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Okay folks. This year has sucked. I've made 2 race weekends. My bike has ran like shit through them all. I crashed out of two races, finished one race in last place after my bike dying on the grid, and pulled out of two races. Last season my bike ran absolutely mint, every weekend. During the winter tear down, I noticed the play in my crank (giggity) was out of spec, so I rebuilt the motor. The bike is an 02 CRF450. This is what I have done since then:
Hot rods crank, bearings, and seals.
12.5:1 wiseco piston and rings for stock bore (exact same as what was in there)
New valves seats and guides along with OEM valves, springs, retainers done my millenium technologies (pretty much a brand new head)
Now, the bike starts and runs beautifully. When riding, it ABSOLUTELY RIPS. Noticeably more powerful than last year, the motor was tired then.
The problem is that it WON'T IDLE! If I turn the idle up a bit it stays running forever, but that is not a good fix.
This may not seem like a big deal, but, once warm these things don't like to start. Meaning yeah, I could go shut it off on the grid and feather the throttle to start it, but that means I gotta hope it restarts when I want it to.
The other option, which is what I tried the two race weekends I actually made it there, is turn the idle up so it does not die. The problem here is that my bike is overheating by the time the race starts and then makes no power throughout the race.
I'm led to believe this is a carb issue, I just can't diagnose it. By memory, I'm at a 162 main, 42 slow, 3rd clip on the needle, 1.25 turns out of fuel screw. I will confirm this later on...regardless, I'm looking for a direction suggestion like "larger main" or "lower clip position" so the specific jets I'm running should not be a HUGE concern.
Plugs indicate that everything is normal. I have taken the carb off and checked the jets/needle many times. They are not clogged and the needle does not show signs of wear. I've played with the fuel screw and the clip position on the needle and can not find a working combination.
What else am I missing, what else could be contributing to this? I'm fairly certain I won't be racing in October but you never know. Regardless, I want this fixed so I can either sell, continue racing, or run this thing in the dirt.
Thoughts?