..not sure what the reason for this could be , should start fine

recent repairs:
-adjusted my valve clearance
-set cam timing
-installed a manual Krieger cct
-checked spark plug (light tan)
-cleaned the carb (didn't take out any pilots or use a needle brush just sprayed really good , didn't even look dirty)
-have an old air filter , little bit dirty (put a new one in, but then it started backfiring a lot so I swapped to the old)
-carb is stock , lean as sh**
-small tapping (might need new rings soon)

driving:
bike runs strong , never dies , runs smooth , idles fine
I let the float bowl fill up a little before I try starting ,
I drain the float bowl after each ride and I ride almost every day.
might need rings
Before I cleaned the carb and put the OLD air filter back in the new one
was leaking filter oil out of the drain hose (I think that got into the carb but shouldn't be an issue cuz I cleaned the carb)







issue:
bike used to start with just the choke ...

now I open choke and also have to...
1) hold the starter for like 5 sec
2) OR I have give it a little throttle
Either one works exactly the same overtime

..also the bike backfires a little more

 

Better check "-set cam timing"

 

And jet the carb next time in that area. My bike starts in a second or two when cold and on a warm day is off choke in around 10 seconds, a minute if it is cooler. Best thing you can do for starting. If you do Keihin/Kawaaki jets check the cheap hop up link in my signature. If you go with Dyno Jet look for KLXter's post, he knows the Dyno Jet stuff.

 

Not really familiar with carbs so I'm not sure about moding, Id have to do some googling first..
im considering it tho , its just feels so lean ...I was hoping to keep the bike stock when I first bought it.
Also worried I might get smelly gas smells from moding the carb ..??? idk some forum users told me they didn't have issues.

What about just removing the air screw plug ? and adjusting the screw ?
what exactly is "jetting the carb" , replacing the brass things with ones with wider holes?
...again clearly I'm new to carbs lol not exactly sure what everything is called or even how things works.


...the MAIN thing I' want to avoid is running too rich and ruining the motor.
avoiding motor damage is prob my main mission with the bike lol.
just want to make sure I do things right before I start anything...

 

do you mean ... checking the timing marks again? I've must have checked it adjusted about a million times perfectly but
I guess it could have got messed up by the auto CCT and when I was tuning the manual CCT...

 

Did you move the chain or the cams when you did the shims?
what do you mean when you said "set cam timing"?

 

If you did the valves, the carb is a cake walk. The only catch in the whole thing is the diaphragm. It should be put in a container of hot water to keep it supple for reinstallation. Seems it can either expand or contract if allowed to dry out. The rest of it is just taking stuff out and replacing it. You don't have to do the drilling if you don't want to. It was pretty easy, far easier than doing valve adjustment. If you do what is in the hop ups it will be near spot on. We are at 900 ft and it was virtually perfect. Far better for the engine than stock lean jetting.

 

just set the intake and exhaust marks (on the cam shaft sprockets) the way the manual says to
I didn't move the chain I just rotated the cam shaft sprockets until they were in the right position

made sure that it counted 32 pins across.

 

"hop ups"?

is there a tutorial on re-jetting?
do people usually drill out the plug when the re-jet?

 

Why did you do this?
Your ignition and your cams may not be in time. And if you did not have the engine TDC on the compression cycle, your evaluation of the shims on your camshaft is suspect also.

If you had the engine at TDC on the compression cycle, your cams should have been pretty close, not 32 pins off (whatever that was suppose to mean, I have no idea). When you did your shims you should not have rotated the crank or repositioned the rotation of the cams in any way.

From the internet it is hard to determine what you did.

I don't know if the valves can hit the piston, but I suspect that they can... that tapping noise after you worked on it does not sound good. I guess you should run a compression test to see if the valves are bent. If you don't have good compression or don't want to have to go back in, you might as well pull the head and have a shop inspect the valves and repair.