Wondering why my trike won't idle well.

[Fari]

So I'm new at owning any kind of offroad vehicle, and so far I am loving my '83 185s. I feel like a little kid again.

I just bought her a few weeks ago and she started first pull every time and purred like a kitten in idle.

Now she is harder to get going and doesn't idle much at all, at least not until she warms up, but after she warms up she only idles for about 30sec or so before sputtering out again. I found its easiest to start her now with or without the choke, by holding the throttle down a little.

I am wondering why she doesn't start like she used to, and I'm guessing its one of two things and maybe both:

Once it got colder out (30s-40s at night and 50s-60s day time) she wouldnt start any more. I changed the spark plug and oil and she was up and going again, but not on the first pull.

I am wondering if the colder weather affects how she runs?

Also, I am wondering if the carb was cleaned before I bought it and already is real gunky again, and why?

I am running non-oxy fuel with a little stabil and the reccomended amount of seafoam as well.

Do you guys leave your gas in these older trikes or drain it out regularily?
Also, how often do you change your air filter, and what would that help with?

Sorry for the long noobie question, but figure I can get some good advice outa some of ya! :)

[Dirtcrasher]

Did you clean your petcock? Do you run an inline filter?

I'd remove and clean every jet but especially the pilot jet, air screw and make sure the air filter is AOK........

I give my gas about a 1 month shelf life with this Deepa ethanol!

[Xpress]

Yep, clean everything out and try again. You also might want to go to a lower viscosity oil too, like 10w-20 for the colder months. A mechanic told me to do that if I ever move to cold places.

[Fari]

Thanks for the advice guys. Just changed the oil with 10w40. Figure maybe try a lower viscosity, but in all honesty, its still warm here compared to later in the year. Frosts over at night, thats about it. I'll try cleanin her out though....

[Rjfabwerx]

The inline filter idea is a good one...One of my 90's was doing like you're explaining and I put filters in and that helped alot...Now I just can't figure out how to take them apart to clean them out, lol...They're all plastic with a goldish colored material inside...There is a seam but I don't want to break them...They do help alot though...The tiniest bit of junk/rust can screw everything up inside your carb...

[nickitzi]

Hi just posted this problem a little earlier went back to basics took the carb off only to find the spring clip holding the needle in the slide was broke,(not the e-clip but the small spring on top) I found the choke did not matter because the needle would slip up the slide and enrich the fuel mix. this drove me nuts for 1 week. Seems this is the cause of most of the erratic behaviors in this style carb hope this helps.