Honda 350X Tune Up

[Bespin4]

Ok guys first time post here. I recently aquired a nice 1985 350x, and it needs a little tune up.
Immediately after unloading it, I looked it over, checked the gas out to make sure it was good. I changed the oil and filter, and gave her a few kicks. Well something like 75-100 kicks, until she finally fired. Once running, it runs amazing. Shifts, and idles perfectly. Turn it off and back to square 1. Assumed the carb needed some love, pulled the bowl, and the gas was pretty bad in there. Overall the carb was pretty clean, sprayed the jets and put it back on. Pulled the tank off, emptied all the existing gas and replaced with premium. Put a new spark plug on, and seems to have plenty of spark. At this point it still takes 50+ kicks to get a fire. Carb is flooded with gas, but pull the plug and it's not wet. Shoot a little starting fluid in there, put the plug in, kick it over and nothing. Also, the compression when kicking it over seems a bit harder than it should be. Wondering if maybe that compression cable needs adjusting. Any insight would be great.

[RIDE-RED 250r]

Hey there and welcome to the club.

Now then, no offense but going by what you posted it doesn't sound like you really cleaned the carb properly. Just pulling the bowl and spraying the jets with cleaner doesn't get it done most times when the carb is actually fouled with varnish. I recommend getting a gallon can of carb soak solution, completely stripping the carb down and soaking all of the brass and aluminum components at least 24 hours. When you pull the parts out one by one, scrub with a tooth brush or something similar. Getting the jets themselves clean is only half the battle, you also need to clean the corresponding jet circuits in the carb body itself, paying particularly close attention to the pilot (low speed) circuit. This circuit is very very small and is usually the first to get obstructed by varnish from bad fuel.

BUT, when you say that it runs perfectly once you get it running, I am starting to rethink what you problem may be. If a carb is fouled with varnish, it may not just start hard, but it usually runs poorly as well once you get it started....

Taking the next logical step and again I mean no offense or insult to your intelligence... But you are flipping on the choke when you try starting it, right?? What you are describing sounds more like trying to fire up a cold 350x without the choke.

Don't judge anything to do with the decomp by what you feel like "it should be". 350x can be a bit tough for some people, even with a fully functional decomp. Be glad you aren't kicking my brother's 350x over.. the auto decomp parts in the head failed years ago and he just gutted the rest out of it.. And that trike has a 10.25:1 piston in it! Me, my brother, and about 2 other people are the only people who can start it.. You have to give her the secret handshake, tickle her belly in just the right way, bribe her with premium fuel, and whisper sweet nothings in her ear, and sometimes the ol' war horse will still say nope.. LOL! Anyway, I wouldn't worry about the decomp at this moment. Once you get it starting up as it should, then we can venture into checking that.. Might be as simple as just being due for a valve adjustment.

[Bespin4]

Ok no offense taken, I do plan on pulling the carb off and doing a full cleaning in the next couple days. The part that's throwing me tho is how well it runs when i do get it going. Yes I am choking it when it's cold, in fact after a dozen kicks the carb will be flooded, I pull the plug assuming the cylinder will be full of gas and the plug is dry and no gas in the cylinder. Spray ether in, put the plug back on, kick it and nothing. Last night I got it running randomly at kick 75 or so, drove it around for 45 minutes, and shut it off. Tried kicking it back on, and 50 kicks later got it going again, now all of a sudden it's idling much higher than it should. Couldn't get it to idle down. I'm starting to think maybe vacuum leak somewhere. If it was sucking to much air, it could be preventing gas from making it to the cylinder and thining the ether fumes to much to fire on the starting fluid. A large part of this thinking is the lack of fuel in the cylinder when the carb is flooded.

[RIDE-RED 250r]

OK, thanks for adding that info. That does help.

I think it would definitely be step 1 to pull the carb, completely disassemble and thoroughly clean it. While the parts are soaking (hopefully in a carb soak solution like I recommended above) it would be a good time to check the intake boot for cracks/leaks. ***From this point moving forward, please wear safety glasses or some other suitable form of eye protection***When you get all of the carb parts out of the soak solution, scrub with a toothbrush and regular carb cleaner from a spray can to clean out the soak solution which is kind of thick like motor oil. Verify all circuits and jets are clean and clear with carefully applied compressed air. You don't have to blast 100psi through the circuits, just a little bit, enough to verify ease of passage.

I too find it odd that once you get it running, it runs well... Not sure why the starting fluid won't fire, but in my experience, with a gasoline engine it is possible to use too much and it will flood the plug just like excessive gasoline will... Not true of a diesel engine, they just scream.

If after being 100% certain your carb is thoroughly clean, you still have issues, we can keep taking it a step at a time..But it still sounds to me like you are having trouble with a fouled carb.

[Bespin4]

I will keep you posted this week as I get rolling on the carb cleaning.

[Zackmtr112]

How are you kickstarting it? Are you getting to top dead center then kicking or are you just kicking hard everytime time the starter kicks up? You have to wait until your at the compression stroke. I know this may be obvious but when I got my 350x I was just kicking it nonstop until a buddy showed me the proper way.

[Bespin4]

Ok update time. First thing I noticed when I started dissembling the carb was the mixture screw was broken off down inside the carb. I attempted to remove it with a tiny easy out, however the screw was siezed in pretty well and the brass is so soft it just chewed it up worse. Decided to take the easy way out and ordered a used carb on eBay. Carb showed up today, installed and gave her a few kicks, check the carb and it's leaking gas. Turns out the rubber gaskets were shot, pulled the new ones out of the first carb and installed in new one. Go to put carb back on, notice the rubber air intake tube is cracked pretty bad right along the clamp where it connects to the air box....pull it off use some gorilla gel superglue on it, let dry a couple hours and she's like new. Install carb and air tube, and 3 kicks...bam fires up like a champ. And yes, the trick to kicking it right also makes a big difference, I can get it to fire first kick now after learning the right spot to get the cylinder to before kicking. On a side note, put in a new air filter and oiled it up per manufacturer instructions also. It would seem that it was sucking a lot of air in through the cracked tube and bypassing the filter which would also have been preventing the fuel tank fumes from venting to the air box. She is running perfectly now, I appreciate the advice.

[Bespin4]

Here's a pic of the 350