ttr 125 wont start???

[fishoutofwater]

let me start off by saying i dont really know the first thing about dirt bike. i do all my own mechanical work on my cars but this is completely new to me. so my friend has a yamaha TTR 125, not sure on the year. 2003-2005 i think. but he used to ride it once in a while then let it sit. so its been sitting for quite some time with gas in the tank and everything. he pretty much parked it in the shed and left it. we decided to try and get her running but she doesnt want to start. we drained out the old gas and poured new gas in. checked the spark plug, charged the battery. it sounds like it wants to start but it doesnt. we gotit started a few times when spraying carb cleaner directly in the carb but it just dies right away. any help would be much appreciated and the more detail the better. i tried using the search but couldnt come up with anything.

 

[Rich Rohrich]

When it sits with old gas in the carb deposits form that will plug up the pilot (low speed) jet. When this is plugged up, it will be nearly impossible to start, and if it does start it won't stay running. You'll have to pull the carb, remove the pilot jet and clean it out. Make sure the reset of the jets are clear while you are in there and you should be good to go.

The factory service manual has good pictures of the carb parts, which makes it a really simple job.

 

[_JOE_]

Yeah, it's really easy to get to the jets. You may want to try to find a step bigger jet to replace it with as they're really lean from the factory.

 

[fishoutofwater]

I pulled the carb, took everything apart and cleaned the crap out of everything and it's a little better but still doesn't run. It starts up slot easier after cleaning all the gunk out but still won't idle by itself.

 

[_JOE_]

Yeah, it's really easy to get to the jets. You may want to try to find a step bigger jet to replace it with as they're really lean from the factory.

 

[Patman]

Define "cleaned the crap out of everything..." what did you use to clean it? Yes it could matter so fess up :)

 

[fishoutofwater]

I used carb cleaner

 

[_JOE_]

It's possible that there is hardened deposits in the jet. It may need to be soaked or cleaned with a small wire. Even then it will likely be lean. You can save yourself some time and just replace the jet with a one size bigger. They're cheap.

 

[hoosierf]

I would pull the aluminum choke body out of the carb and clean it up. You may even need to replace some parts. But, I find the choke parts are often the cause of the hard starting on the TTR's.

 

[_JOE_]

Great point Hoosierf. Mine gets gunky in a hurry. Good thing it's really easy to service if you don't let it get too bad.

 

[Rooster]

I'll third that on the "choke" issue. Just had that problem with Squeaky's TTR, the plunger was stuck in the carb body.

 

[John92YJ]

the wife's ran like ____ when we got it so i cleaned the carb and put hotter gets in it and it runs great, but the float still sticks allot