[[email protected]]

I just inherited a 1998 tw from my granddad, it stood still in his garage for a while and I want to get it back on the road again. I'm not a pro at servicing bikes but i really want to fix it myself because of my tiny income and my love for tools. At this moment the battery is dead, the speedo is broken because of a fell and it just wont idle if the choke is off. It only kickstarts when its warmed up, but again with the choke out. The carb is cleaned and a new sparkplug is fitted. The bike had only 2900 km on the clock before the speedo broke and was not ridden since. The bike also idles when I rapidly open and close my throttle when the choke is off but dies when I leave to idle. I don't know where else to look for the problem. Any suggestions?



Let me know if you need more info?

 

[junk munk]

I have a 1968 KT120 Suzuki that had the same problem. I had also cleaned the carb several times before and even soaked the carb over night in a gallon bucket of carb cleaner. I was going to get rid of the bike due to it being a pain in the butt. Well one day I had nothing to do I took the carb a part again and noticed the small jet (not main jet) was completely blocked. I don't know how I missed it the first 3 times, but I did. Now this 1968 starts on one kick everytime and I'm going to keep the bike.

 

[qwerty]

Pilot (idle) jet circuit. Might want to be a little more careful with your carb cleaning. Won't hurt to ride the bike with a dead battery, just fill it with water and kick her to life.

 

[secretStash]

Pilot (idle) jet circuit. Might want to be a little more careful with your carb cleaning. Won't hurt to ride the bike with a dead battery, just fill it with water and kick her to life.

It might not hurt the bike but it could hurt YOU. A dead battery will suck up the juice and dim your lights at moderate to high speeds decreasing other driver's ability to see you on the road. The bike will not charge the battery back up even if you rode it around for three hours straight. Do the right thing and buy yourself a freshie and a charger (you have to charge new batteries yourself - go with the 2amp model). Alternatively - you could buy the float charger FIRST and see if the battery will take a charge. Fresh DISTILLED water just might do it. Guitar string works great for cleaning the jets out, btw.



-sS

 

[qwerty]

2 amps is way to much charger for TW batteries. 0.5 amp would be better.

 

[[email protected]]

Thanx for the advice. Will take a look this weekend. Maybe I'll get a new battery next week.

 

[qwerty]

Thanx for the advice. Will take a look this weekend. Maybe I'll get a new battery next week.

Probably the best battery value is a Chinese YTZ7-S AGM from eBay, $35 shipped. They come filled, are maintenance free, but are a bit smaller than stock so use some coroplast or foam rubber to take up the space.



http://shop.ebay.com/i.html?_nkw=yt...=ytz7-s&_osacat=0&_trksid=p3286.c0.m270.l1313

 

[frog13]

Buy a brand of charger called, "Battery tender"....you can buy them at auto part stores(usually).Me,I would stay away from chineese batteries...yuasa is a great and trusted brand!.

 

[qwerty]

...yuasa is a great and trusted brand!.

It is? Maybe it was. Seems lots of bad mojo lately.

 

[uktw125]

Me,I would stay away from chineese batteries...yuasa is a great and trusted brand!.

I bought a Bosch battery for my Suzuki and it's made in China, the battery on my BMW is a Westco (they are excellent batteries) and made in Vietnam, where their made means nothing really.

 

[[email protected]]

I played around with my carb this weekend and my bike runs a lot smoother now. It's not perfect but its well on it's way. Now it starts easier than last week but I still struggle when its cold. I still must keep the choke out about half a centimeter for it to idle correctly. Wonder what to do next?

 

[qwerty]

I played around with my carb this weekend and my bike runs a lot smoother now. It's not perfect but its well on it's way. Now it starts easier than last week but I still struggle when its cold. I still must keep the choke out about half a centimeter for it to idle correctly. Wonder what to do next?

Sounds like a pilot (idle) fuel circuit problem. Either back out the screw or clean the jet and fuel passage. The hole in the idle jet is tiny, any bit of crude in the fuel will stop it up.

 

[admiral]

To supplement what Qwerty mentions, here is a link about motorcycle carburator theroy 101. The article is not TW specific, but may give you some additional insight.



http://www.motorcyclecarbs.com/carbs101.pdf

 

[[email protected]]

I opened my carb this past weekend(again), pulled out the pilot jet(again), stuck through a thin wire and put everything back together. Now I turn it off at almost every stop just to feel how easily it kicks to life again. Now the bike is pure pleasure to ride. Now I just need a new speedo and battery and I'll never look back. Thanx for all the advise guys.

 

[qwerty]

It doesn't take much to muck up a pilot circuit.