2006 EC 200 tickover

[Caravan Monster]

Finished rebuilding my new (to me) ec 200 engine. The two main concerns are:

1/ It will fire up with the first half hearted kick from cold with no choke.

2/ It cannot be set to tickover on the tickover screw. (Although it will tickover if I remove the spring from the screw and wind it in so that the head of the screw is 5mm from seat)

The engine sounds ok, although I am reluctant to run it in without being confident about the jetting. Can anyone identify errors or suggest changes to the following set- up ?

main jet 175

slow jet 45

slide 6

needle N8HW 2nd clip

airscrew 1.5 out

carb body to float measurement 16mm

squish 1.2 mm

boyeson reeds

new wossner piston and rings

new B8EGV plug

clean and oiled air filter

fmf gnarly and repacked standard silencer

[Caravan Monster]

Tried a #42 and #40 slow jet, and will try a #38 because it's still too rich on the tickover and very small throttle openings. Other than that, it runs great on wider throttle openings. The sun / rain ignition switch has an even more pronounced effect than it did on my old 300.

I wonder why the slow jet has needed leaning off so much after rebuilding the engine ? (UK / summertime, so altitude/temp isn't much of an issue)

[Jakobi]

Were the reeds replaced too? Its a bit strange as generally if anything a fresh engine wants more fuel.

Like you have said. Basically a rich condition. Set the slide so it sits 1mm above the carb throat and keep changing pilots until you get one that starts and idles. If you can't get it to happen with the H diameter needle, maybe try a W.

[Caravan Monster]

The reeds are the same Jakobi - I should add the information that I bought the bike without realising (or the seller telling) that the ignition side main bearing and seal was failing. It has crossed my mind that perhaps a very rich pilot was fitted by the seller with the intention of disguising erratic tickover and poor starting resulting from the mains failure - it was sold as 'meticulously maintained' and I paid the right money for a good condition bike, not one needing an engine rebuild. Partly my fault too - I've been around long enough to know to check for play flywheel side before buying an older 2t, and didn't.

Back to the matter in hand, I've tried a #38 pilot and it could still go a size smaller. This seems very lean, even for a 200cc. Could the 1.2mm squish have anything to do with it ?, or should I be looking for another factor ? Just to double check, is starting easily from cold, with no choke, an indicator of rich pilot jet ?

[Jakobi]

It is what it is. I can't explain why it would need to be leaner. If the bike isn't bogging when you crack the throttle and starting easily without choke when cold then theres not much else to check. Very well could be the head work. I expected my 250 to need much richer jetting than my 300, but it wasn't really the case.