Hogwylde

Member
Aug 1, 2001
466
0
I've been reading all i can about how to jet and adjust the carb on my 93 KX 500, but i need a little advice from all you who have been doing this a while. When i'm riding easy from about 1/4 to 3/4 throttle, it's running kinda crappy (least i think it is)...kinda like a high speed machine gun and feels like it's only firing about half the time. My question is....am i running lean or rich?? I know i need to adjust the needle clip position, but since this is new to me after 20 years on a harley.....i dont know what lean or rich running sounds like. It idles pretty good and seems to have good off idle throttle response....and full throttle blasts are OH MY GOD! and sound good. so...any advice from all u experienced riders???
 

Buzz Bomb

Member
May 9, 2000
706
0
From what you describe, it sounds like you are running a little rich. To fix this, lower the clip one notch and see how it runs. If it's still rich, lower the clip one more position.

The way to tell if a bike is rich or lean is pretty simple. If the bike were running lean, it would bog like it was running out of gas and would have NO power. Your spark plug would look white in color as well. If the bike is rich, your spark plug will be black and oily, and the bike will seem to sputter and not run very crisply. The silencer will smoke a lot, too.
 

HiG4s

~SPONSOR~
Mar 7, 2001
1,311
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I think to lean the needle, you need to lower the needle which requires raising the clip? At least that is what I did on my bike.
 

Jaybird

Apprentice Goon
LIFETIME SPONSOR
Mar 16, 2001
6,452
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Charlestown, IN
You are correct, HiG4s.

Where are you in Hoosier land, Hogwylde?
 

Hogwylde

Member
Aug 1, 2001
466
0
jaybird....i reside in danville, just west of indianapolis.

thanx to those that replied. i thought was probably a little rich, but without knowing what it sounded like and felt like, i didn't want to just start fiddling with the carb and risk leaning it our further and causing a meltdown. I've got enough stuff to rebuild/replace on this thing before i start tryin to run some hare scrambles next year,
 

morlock

Member
Mar 28, 2001
30
0
Run your KX without the air filter(stay away from dirt!).See what happens,if it runs better your carb need leaner Jetting.An other thing you can try is to pull the choke while riding the bike.If things improve your carb needs richer Jetting.Good luck
 
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