Suzuki Dirt Bikes Forum

My son has a 2003 Suzuki RM 125, we had a repair shop put in a new piston & rings a couple weeks ago.  When I picked up the bike from the shop, the owner of the shop turned on the fuel to start the bike and fuel started running out, he turned it off, got a wrench, and tapped the carb, saying that the float bowls must be sticking.  He turned on the fuel again; everything was fine I took the bike home.  My son raced that weekend but we still had intermittent problems with the fuel running out, but after tapping and running the bike it would seem to quit.  The next week my son was riding at home & the bike quit, a racing friend looked at the bike & found that the new piston was pitted, also at that time he looked through the carb knowing about the "sticking bowl problem", he was able to temporally fix the bike to race that weekend.  This past weekend we again replaced the piston rings, gaskets etc.. My son went to test ride it yesterday, turned on the gas and it just ran out of the bottom. Help!  HELP!! Could this fuel problem be tearing up the piston because it’s running to lean?  If so, what can we do to fix the carb?    

A float stuck open will make the bike run rich - not lean.  The dealer 'tapped' on the carb to fix a sticking float - nice.  Did he get his mechanics certification out of a gumball machine?  OK - from here on out we will refer to him as MORON.  Calling him a mechanic is an insult to the rest of us.

Take the bike back to MORON and have him pay to get it fixed properly.  Tell MORON that you don't want him to fix it - you want someone who actually KNOWS something about motorcycle repair to do it.  

Your piston being pitted is doe to pre-ignition which could be caused by a lean mixture, among other things..  
Since when is Dirt blue??!!!

tapping the bowl thats classic...basically hes saying..."oh man what the hell is wrong with this thing oh wait what if I...TAP, TAP, TAP, TAP there it stopped...man I look good in these mechanic gloves"  

take it back and have it fixed properly either the carb is dirty and it just needs a good cleaning or you need a new needle and seat...how does the float stick, stick on what??  

All kidding aside, if a mechanic tried this crap on me, I'd probably beat him senseless right then and there... And then make sure to tell everyone at the track what an idiot he is.
Unbelievable.  Maybe if you TAP on his skull a few times his brain will start working!  
Since when is Dirt blue??!!!

skipkh:
All kidding aside, if a mechanic tried this crap on me, I'd probably beat him senseless tight then and there... And then make sure to tell everyone at the track what an idiot he is.
Unbelievable.  Maybe if you TAP on his skull a few times his brain will start working!

dont hold back skip tell us how you really feel  

Irritates me to no end.. some of the crap I've seen shops pull is nearly laughable - until someone gets hurt

My GF takes her car in to get the transaxle replaced.  The MORON at that shop torques the wheels down to around 150 ft lbs.  A few hundred miles later - the front end bearings are shot - he torqued the lugs so tight, he warped the hubs, and the hubs have pressed-in wheel bearings.  So I called and told him to pay for it.  He refused.  I took the car to Chrysler who gave me a letter stating the failure was caused by overtorque of the wheel nuts - he still refused.  So me and about a half doxen buddies went over to his shop for a little 'chat' - we left with the car, and the car had brand new bearings in it.  

Another story.  I bought a brand new BMW M3 in carbon black a couple years ago.  Dealer wanted to detail it.  OK.. sounds nice!  Came back a few hours later and the paint was BURNED!  Idiot in the shop got after it with a high speed acrylic wheel and some abrasive polishing compound.  I stopped payment on the check - the dealer sued me saying I had to buy it, since I signed the paperwork, and we went to court.  I didn't end up having to buy the car, and he had to caugh up about $11,000 in legal fees.

Idiots, I swear...  
Since when is Dirt blue??!!!

yeah I hear ya on that one buddy...another thing that bothers me to no end and a buddy "mechanic" friend does this alot is instead of fixing something with new parts or proper replacement he "mcgivers" it back together and people are paying for this stuff I mean come on really do it right or dont do it>>>  

OH - nice!!!  I got one for you... the Suzuki shop near my house used to pull all the 'special' $30 NGK plugs from the brand new RM 2-strokes and put BR8ES plugs in them before the sold the bikes.  When the new owner would come in a week or so later for a new plug, the dealer would SELL him the $30 plug that came with his bike, and insist he could NOT use the BR8ES/BR8EG.  How's that for down low and dirty?  
Since when is Dirt blue??!!!

that right there is just not right man...stuff like that needs to be reported, thats just wrong man..  

What??? I'm appalled! No Duct tape? i'm real surprised the TAP and GO dint work.
Hmmm??? Ask what he used to tap on the bowl with,
Then tap him on the forhead with it. Then ask..Now did that fix YOU...Moron?
Then ask for the manager and TELL them you wan't your bike fixed RIGHT!!! It's what you paid for the FIRST time!  

Go get 'em Tigger!  
Since when is Dirt blue??!!!

After paying over $400 to fix the bike and this is what we get, we've decided to do the work ourselves, especially since we're in the middle of race season. Getting a bike back in time is nearly impossible. We've managed to learn the piston, ring & gasket replacement gig, hopefully with a manual and some asking around we can do this too.  I mean really what do you need?? Gaskets, a needle, boot? What else?  

If I were you I'd yank the carb and replace the float needle and seat - the parts are cheap and readily available. While in there, set the flaot heigt to the proper level.  This will take care of your overflow proplem.  Also - whenever the engine is off, make sure the fuel valve on the gas tank is off too.

Your engine is pitting the piston because of pre-ignition.  We can help.  What premix ratio are you using?  What type of gas?  What altitude do you race at?  and what jets are in your carb now?  
Since when is Dirt blue??!!!

We bought the bike used and the guy had been running Castrol 32:1 so it's what we continued, we use 91 or 92 octane and we live in the midwest Kansas City to be specific.  As far as the jets go, not sure.  

your premix is fine, and your gas is too.  Pinging in this case would be jetting and/or timing.

You need to pull the carb to replace the float needle anyway, so while you are in there let us know what jets you've got going.  We can help you get is sorted.  
Since when is Dirt blue??!!!