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As stated, I have a 1975 Honda XL 250. It has a 1 cylinder 250cc ~24hp carbureted engine. The problem I'm running into is an inconsistent idle. In general it seems to have a low idle (what I want it to idle at), and a high idle. Sometimes it will kind of stick at a high RPM and I'll have to open and drop the throttle real quick to get it down to where I set it.

This gets much, much worse when it's cold out. Riding it just now, it was at 2000 rpm for the low end, and most of the time would stick up at around 4000 rpm. And it gets worse the colder it gets out. I've had it going crazy at over 6000 rpm. Seems the colder it gets, the less my technique of opening and dropping the throttle works. I've had to adjust my idle screw on the fly just to get it to go down to an acceptable idle.

I have absolutely no idea what can be causing this. I recently cleaned the carb and rebuilt it with all new needles and everything. Any help is greatly appreciated.

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I would suspect that this is the problem:

I have absolutely no idea what can be causing this. I recently cleaned the carb and rebuilt it with all new needles and everything. Any help is greatly appreciated.

Rebuilding your carb is a tricky thing that if you don't get right could lead to the types of problems you have. I would take it to a bike shop and have it professionally rebuilt. OR you could try adjusting the idle screw on the carb, but it sounds like you may have the wrong jets and/or needle in the carb. You may have used the wrong kit.

I've had these same issues after rebuilding a carb. Took it in and paid someone to do it and was right as rain afterwards.

Good luck

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  • Well it was doing the same thing before the rebuild. However, for all I know the previous owner could have done it wrong as well
    – Willem Ellis
    Commented May 11, 2013 at 14:42
  • @WillemEllis, if you have the record of what parts you had put in (for instance, if you had saved those that you are replaced), compare them to the OEM parts. All those should be marked, fuel jets are numbered (I am not sure, but I believe the numbers on them are amount of fuel per time in whatever units), so it is easy to compare if the parts you have are up to spec. However, I would not think that it would cause such erratic behavior, and would look at the throttle, its condition and adjustment (throttle stop, cable lubrication and slack adjustment).
    – theUg
    Commented Jun 17, 2013 at 13:59

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