Where are the motorcycle guys?
 

Just picked up a Buell Blast from a friend of mine who has had it sitting in his storage unit for over two years. He bought it for his girlfriend to ride, which she never did, so now it's my new toy. Now, I literally know nothing about bikes and I'm not very mechanically inclined, so I'm going to do my best here.

The tank still had gas in it when I picked it up and was told that it would start if you sprayed some starter fluid into the carb. Tried that and got it to start, but it would immediately die.

I took the carb off to find it completely filled with gelled up gas. I sprayed it all out and got all of the gunk out. Took the jets out and sprayed them with carb cleaner and made sure they were clean as well. Put it all back together and gave it another go with fresh gas without any luck. I had it running for a few seconds as long as I kept the throttle wide open and had sprayed carb cleaner in the carb then it would die again.

I've got it apart again now to go back through it, but figured I'd ask here since I know quite a few of you ride. Is there anything I'm missing? The fuel line is clean and the petcock valve is good to go. Spark plug appears to be in great shape and the air filter looks fairly new as well.

had it running a few seconds with the choke on or off? the idle set too low maybe?

No choke on the Buell Blast.

is the petcock open? if it only works with the squirt of carb cleaner, then it's not getting any gas at all it seems. or is there gas in the bowl after you try?

Yeah, it's open and there was gas in the carb when I just pulled it earlier. I had it running for about 20-30 seconds at most but I was hammering down on the throttle. Damn vance and hines exhaust was loud! LOL

Going to try and clean the pilot jet again and see if that'll help

Then I'd suspect the main jet also.

You would also want to flush the tank and the fuel lines.

Im not familiar with the buel.

what he said that "gel" you found is ethanol and its a problem for any engine that sits up for a long time. You have to flush and clean the entire fuel system

Clean your spark plugs yet?

i'd go with plugs and fuel lines. pretty simple fixes really

Swished some gas around in the tank and drained it. Also made sure the fuel line to the carb was clean. Petcock + fuel filter I guess it is was also cleaned.

I sprayed it off with some carb cleaner. It didn't look bad at all. Going to order a new one here shortly.

I've worked several times on bikes that have been sitting for a while. It's all about cleaning everything out. Also, you can put a little racing fuel in there. Once you have the fuel system primed, there should no need for squirting something in the carb.

I have a couple bikes that are sitting right now that I plan on getting running before the end of the year. One is a CT90 and the other is a ATC 250R

ct90? that's a lil smaller than your roadking huh? hehe

Was having trouble getting a spark with mine, made the mistake of taking it to the worst shop on the planet, been sitting there for over 2 months now... driving me crazy.

It's has a carb on it, oh man, the pilot jets are clogged, that's why it wont idle, the jets are so small, good luck cleaning them, take the carb to a shop they will dip in a solution to clear it all out.

If you are feeling brave fill a bucket up with Top Job and let it soak in the bucket for an hour, that will loosen up the gunk, then flush it out.

The thing about a CT90 is anyone can ride it, 3 speed automatic, it can carry a deer on the back rack or a passenger. It can go anywhere a dirt bike can go and still be street legal. I want to use it for camping and doing beer runs. Also my girl I think will love it.

Sorry to hear about your problem, I'm doing all my own work on this, first step is going to be cleaning out the rust in the gas tank

Go ahead and replace the filter

Ayyyy guy! Long time.

I took the pilot and main jets out and sprayed them with some carb cleaner. They looked okay. Watched this video on how to do it - https://youtube.com/watch?v=DkcoPVKlCFk

Top Job = Bleach? I might give that a shot. If that doesn't work along with a new spark plug, I'll probably just end up taking the damn thing somewhere. Tired of messing with it already. Just want to hop on and learn to ride :winkwink: If I can find jets cheap enough, I might go and order them too. It has an exhaust, and I doubt my buddy jetted it before, so it might help.

This whole adventure started with a little Baja Warrior mini bike I picked up pretty cheap and was in great condition. Fun as hell to ride around the property and my oldest daughter loves it, but it's time for daddy to move on to something bigger and faster. :1orglaugh

Which? The one attached to the petcock valve?

The pilot jets are so small, almost impossible to get clean, just drop of the carb off have them clean it, that's all ya need, that and some fresh gas!

you might need an ultrasonic bath to clean the jets

If you open up the screw on the bowl to drain it and fuel comes out, your problem isn't the jets.
It's the carburetor itself. The passages inside the cast body of the carburetor are plugged.
You can either have it ultrasonic dipped, or just get a new one and save yourself any more trouble.
I'm an actual certified mechanic with 20 years experience.

If you're not getting any fuel out of the bowl drain then you need to follow that back towards the tank until you do find it.
That would be floats, needle and seat, fuel line, fuel filter, and petcock valve.
The blast is purely a torque engine. It has very little horsepower and a short rev.
It's more or less a 1200 sportster engine with the entire rear cylinder removed.
Still fun for short rides.

buy new $3 jets.

Replace all fuel filters.

Replace (not clean) main and idle jet. They have tiny holes in them and you arent getting them cleaned out good enough. Dont be poking wires in there, they are made out of brass and you'll make the holes bigger and give yourself a new set of problems.

I've gone through this several times.

Get a bottle of StaBil and go squirt it in your friend's eyes for not adding it to the gas and running the engine with it before he stored the bike.

any and all; I am not sure how many the Buell has but as noted by others, you are not going to clean that shit out