TTR 230 Carb too rich stock?

[Lilysdad]

I'm not sure what you guys have run into when doing the carb mods, but after drilling out the plug in mine, I noticed the screw was at least 3 turns out. Soooo, I pulled the spark plug and found it fouled. Too rich? I thought these things came too lean from the factory. Anyone else have this?....and if so, did you notice any other oddities? Just got back into dirt riding after 35 years, so I'm kind of new to this, but I'm not new to engines...or the planet. I was expecting something else after reading all your very informative comments over the past 7 months. Thanks for those, by the way. I'm a huge fan of this forum, but can't post a lot because I take care of my 2 year old. One reason I bought a 230 instead of gasser. Thanks in advance.

[Punkinhead]

Seems odd that it was running rich. Maybe the screw position changed to a richer setting? I don't know what the setting should be before you drill out the cap and set the screw. The only time I've experienced a bike that was running rich when it's normally jetted lean is when the air filter is very dirty.

[Punkinhead]

One other thing. I assume you bought the bike used. Every time I buy a used bike, I treat it as if it never had any maintenance done to it regardless of how good it looks and sounds or what the previous owner said. Besides oil changes and valve adjustments, I take the carb apart, clean it by spraying out all the passages, inspect the jets and compare what jets are in there (and the needle clip position) to what they should be. You'd be surprised what people and even "professional" mechanics will do. It may seem like a lot of work, especially since it sounds like you're pressed for time with Junior, but I find the time by doing the work in little chunks or making the time. That sometimes means working on the bike past midnight or getting up before 6 am on a weekend to start working on the bike before Junior wakes up.

Good luck. Let us know what you find since we all can learn from it.

[Lilysdad]

The bike was new, '09, bought in Sept. 2010. It had 20 minutes of parking lot riding before it was put away for the winter. I had completely cleaned and re-jetted the carb. In fact, I had done nothing but mod the bike since my back went out. It was just this last mod that had me chasing my tail. Bad battery, fuel line clog, found ugly plug. Made me think the fuel screw might be indicative of other oddities other riders have found. But, after all that, it started like a champ, warmed up quickly and thanks to the new 15t CS, has usable first and second gears. So...maybe it's all just hand wringing.

[mwingard]

I too did the mods to the carb, exhaust and air filter recently. All went well, but after installing the larger pilot and main, I did notice that the air/fuel screw was out more than 1, probably more like 2 turns out from bottom. With the mods, I set it out 1 turn, then realized that the bike would cut out after me twisting the throttle real fast from idle. Opening up the screw another 1/4-1/2 turn helped.....might even go more. From what I have read, no more than 2 turns out. The mods were definetly worth it, real fun now and I haven't even changed out the sprocket to the larger 14T yet.