Taotao 125cc pit bike wont start
 

I have the above bike and it will not start. It has a kick start FYI so it has no battery. I have drained gas, cleaned carb and still wont start. It will crank for a second when I add starter fluid to it but dies quickly there after. I am not sure what else to try. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Is this with our without choke

It will not start with the choke on or off.

Blow air through fuel lines. Clogged passage in carb.

I have tried blowing air through it and still nothing. It is getting gas as I have tested the fuel line to make sure. I feel like it is not getting the gas back up into the carb from the bowl. I may have to breakdown and buy a carb as not sure what else to do or try at this point.

Did you open the float bowl drain screw to see if gas is getting to the carb? It could possibly be a stuck-closed float needle, and the bowl isn't filling up with gas.

Yes when I open that up gas comes out. So I know it is getting gas so I feel like it is just not coming back up into the carb as it should. I even tried taking a pipe cleaner to it. I wish I could open the bowl up to see if there is something still blocking it. It fires up on first kick every time I add starter fluid to it. So I know it is getting a spark and the motor is not locked up. Frustrating.

I take it that your carb float bowl is riveted shut? Making it impossible to access the pilot and main jets. I'm betting there is a clogged pilot jet, preventing fuel pickup at startup.


If it isn't too much of a PITA, can you post some pics of the carb you have, so we can see what you're dealing with?

I have attached some pictures. I had to take it off to take these and it had gas in the bowl. When I turned it upside down to see if gas would come out of the main jet nothing came out. Not sure if this is normal or not but it did flow out of the main gas line hole and a hole at the top of the carb which seems like a vent hole in the carb. I circled it on the pic.

Here are the pics

Unfortunately, since you can't access the float or float needle, pilot jet, main jet, or even the air/fuel mixture screw, my suggestion would be to get a comparable carb that you can actually fine-tune and dial in, like THIS ONE. It uses Mikuni Jets and has a removable float bowl and access to the air/fuel screw. If you just want the carb alone, you can find that right HERE

When the carb is turned upside down, the main jet is then at the very top, very little if any gas will backflow through the hole in the carb throat. The circled part is indeed a bowl vent, to equalize the pressure in the bowl, and will spill gas out when you tip it sideways.

When you said you cleaned the carb, I thought you meant including the jets. But since you can't access the jets, very likely the pilot is clogged as dirtbkr188 said. Either get the bowl off via slotting the fasteners and replacing with regular screws, if this is possible, or get a new carb as was already recommended. If you keep that carb, also drill out the brass cover that seals in the air/fuel mixture screw.

And also BTW having kick start does not necessarily mean no battery.

Well I drilled out the bolts to the bowl and I think you all are right and jets are clogged. Before I go messing things up I want to make sure the 2 items I have circled (Jets) should they not have a hole that goes all the way through to the side I have circled? There was buildup on the end and I tried to clean it off but I am still not sure if there should not be a hole there? I feel like there should as I am not sure how else it would get gas back up into the port. Let me know your thoughts and thank you all as you have been very helpful.

Yep, the main jet in the center is visibly clogged, the best way to remove it is to first slide the pin that is holding the white plastic float out, and carefully lift the float straight up. If it resists, the float needle underneath may be stuck in the seat. If the float and needle come out, carefully set them down so the needle doesn't slide off the tang of the float. Then use an 8mm (usually) box wrench to undo the hex portion under the main jet and thread that out. The next step is to use a small straightslot to remove the pilot jet, which is to the right of the main jet in your pic. Once you have removed both of them, you now have to clean them, not an easy task, as it looks pretty crusty on the main jet. Soaking the jets in carb or contact cleaner is a start, and may take a while. Ideally, the jets will have size numbers on them, but not likely. Some people poke a very small guitar string or piece of wire brush wire to clear the jets, I'm not a big fan of doing that.
The bottom part of the main jet is called the emulsion tube, and you'll see some holes drilled into the sides of that, sometimes they get clogged and need to be cleaned also. Once you clean the face of the main jet, you can separate it from the emulsion tube with a straightslot, to clean it better.
Spraying carb or contact cleaner in all the openings of the carb body, followed with blowing them out with compressed air may clear them out. The best solution would be removing the air/fuel screw and idle screw and having the carb and all parts cleaned in an ultrasonic dip tank. Short of that, maybe you'll get lucky and be able to get it to work for you.