Bike won't idle

[Coyote]

My 550 refuses to idle. When it drops below 2K it falls flat on its face and dies. It did this to me last year, but once I rode it hard for 4 or 5 mile it straightened right out. I have the throttle stop screwed out about 4 turns from where it should be. Still falls right off and dies. Played with the air screws - no improvement. It will idle with the choke on. The only thing different is I am running ethanol free gas. Last year I ran 10%. Could that be it?

[Coyote]

Please no one tell me that I need bigger pilots. I am already 3 over as it is. I'm wordering, could this be a float height issue? The float height is exactly per spec and is proven by a laser cut gage made by my son.
The fact that it will idle with the choke on suggests that it may still need to be richer still. I can't believe it. What am I missing? Pods and chambers.

[tz375]

Chris,

It sounds like a blockage down stream from the jet. Blow through and see if they spray into the venturi and compare all three.

Did the air jet fall out or an airscrew come unscrewed or something odd like that? It either is getting too much air (screw fell out) or too little gas (blockage).

Maybe the E10 flushed something loose which is now going hard in a passageway.

If it's the first run of the season, I'd suspect the ethanol and water got together in your carbs and caused a small drilling to fur up.

[Coyote]

TZ, I'll be puling the carbs to have a look see for the problem. What blows my mind, if I get it up to 20mph or so (3K) with the choke on, when I flip the choke off it's like I'm being shot out of a cannon. Bike runs like a scalded dog in mid range.

[titan performance]

The symptoms sound like your idle jets are blocked to me !

[Coyote]

So far, all kinds of old fuel or whatever had the pilots clogged up partially - one fully.
Question. When I blow in to the pilot mounting towers, where should air come out?

[tz375]

Yes Chris,

Where the pilot jets screw into the body, fuel should flow out of the top of the jet and into the venturi. It should also come out of the tiny bleed hole ahead of the slide.

[Coyote]

I should be good to go. Used 100psi where the pilots mount and got lots of air in both places. It's all back together except I can't get the *%-@5!x) throttle cable back on. Should know later and will post the results. Thanks tz!

[Coyote]

It's fixed Comes off choke in 5 to 10 seconds and idles perfectly

[Scorch]

Awesome, love a success story.