250sx used 5L of fuel in 20min, could the float be too high?

[mikekx102]

Hey guys, I'm trying to find out why my bike chews through so much fuel.

I went to the dunes the other day and my bike used 5L in 20min. Sure it was in dunes, but thats still a heck of fuel for that amount of time with stock jetting.

the bike's an 09 250SX with "stock jetting" (thats what the guy i bought it off said). The bike feels rich, as ive set the idle as max on the carb, but the bike still idles heaps low and when idling low doesnt really like the throttle snapped on.

Also, when i rode it around the backyard i turned around at the gate, and saw drops of liquid on the ground where i just turned around.🤣

(the bike was nearly verticle when i turned around and i hadnt just topped up the coolant)

What do you guys think? 🙂 Is it the float level? (aswell as a too big pilot jet?) Oh and how would i fix it?

thanks, Mike. 👍

[Mike in Fresno]

all KTm 2 st I have or have seen have the float too high. I set them so it wont leak out til at about a 45* angle, or at least at side stand level. It will carb better cuz its not forcing fuel into the circuit and will get better mileage. It may fix most of your low idle speed problems.

[mikekx102]

how could i lower the level or measure it?

(the manual doesnt say how) 👍

[rpt50]

There is a ton of jetting information on KTM talk. I also have an 09 250 sx, and I went with the JD kit, but up one size on the main compared to what comes with the JD kit. James is very helpful via email in fine tuning the bike.

I sure does sound like you have a float problem though, as that consumption seems high. I've always done float level by "eyeball" (check jetting guides on the web), but maybe you could just pull your carb and have them set it correctly at your local KTM dealer???

[Pedroski]

If you have the float level set by a KTM dealer it will probably again be too high as they will follow the spec in the book.

Remove carb, remove float bowl, and you'll see the metal tang on the float that pushes the float needle up. Slightly bend this so it pushes the float needle earlier than the spec says. There's something in the FAQ here I'm sure, and it's been covered in plenty of other threads with the finer details of how to do it. I don't have time at the moment to search.

[Mike in Fresno]

I just eyeball it too, has always worked for me