2003 Kawasaki Lakota Sport Throttle Problems

[verve]

So my Lakota Sport isn't running right. It starts and idles fine but gags out (doesn't die) when I hit the throttle unless I go super slow and once I get to the high revs I can play with the throttle all i want. I have so far; put in new gas, cleaned air filter, cleaned carb, changed spark plug, adjusted throttle cable, valves were adjusted about a year ago with only a couple rides on it. Any ideas?

[DirtDemon]

When you cleaned the carb, didi you find any gummed fuel or debris? Did you blow out ALL passages and vents with compressed air? It sounds like you may have something stuck in your pilot jet, or maybe the fuel screw needs adjustment. Wouldn't hurt to check compression and timing chain/tensioner.

[Sc0tt]

It sounds like a carb problem.

[verve]

I just found the carb had a little dirt in it the first time. So I took the carb apart again and used air and double checked this time to make sure jets were clear. Now it barely idles for a short time and I can't give it any gas cause it dies out. I don't see what I can adjust in the carb, here is a link to the OEM drawings of my carb 2003 Kawasaki KEF300-B3 Lakota Sport OEM Parts, 2003 Kawasaki KEF300-B3 Lakota Sport OEM Motorcycle Parts - BikeBandit.com

[DirtDemon]

Fisrt thing I would check is the fuel screw adjustment, you may have screwed it in all the way when you put the carb back together. It really sounds like you aren't getting enough fuel, if the fuel screw doesn't help, check the float, float pin and seat.

[Ajmboy]

I agree with DD, sounds like not enough fuel.

* Adjusted thread title and included issue and full year for searches.

[verve]

You have to bare with me cause I am no mechanic. If your talking about the screw to adjust the feul/idle speed I did play with that and there is only one spot were the bike with start and barely idles, if I try and increase or decrease the flow it just dies. The float in the carb doesn't have much movement so it barely moves the float valve(normal? I can't see a way to change that).

I guess now that I think about that, I was moving the float with the carb upside down so i can see it having more valve movement when its flipped over. Im lost! :willy_nillyc:

Edited March 2, 2010 by verve
mor info

[DirtDemon]

The pilot screw is part # 16014 on the diagram, it looks like it would be located on the bottom of the carb, just in front of the float bowl. The hand screw that adjusts the idle is different. The pilot screw should be turned out a bit, contact a Kawasaki dealer tech or consult a manual to find out exactly how far. I would guess that it should be about 1 1/2 to 2 turns out. Did you check to see if the diaphragm is in good shape?

The float should move freely quite a bit. The float valve should move a good 1/4" or so. If it doesn't move enough, the pin that holds the float in place could be bent, there might be something obstructing the movement of the float or you could maybe even have the float in upside down. I took some pictures of the float on an old Kehin carb I have lying around. The float and bowl on this carb may be a bit larger than yours, but this should still give you a general idea of how much movement you should have on the float and pin. The float will actually roll up and pull the pin out of the seat hole if the float body didn't hit the plastic buffer plate.

Edited March 3, 2010 by DirtDemon

[verve]

Thanks for helping DD. So I played with the adjustment on the Pilot, now it idles better but I still can not give it gas or it dies. The diaphram looks good, The float is in correctly. So here are some pics of the carb and shows the float movement, maybe this will help.

[DirtDemon]

Every thing does look clean and in order there. I see that the float is in correctly, but have you checked the adjustment? Do you have a fuel filter on the machine? If you do, try removing it and see if there is any improvement. Another tip, if you get into your carb alot, the phillips head screws get stripped easily. I like to replace them with socket cap hex screws. They are much easier to deal with since it is easier to get an allen wrench in there with the carb still on and they don't strip like phillips heads do.

[verve]

Problem solved! So it was not a throttle or carb or gas problem. The battery went bad and would't hold a charge about two years ago and I have just been using the pull start and that worked fine for me. Every time I worked on the bike it just kept getting harder to start and today I was to tired to keep yanking on the pull start so I hooked it up to a battery charger on start assist. It fired right up and runs like a champ. I guess the battery deteriorated enough and the bike doesn't create enough charge it self. So new battery and no more problem. I tell you what, I have one clean carb now.

[DirtDemon]

Good to hear you got it running good again. Keep an eye on the battery though, if you were having trouble before at low engine speeds, that could be an indication that your stator is on it's way out. Once the machine is running, it should run off the stator, the battery should have no effect on performance unless the stator is not producing enough power at low engine speeds, or you had a bad connection somewhere. I would check the output from the stator at an idle just to make sure. If it was just a bad connection that was incidentally fixed when you replaced the battery, then everything should be fine.

[Sc0tt]

Good to hear that you go it solved. I found out a long time ago that the Lakota has to have a battery or it will not run.