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So, I went with a Mikuni conversion kit when I built my bike.
It has a 'choke' lever that is supposed to enrich the mixture by adding more fuel'
Bottom line, it isn't working for me. I have to remove the air cleaner and use my hand to 'choke' the intake.
Once it starts, it does run faster while the lever is depressed and then I can lift the lever when the engine is warm.
Any ideas, or do I need to carry a screwdriver with me all the time?
No butterfly on these Mickey Roonies. They are round slide and no choke as we know them.
Tasturb, did you get it from 45restoration by any chance, jetted for the 45? Should be fine.
Maybe you just need to experiment and find the right starting procedure.
Try a kick or two with the ignition off and the "choke" lever depressed, then turn off the lever, ignition on and kick should start.
Or leave the lever on or half on for final kick. Experiment.
No experience with that carb, but does it have an accelerator pump? Does it squirt when you turn the throttle, bike off and not running?
If yes, then throw away any factory procedures for starting the bike, they are for Linkerts with no accelerator pump. Prime kicks are to get the carb to suck some fuel into the cylinders, which you do not need if you have a pump.
while i cant hear it running and see how it acts - i would re do the intake seals - what way do you have the taper on the seal going towards the engine or towards the nut
i have seen them rich enough to run ok but seeping air when starting - some times the idle will rise as it gets hot is one clue
Agree with John, take carb off and perform a bubble test on manifold. If that is leaking, you will be chasing your tail forever. Solve that, then go back to the carb. If you did not do it, PEEK seals are the way to go, old brass seals do not work with 75 year old parts.
Simple setup I made. Cut up an old tube, made a steel plate from scrap that mounts to manifold. Get a good regulator that you can attach to an air source, 14.5 PSI is the magic number. Hold that for about 3 minutes while spraying everything with soapy water. ANY bubbles are bad, needs to be tight. No reason to add more air pressure than as noted, but it needs to sit for the 3 minutes. There is a guy in the AMCA Mag advertising that he sells them, but it really only took me an hour to make from **** laying around the basement.
I already have Peek seals in the intake.
I don't remember which way the taper is facing.
I get very good suction if I cover the carb opening while kicking and that seems to be the best way to start it right now.
I'll craft a test rig like Architect suggested and see what I see.
This thing has terrific compression, due to a fresh overbore with new pistons, rings and valves. That makes it hard to get a fast spin when kicking.
I did get the carb from 45 Restoration, but I have had the carb apart a few times while routing the cable. Maybe I should raise the needle in the carb 'piston' to richen the mixture. I don't have a read on the mixture yet, as I haven't been able to do enough riding.
Just a ton of things to sort out, as I assembled the bike from scratch with no prior experience with these beasts.
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Mikuni 'choke' doesn't help starting my 45
