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Hey guys! I am new here, but I have been riding my 98' KDX 220R for 7 years now, just did a full rebuild and started the bike last night. The bike started 3rd kick, ran great, then died 45 seconds later. I am assuming the carb does not have fuel and am wondering what I should do. Any help is greatly appreciated.

Welcome to kdxrider.net.

What have you tried since then?

KDXGarage wrote: 04:07 pm Jul 27 2020 Welcome to kdxrider.net.

What have you tried since then?

I read a previous post that mentioned something about tipping the bike on its side to fill the carb bowl, prior to starting but to no avail. Should the bike accept fuel in the carb w/no prep after being cleaned and drained?

Yes, the carb bowl should fill without any special actions. Start at the fuel cap and work your way downstream making sure you have fuel at each point. Remove the cap and check (a vacuum lock from a bad vent could prevent fuel flow), check the fuel tap, check the carb itself...

I just finished a rebuilld on 250, I know a different animal, but if you lubed everything real good like you should, your plug might be fouled already. You may have checked that it, but its a real easy one before you start tearin into stuff.

also- you may have got the float hung up when puttin bowl on or sometimes the stupid thing just sticks.

pull tube off carb, see if gas flows,
smack carb a couple times with but of screw driver
change spark plug

if that doesn't work then I would check float height, but if that was the issue the bike would run and start after letting it fill again for the same amount of time.

I bet it starts after trying that, as long you didnt hear anything funny right?

G22inSC wrote: 05:18 pm Jul 27 2020 Yes, the carb bowl should fill without any special actions. Start at the fuel cap and work your way downstream making sure you have fuel at each point. Remove the cap and check (a vacuum lock from a bad vent could prevent fuel flow), check the fuel tap, check the carb itself...

I went ahead and manually removed the bottom of the carb and filled it with gas, the bike started right up after that. Upon removing the hose from the bottom of the tank to the carb I noticed that the fuel does not flow freely between the two, I will go ahead and remove the gas cap to see if that helps with the suction

PacificNWRider wrote: 05:24 pm Jul 27 2020 I just finished a rebuilld on 250, I know a different animal, but if you lubed everything real good like you should, your plug might be fouled already. You may have checked that it, but its a real easy one before you start tearin into stuff.

also- you may have got the float hung up when puttin bowl on or sometimes the stupid thing just sticks.

pull tube off carb, see if gas flows,
smack carb a couple times with but of screw driver
change spark plug

if that doesn't work then I would check float height, but if that was the issue the bike would run and start after letting it fill again for the same amount of time.

I bet it starts after trying that, as long you didnt hear anything funny right?

Thankfully, the bike sounds good when it’s running, I think there is a bad connection between the fuel tank and the carb as it is not flowing freely

Yep, sounds like you got it

PacificNWRider wrote: 09:13 pm Jul 27 2020 Yep, sounds like you got it

If there is a fuel flow issue, but no blockage what would it be? When I turn the fuel valve on fuel comes out for a second then drips to a stop, I can repeat this cycle over again with the same result. How do I break that cycle to get fuel flowing freely?

Sounds as if you have a blockage in your petcock. Take the fuel line off both ends and blow it out to make sure its clear. Then check your petcock flow on both ON and RES and see if they are the same or not. after that you can disassemble the petcock to clear any blockage internally.

bufftester wrote: 04:57 pm Jul 28 2020 Sounds as if you have a blockage in your petcock. Take the fuel line off both ends and blow it out to make sure its clear. Then check your petcock flow on both ON and RES and see if they are the same or not. after that you can disassemble the petcock to clear any blockage internally.

Awesome! I will give that a shot, thank you!

you can blow through it may work temporarily but I definitely think it is in your best interest to take the tank off and give it a flush, something may have gotten in there, if its clogged up from debri it will blow it out of the screen in the pet cock and around in your tank, soon to be gathered at the petcock again, so thats why i say rinse it, also you can put the new petcock on as well, see below..

I actually went through the whole process with mine... the petcock tubes have a really fine screen on them where the gas enters and if they have gotten clogged up it will be hard to clean it , scrubbing a tiny plastic filter. they are pretty much a one time use type filter, as in once they get plugged up, your way better off getting a new one.

so $12 on ebay and a few days later I got the new petcock and its definitely a decent built little unit. brand new screens, turns smoothly, and comes with a new rubber gasket. If your in a hurry, your local bike store may have it, I think they are pretty generic.

In my case the screens were ok shape but there was so much corrosion in the pipe... you can see what it looks like in the pic below if you haven't seen one.

****Definitely make sure the tank cap is off when you open the petcock, blocked tank vent as mentioned previously would cause that exact symptom as well.