Ok - so the bike is a jap import XR250 (S)
It has given me lots of fun trail riding but finally has gone on strike until I deal with some of the abuse it has suffered
My most pressing problem is that it won't start.
It started playing up after a wet ride - including some deep water, then when playing in Wiltshire I had to admit defeat and cut the ride short in the afternoon.
The symptoms were that it would lose power for a while - not start for a bit (leccy start) then restart and run OK until it met the slightest bit of damp.
I have now got a new spark plug in, new cap, HT lead and coil - I'm getting a nice big blue spark that will jump a good distance. The spark before was a little anaemic looking.
I stripped down and cleaned the carb, even getting the little 'wide open throttle' cam thing to work again (hadn't since I bought it).
Petrol is getting to the float bowl OK.
There is compression (pushes my finger off the plug hole when turned over).
Have run the battery flat a few times trying to get it going (the only time I've missed a kick start).
The nearest to life I got it was with a fully charged battery, squirting petrol down the air intake side of the carb, it chugged into life for a second or so.
At the moment I am working on the assumption that I have messed up something carb wise
and the original problem was down to a faulty coil/cap/lead.
The clue that something is amiss with the carb is that it is leaking slightly from where the float bowl meets the carb body.
My next problem is getting hold of a rebuild kit - as I say it's a jap import so doesn't seem to have the same carb as other folks XRs - lots of emission control bits and a needle and floats that are one position only.
I have clymer and haynes XR manuals but neither of them have a carb diagram that matches the one on the bike.
As a luddite exponant of cornish engineering ('hit it with a hammer') I would be grateful for some kind soul to give me some thoughts.
is it possible that with a leak from the float bowl/ carb body this means the carb is not able to suck petrol into the venturi?
Any body got any carb specialist links or contacts who might be able to source kits for a jap import bike?