BannedCR500Riders.com

Bike has been bad starting cold, when i bought it in Jan the gas that was in there was nasty, so i knew it was going to need a cleaning.

Got in there today, looks like a 170 main, could not tell what the pilot was, and the clip on the needle was in the 4th position from the top (Stock PJ).
The guy balled up the screws on the float bowl so i am going to have to get some new ones anyways, but question for you 500 vets, should i go and try to mess with jetting? The bike ran great when i could get it to run, but i would like a little better cold starting ability. Looks to me like all the stuff in there was stock, so i doubt it has ever been messed with.

Sounds like stock stuff. The pilot jet will be a 55 prolly. What you need to know is your ride spot elevation, average temperature there, fuel mix ratio, type of oil, and ride style (wide open, trails, whatever). I just don't think hard starting has anything to do with jetting, it could be the spark plug or a dirty carb though.

Sometimes it can be better to get a newer/better carb. I wasted half my summer messing with my carb before I finally got a PWk for cheap, set it up right and it fixed all my problems.

Well i am in MI 900 FT mean above sea level... Average temp, prolly 55 or so when i will be riding.....
I am planning to run Klotz Supertechniplate @ 32:1, and i am going to be mostly trail riding.
I was thinking of bumping the pilot up and leaving the main alone.
Looking at other threads though it looks like people bumb the main to a 172 and pilot to a 60.....

1 other thing i noticed. Where is the ground from the coil supposed to terminte at, the guy has wire just wrapped around the threads on the reed cage bolts...... Prolly not the best connection.......

I'd wait until you get weather conditions representative of what you plan on riding in before touching the jetting. My bike doesn't start worth a crap either if it's 20* outside, but yesterday it was maybe 45* here in Detroit and it fired up on one of the primer kicks. The pilot is probably too rich for average summertime temperature, in my case.

I have no idea where the ground is supposed to go, I can check tonight if nobody's answered yet, though.

jtworldwide2 wrote:1 other thing i noticed. Where is the ground from the coil supposed to terminte at, the guy has wire just wrapped around the threads on the reed cage bolts...... Prolly not the best connection.......

Most of the time you put a terminal ring (eye ring) on the wire and put it under one of the bolts the the coil mounts to. Any place on the chassis that has bare metal is good though.

Thats what i figured... Probably had to do with the powdercoating, ill bust out with the dremel and clean off a spot on the frame...

alright just placed an order with sudco

DGN Needle, a 172 main and a 58 Pilot, fuel shutoff needle and the bowl screws.
Also ordered a UNI today after seeing the twinair in the airbox.

SUDCO Rules!!

www.sudco.com

Ask for John.....

yeah they were real helpful on the phone.... Parts will be here by friday most likely....
Might be playing with fire a bit by playing with all this crap but hey, its the only way to learn right, hopefully my choices will be ok

cant wait for parts!! Must get bike running!

You can change jets all day if you want but I see your new here,is this your first 500?You got the starting drill down?I didn't think I was ever gonna get my bike to start when I got it,I was kickin it like a 250,a fresh 8eg plug and lots of starting drill practice and It'll fire on demand now,shit when I got that starting drill down pat I felt like I just had sex for the first time again,I went in the house smiling ear to ear but like I said it takes practice,Its -35.0 here right now My bike hasn't fired since the snow came around in september but I bet it would fire up in less than 5 kicks if I tried to start it tonight without touching the carb.Like ported&polished said its most likely not your jetting causing your starting woes.You could put a 50,55,60,65 pilot jet in there & your bike should still fire regardless,I am by no means a highly experienced carb tuner but 2 stroke singles are as simple as they come,don't waste your time trying to make it run perfect because conditions are always changing therefore so will the way your bike runs.

I'd bet that since the screws have been striped somebodys been in there

jtworldwide2 wrote: I was thinking of bumping the pilot up and leaving the main alone.
Looking at other threads though it looks like people bumb the main to a 172 and pilot to a 60.....

Ill offer you all the assistance I can but you have to do me a favor first. Repeat after me...

"WHAT WORKS FOR SANCHO DONT NECESARILY WORK FOR PABLO!!"

Its YOUR bike ridden in YOUR town, so tune it to YOUR needs. Is the bike rich?? Is it lean?? If you cant answer these questions first, how are you going to know what jets to change too??

What is done to your bike??

Whats your riding style/terrain??

What gear/throttle position do you spend most of your time in??

etc. etc. etc.

Screws have been stripped out so yeah somebody has been in there.

I have been able to make it run on more than one occasion. Yes this is my first 500 but not the first two stroke i have had. I had a cr125 but its been a while.

I ordered parts to try and get a "baseline" so that i knew exactly where its at. And so that i know that everything thing inside of the carb is good to go in my mind. Will i make it worse when i change it? Possibly, but then at least i know where i am at, and what i need to change to make it better. I know its never going to be perfect, if i wanted it to be pefect all the time i would have picked up one of the fancy new KTM's with fuel injection.

I am going to be trail riding the hell out of this thing with the occasional trip to the MX track in there. To me it feels lean on the top end which is why i stepped the main up a bit....

When parts get in, i will probably put everything back together the way it was when i took it apart and see if cleaning the varnish out of the inside of the carb fixes it up, then i can just start building up my spare parts collection. I am just ready to get riding, its a balmy 19 degrees outside this morning and its starting to drive me nuts...

Finally got parts last night,
I installed the new screws and a new fuel shutoff and did not touch the jetting.
The thing started right up but the idle was though the roof!! Checked my cable routing and everything seemed fine no binds, all routhing was where it should be.
I am a bit of a noob when it comes to the PJ so forgive me a bit! I did take the choke assembly apart when i cleaned the carb, does that have something to do with the idle speed??

it may, the idle is on the choke assembly. if you took it out, its probably off. just turn the choke to adjust the idle

Well I put all the new parts in, dgn needle,172 main and 58 slow...

Seems to run much better and start much better.. Started up first kick even at 45 degrees.....

Glad that it seems i can actually start the thing now, i was getting worried that i would never figure it out!

AlisoBob wrote:SUDCO Rules!!

www.sudco.com

Ask for John.....

I stopped buying from them when they started that "4 jet minimum" BS. Have they since changed their minds??

i only bought 1 main and 1 slow....... He brought it up and i told him that i didnt need that many, he said no problem

Glad you got it figured out,just practice starting it and soon enough you won't even worry about starting it,the thought of it not starting won't even cross your mind.