1982 maico 490 spider hard to start

S

sm7482

Member
Jan 29, 2008
224
0
A buddy of mine has an 82 maico 490 spider. Well he hasn't been out riding in two years. weve been talking about going riding as soon as i get my xr running great so he went to tune his bike and said it was terribly hard to start. He put new plugs in it, new gas, and said once it starts it will idle perfectly but when you shut it off then try to restart it will refuse to fire. after he rode it around the block taking it through all the gears it will idle fine but as soon as you kill it and try to restart it won't. Any ideas? the carb is a bing(supposovly 52mm). the second problem is that there are almost no maico parts available. any way help appreciated.
 
B

Blink-182

Member
Feb 2, 2008
127
0
take apart the carb and clean it out clean the jets and everything when i clean it i shoot compressed air through them
 
D

dirt bike dave

Sponsoring Member
May 3, 2000
5,348
3
When the stator went bad on my old '84 KDX200, it exhibited similar tendencies. Having the stator rewound cured the problem.

BTW, one of my friends had a 490 Sand Spider back in the day, and that bike had one of the sweetest motors of all time. Loads of fun to ride.
 
E

Enduro_Nut

~SPONSOR~
Feb 7, 2002
1,155
0
That bike is soooo hard to start it needs to be sold to me!LOL!!
Seriously, they are hard to start from the stand point of it being a big bore bike and the kick stroke needs to be followed through properly... I notice this on my '81 490(same motor).
 
S

sm7482

Member
Jan 29, 2008
224
0
yeah it's a cool bike, all the bikes he has are awsome. he has 2 maico 400's a maico 490 two bultaco's an 86 cr125, two ct90's and a an older like 70's yahmaha hill climber with the huge swing arm and metal paddles, and a z50. Only problem is the only bikes that run are the 490 and the cr125. We were actually talking about selling some at the long beach motorcycle swapmeet but thats off topic. He told me today that when he first went to start it that one day, the carb was overflowing so he pulled it apart andmessed with the float and got it to stop leaking, could that float adjustment have caused it to become hard to start? Does Bing still make carbs by any chance?
 

whenfoxforks-ruled

Old MX Racer
~SPONSOR~
Oct 19, 2006
8,129
2
Merrillville,Indiana
You had better believe the issue could be the stopping of fuel being the problem. It is a bing carb, they are finicky and temperamental!
 
E

Enduro_Nut

~SPONSOR~
Feb 7, 2002
1,155
0
whenfoxforks-ruled said:
You had better believe the issue could be the stopping of fuel being the problem. It is a bing carb, they are finicky and temperamental!
Click to expand...
Well said! This is one reason so many guys(including myself) change the bikes over to Mikuni - another issue with Bing, VERY expensive to find nos parts for repairs.
 

Rich Rohrich

Moderator / BioHazard
LIFETIME SPONSOR
Jul 27, 1999
22,839
16,904
Chicago
The 38mm Mikuni VM body carb is an easy upgrade, and makes for a really well mannered Maico.
It's not a coincidence that they call the Bing a metered leak. :rotfl:

We even stuck Mikunis on the new Maicos way back when. Look closely and you'll see the Mikuni in the picture.


 
Last edited:

whenfoxforks-ruled

Old MX Racer
~SPONSOR~
Oct 19, 2006
8,129
2
Merrillville,Indiana
That is outstanding, I was throwing away the keihn carbs, 79 to 82, and putting the same mikuni on Honda's. I even ran that carb on an old kx 80. It had one heck of a top end! Great carb to jet with.
 

VintageDirt

Baked Spud
LIFETIME SPONSOR
Jan 1, 2001
3,043
9
You know, technically, there were no spiders until 83, when they had a real clutch and a rear suspension that didn't bind up and bend the Corto Cosso like over cooked spaggetti.

I'm just sayin', technically speaking.
 

VintageDirt

Baked Spud
LIFETIME SPONSOR
Jan 1, 2001
3,043
9
By the way, if you need Maico parts you're practically right next door to Vintage Iron in Yorba Linda. If that Dik Hed Rick Doughty likes you he'll treat you fine. Just don't try to return any parts that he says fit your bike, even if they don't. www.vintageiron.com
 
S

sm7482

Member
Jan 29, 2008
224
0
nice pick ther Rich Rohrich. SO a mikuni vm 38mm will fit? what kind of rejeting will be required? And i bet bing parts are hard to get. Theres a place out in ontario CA called maico's only. He was telling me about them because one of the maico 400's steering cup has gotten oval shaped and he wanted an estimate of howmuch it would be to replace it. Maico's only seems like an alright place in fact they have a website but that guy never replies to emails. http://www.maicoonly.com/
 
S

sm7482

Member
Jan 29, 2008
224
0
not the carb

its the spark. the bike would only give spark every other kik so we replaced the coil and electronic ignition that is on the flywheel and it quit giving spark completly! we kept switching the parts back and forth and no spark! what could be wrong? all wires are clean, secure.
 

whenfoxforks-ruled

Old MX Racer
~SPONSOR~
Oct 19, 2006
8,129
2
Merrillville,Indiana
Seemed to me that the ignitions was like the carb. You need a multi tester and some specs. There should be a cdi box, square and hooked up in the wires. That is the brain.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar Topics

M
Hard Starting 95 RM 250
Replies
9
Views
3K
blanc
B
K
'02 CR250R will not rev out......sometimes!
Replies
21
Views
9K
kooldad
K
G
2001 yz250f wont rev...
Replies
9
Views
3K
grass-digger
G
S
Need help reading plugs that i keep fouling.
Replies
3
Views
1K
Rich Rohrich
S
1982 xr100 running rich, need help
Replies
11
Views
5K
sm7482
S
Cookies are required to use this site. You must accept them to continue using the site. Learn more…