185s need a little guidance

[Pendl303]

Hey guys as for a little backround,

As i am waiting for my new plastics for the 350x. I couldnt wait to do a little riding and picked up a non working 82 185s. The owner claimed "just a carb clean would probably due ". As i got there it wasnt in horrific shape but it had seen its better days.

As i make it home, i have to restring the pull starter and pulled the plug to clean. I wanted to give her a couple pulls to hear how its sounding, before taking it apart. To my surprise i get it to fire up, good old hondas. I took it for a small drive and everything major seems to be in working order.

But now to the problem, it would barely run with the choke off and the throttle response was dull and powerless. With the choke on it would idle high and throttle response was improved greatly and power was a lot better. I tried to make some adjustments with no luck in sight. So decision was made to pull carb to let soak for a couple hours.

I get it back together and same thing, bike runs like crap without choke wants to stall and basically 0 power, even full choke i feel like power is maybe 75-80% of the motors potential. Other odd thing to me which i am probably wrong, but i thought when the choke was applied it restricted air flow but when i had this carb off it looked like it starts opens the butterfly valve when the choke is on?

I am not sure where to go as i really cleaned the jets fairly well and it wont even idle without choke on no matter how much i adjust it. With choke on it rides decent, no smoke what so ever.

[userj8670]

My 350x had a somewhat similar problem....come to find out the idle was adjusted way down

[barnett468]

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ok, it could have any number of different carbs on it now.

when you looked in the carb from the air cleaner side, did you see a butterfly that was operated by the choke?

what color is the gas? . . if its pale yellow it is old or contaminated with old dried up gas or the tank is rusty.

what color is the end of the spark plug? . . dry and black is way too rich . . nearly white is too clean . . put in a new plug in if you have it and run it for a few minutes then look at it.

what is your elevation?

although it certainly sounds lean, remove the air filter box lid and air filter and try it.

[Pendl303]

Thanks for the help
My friend also has a 185s and carbs looked very similar without having them side by side. And yes it did operate the butterfly, to me i thought that was odd as it looked like more choke would open the butterfly more. Which i thought would add more air?

I flushed tank as well and added non ethanol 91, filter looked relatively clean as well. I havent thrown a new plug but it was pretty black the first day i pulled it, I havent again yet. I will try tonight to run it without the air box. I havent done that yet because the choke opening the butterfly was kinda contradicting to me why it would run better

[barnett468]

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ok, when the choke is on, the butterfly is closed so does it run better with the butterfly open or closed?

[manbearpig]

Other odd thing to me which i am probably wrong, but i thought when the choke was applied it restricted air flow but when i had this carb off it looked like it starts opens the butterfly valve when the choke is on?

i think this statement is important

might be as simple as being misinformed about which direction is full choke, and which direction is no choke...

[Pendl303]

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ok, when the choke is on, the butterfly is closed so does it run better with the butterfly open or closed?

Manbearpig might be right, i laugh when i see your name everytime btw.

I thought the choke when pushed toward the ground was on? When i had the carb off what i thought was choke on, was opening the butterfly. But yes it runs a hell of alot better with choke "on"

[Gearheadtom]

Choke is off (open) when the black lever on the carb is pushed down.

[Pendl303]

Okay makes sense now, Whats the initial setting for the a/f screw to start tuning?

[Jmoozy27]

I'd start at 1.5 turns out from lightly seated. Then work back a quarter turn at a time with a five min ride in between each adjustment.

[barnett468]

Manbearpig might be right, i laugh when i see your name everytime btw.

I thought the choke when pushed toward the ground was on? When i had the carb off what i thought was choke on, was opening the butterfly. But yes it runs a hell of alot better with choke "on"

this did not answer my question . . the direction of the lever is irrelevant . . the only thing that matters is whether it runs better with the butterfly [that is operated by the lever] open or closed . . once you answer this question there will be absolutely no uncertainty about it and someone can then begin to help you better.

[Pendl303]

I'd start at 1.5 turns out from lightly seated. Then work back a quarter turn at a time with a five min ride in between each adjustment.

Thanks running alot better now.

Barnett468, If you re read my response you quoted i indeed did answer your question. The importance of the lever was due to my confusion as to why it ran better with choke on(closed butterfly) when in reality choke was actually off(butterfly open) and i was wrong on the orientation of the lever.. up or down.

[barnett468]

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Barnett468, If you re read my response you quoted i indeed did answer your question.

The importance of the lever was due to my confusion as to why it ran better with choke on(closed butterfly) when in reality choke was actually off(butterfly open) and i was wrong on the orientation of the lever.. up or down.

No you did not . . Your reply was vague instead of specific . . Specific answers to questions will get you the best replies.

The reply to my question below would have only needed to be one of two words, neither of which you mentioned in your reply to it . . Since as I mentioned, not all carbs are the same and we don't know what carb you have and therefore which way the choke worked for certain, it would have been simple to look at the position of the butterfly then look at the position of the choke and you would have known for certain which way the lever would need to be for on and off, and therefore would have known for certain which position it was in when it ran best.


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ok, when the choke is on, the butterfly is closed so does it run better with the butterfly open or closed?

[Pendl303]

Manbearpig might be right, i laugh when i see your name everytime btw.

I thought the choke when pushed toward the ground was on? When i had the carb off what i thought was choke on, was opening the butterfly. But yes it runs a hell of alot better with choke "on"

I dont know how that doesnt answer your question? butterfly open= running better. No vagueness... explaining my confusion. I dont know what i personally did to upset you but you can continue on like i insulted you?

edit: I also explained in previous post a friend also has a 185s with what i remember to be same carb. unless coincidentally he also has a different one but same as mine, im guessing its stock

[barnett468]

I dont know how that doesnt answer your question? butterfly open= running better. No vagueness... explaining my confusion. I dont know what i personally did to upset you but you can continue on like i insulted you?

edit: I also explained in previous post a friend also has a 185s with what i remember to be same carb. unless coincidentally he also has a different one but same as mine, im guessing its stock

For the second time, your reply does NOT specifically answer my question, and if you keep reading it you may eventually understand that.

It can be hard enough to figure out some problems when a bike is in front of us . . It can be many times more difficult to figure them out from a computer since we can neither see nor hear nor ride them.

I told you how to get the best and most beneficial replies, it is your choice what you do with that information but being argumentative will not get you the best results, especially since no one here is getting paid to help you or others.


Also, It is absolutely impossible to upset or insult me.


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[Jmoozy27]

Thanks running alot better now.

Glad to help...

[onformula1]

I dont know how that doesnt answer your question? butterfly open= running better. No vagueness... explaining my confusion. I dont know what i personally did to upset you but you can continue on like i insulted you?

edit: I also explained in previous post a friend also has a 185s with what i remember to be same carb. unless coincidentally he also has a different one but same as mine, im guessing its stock

Keep in mind there is a ignore button on this site, many people told me about it, I have only used it once, but it works very well.

[Pendl303]

Hey guys, trike has been running great since the advice given about the carb except now i have another issue.

Current problem:
My friend and i were out for a ride and we got some torrential rain while we were out, Stupid me i didnt even think that we had to cross two streams to make it home. After a couple hours we were drenched and we decided to head back. What we came back to was a raging stream and myself on the 350x was a little worried as the water had risen and the current was moving.
I decided i would try on the 350x first and if it had a hard time, we would find a place to ditch the 185 until weather cleared. Of course on the way home to cross the stream you have to head against the current. The 350x was getting pushed a little but nothing a little throttle didnt solve, He also crosses the first pass no problem. The 2nd crossing didnt go so well, the water was deep enough and flowing hard enough at times it was coming over the fender on the 350x. i Grabbed the tow rope as i had a feeling the 185s wasnt going to make it. I was right as he made it about half way before it stalled and since its a little more buoyant it didnt seem to go through as much water as the 350x but would not restart after being towed across.

Sorry thats the end of my novel, we towed it home to work on it the next day. I put a new plug in and made sure no water was in the air box and to my surprise it fired right up. Now to the unfortunate part, it will run perfect for about 3-5minutes and then out of no where will stall. It will not fire up for at least 1-3 hrs. I have gone out now for 3 consecutive days and the cold start it fires up 0 problems rides perfect. Then all of sudden dies and wont restart.
I checked to make sure its getting fuel, it is. I changed the exciter coil with my friends 185's after it stalls and doesnt fire up or change anything.
Havent switched over my friends CDI box as i figured it wouldnt fire up if that was the problem, but i might be wrong. Any suggestions would be great as i am a little stumped

Thanks guys

[Jmoozy27]

These machines electrical system hates water. If you haven't changed the oil it's probably a good idea to do so next time when its hot. It could be a few issues but my guess is the stator. I would open the left side and check when you drain the oil.

[AK47KID]

Take the carb and tank off and drain them? I'm no expert but I would do that before tearing the engine up. Also could spray some ether to help evaporate any water.

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[AK47KID]

Take the cdi, coil, ect and undo the connections and spray them out?

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[Pendl303]

Will do a little more checking and get back to you guys. thanks

[JustEnough]

In case you are still working on it, here are some ideas that I had.

Start with the cheap and easy stuff. Pull apart each of the wire connectors and wire brush them, to remove any traces of corrosion, and coat with dielectric grease before reconnecting.

If the problem persists take the carb bowl off to confirm that it is clean and free of water.

If you take the pull starter off you can check the bottom of the flywheel to look for signs of it getting wet. Maybe drying it with something like a hair dryer will save having to remove the flywheel.

You may need to open the rear brake drum to make sure water or mud is not trapped in there either.

[Pendl303]

Okay guys im still stumped, but i am still leaning toward electrical. I Cleaned the carb which really wasnt dirty and cleaned electrical connections. I switched the CDI with my friends and it also had no effect. I took off the pull starter and there was a little water in there i cleaned out and set a heater facing it. The oil looked kinda shitty as well.
After the last time it stalled a couple days ago, it hasnt started again. It looked like it had a nice blue spark when i turned off the lights to see it better. So i put starter fluid in, also with 0 change in the sound of the pull. I cleaned the ground on the exciter coil as well.

[Pendl303]

Okay started today and died a couple minutes later after running great, i thought maybe the stator had dried or something but nope still same