Needle suggestions - uk rider

[bally123]

Recently brought a 250 EC (2005) and had my first proper outing yesterday. The use is mostly green lanes so plenty of slow light throttle use in technical areas and high speed blasts between sections.

Set up:
N1EF #2
175 main
38 pilot
Slide #7
40:1 silkolene pro 2 with 98 ron pump fuel
Elevation : 0-800m

Running:
Idle circuit just about working, but still i have to rely on a slight slide lift to idle well.
Light throttle very rich, babbabaabbaaabaaa sputtering.
Mid throttle pulls well and the exhaust note cleans up but lots of smoke
Full throttle, feels strong and revs out ok, still smokey
Cold start needs choke but can be knocked off after a very short time.
Fuel consumption seems heavy.
Due to the rich running at 0-1/8 throttle its a bit of a handful in the slow stuff, as it cleans out it suddenly comes on quite strong

Observations:
Crank seals replaced and engine sounds mechanical sweet. Reeds are good, plug is new. Exhaust stripped and rebuilt - no other issues noted.
Running conditions seem to fit with typically rich factory setting

There seems to be a huge array of needle options hidden in various posts but still I am confused as to how they compare to the N1EF (or even which std keihin needle is a close match to the N1EF). I appreciate I need a leaner straight section and probably want to progress to matching the N1EF at full throttle. Although the exhaust smoke would maybe indicate I may be able to lean out the whole needle? Thought about dropping another clip position but doubted it would solve the light throttle richnesss.

So I want to improve low speed driveabilty but I am not looking for outright power or hard hitting curve, I simply want a safe step towards a leaner needle, but what needle to try?

Appreciate any advice.....

Any UK riders that may have spare needles to sell on please pm me...

Andy

[Jakobi]

You'll have the AS1 carb (round screw on cap).

Make sure you disregard anything you read that I've posted about AS2 carbs. The settings will be far too lean for yours. JD Blue is reported to be about as close to perfect as you'll get for that carb on a 250.

[gasmonkey]

Correcto there.I fitted the jd blue in an old girl I had.Clean running after that.Still running fine afaik.

[bally123]

Thanks for the replies, searching the net I am having difficulty sourcing JD needles within the UK. The cost of getting a kit from the US and shipping is gonna be an expensive option. ($100 and 21 day delivery or $125 for 10 day)
Given the amount I have spent recently getting the bike fit again I would like to avoid expensive options for now.

I wondered "if" I can source a DDK needle over here would that be a second best option to a JD Blue?

Thanks again

Andy

[gasmonkey]

Yes,but you get 2 needles in the kit.Blue and red.Install the blue then sell the red to someone with a late model bike.

[hannesd]

have a look in the jetting database.
i got my settings from a UK rider aswell (ec 200 though) but many other riders with same conditions as you, can be found there and possibly some ktm needles that are easier te be found at much more reasonable price

ciao, Hannes.

[Jakobi]

A yamaha/ktm 'N3EG' is reported to work as well. Not sure how much you can source them for. It'll be a more aggressive setup though.

[Todd5774]

Depends how long you want to wait...

I have a spare JD Blue that I don't use in storage along with my bike..
However I will be returning to the UK sometime in May to sort out my storage and what I will be taking with me when I leave the uk permanently, so if you can wait that long you can have it for postage.

[bally123]

Todd

Pm sent.....thanks

Andy