb.

Strong light, sewing needles, slender stainless steel wire, strong glasses ... all these can help a lot.

Good luck!
Keith

[davomoto]

Dave,

How do the plugs look? What do you mean "the points look good" ? Did you clean them, gap them and static time the bike? I'll PM you contact info.

Davo

[davesdreamin]

So I got the bike running again. It was just some weird stuff with the carb. It ran for a little while but now it wont start again. Before it stopped running it was sputtering a bit and not getting very much power. I'm not sure what the deal is with it. Too much oil? Too thick of oil? I'm going to get a new air filter/or clean the old one. Then re-clean the carb. Maybe do an oil change on it and see if that helps. Any ideas?

[cadman]

Might be water in the fuel. Water is heavier and always goes to the bottom of the tank when the bike sits. Fairly typical with the gas we get today with ethanol. Easy to get several tablespoons of water in a short period of time. Try draining the tank into a container and see what you have.

The problem you have has nothing to do with oil or air cleaner.

If you are going to clean the carb go down to the auto parts and buy a gallon of carb cleaner. Soak it overnight and then blow out with air and reassemble. Anything else is a waste of time.

[davesdreamin]

Might be water in the fuel. Water is heavier and always goes to the bottom of the tank when the bike sits. Fairly typical with the gas we get today with ethanol. Easy to get several tablespoons of water in a short period of time. Try draining the tank into a container and see what you have.

The problem you have has nothing to do with oil or air cleaner.

If you are going to clean the carb go down to the auto parts and buy a gallon of carb cleaner. Soak it overnight and then blow out with air and reassemble. Anything else is a waste of time.

Thanks for that tip man. I'll definitely take a look at that first. More than likely that's. I didn't even think of the ethanol turning to water. It's probably just sitting in the carb anyway yeah?

Cheers,
Dave