All 2st About the Mikuni/Keihin swap:

Yeah, drop the needle to the middle groove and try the 170.

Might even try a fresh plug.

Here's what I ended up with this weekend
170MJ
40PJ
needle top clip (1st slot)
air screw out 2 turns

Starts perfectly cold or hot

VP 110 and Motul 50:1
Temps 90 and close to 100% humidity

It seems a tad lean in the mid range I'll play with the needles and see what I come up with.

Thanks for everyones help

Hi Rob. What needle do you use, and what elevation are you at? temp?

90's F
It's one of the JD's i'll check which one when i get home

HUSKYNJ, did you get your bike running right?

I was looking back and I ran as high as a 182 main with that same needle and never saw a condition as rich as you had with a 175. Just wondering how the 170 did ?

I need a good picture of where the idle screw should be

http://www.keihin-us.com/pwk.htm

on this page, there's a pic of the pwk. from the black screw cap, look down at about the level of the top of the intake, and there's a black plastic screw, slightly angled up and to the right. That's the idle screw. the air screw is also visible as a small brass dot on the left side at the bottom of the intake (or top of the float bowl).

thanx, but i guess i should have been clearer. i can't get my bike to start with the new pwk and was hoping to get a picture of where others have their idle screw adjusted to. it seems that this is frequently the problem from what i've read

On mine, i need to turn at least 6 more full turn. Try it by 1 turn at a time. Anyway, you cant broke anything.
Be sure on the beginning to have a little fat pilote jet, (45-48) this will make the bike easier to start. When the screw are set up ok, you can lean the pilot to your preference.

oh,

even if i turn the idle screw all the way out, my bike will start, but i give it a smidge of gas when i start it.

i think i turned mine a few turns in from stock before i installed it, and that was pretty close to right.

fwiw, after reading that these guys liked the cel and cek in the middle clip, and analyzing my 2-3 kick starts at idaho city, i tried the jd red in the top clip (roughly similar to cel in middle) and it fired up first kick, and in a cursory ride around the neighborhood gave no sign of being too lean. this is at 75-80 degrees, 3000' (that's where i live and tested, not where i ride, lol).

what jetting do you have in there?

will your bike bump start?

Now try the EEL...

why? the bike already makes more power than i can use everywhere. on all my other bikes i generally prefer the c-taper needles to the d-tapers. As long as it starts and runs and is smooth and linear, life is good, and I can concentrate on learning to ride.

45, 175, 3rd clip on the blue needle. got it started but man is my leg tired. it took quite a bit of idle adjustment. but it starts right up now. jetting seems rich and i'm around 3-5000 feet shy of summer riding area so i'm thinking i need to lean it out. i haven't had an opportunity to ride it yet so we'll see.

I think you would like the EEL, because it runs even cleaner from the bottom and with a more linear powercurve! It´s not that you always need more power everytime. I used the red JD too before in 1st groove and it was clean and didn´t spooge, but the powercurve is better with the EEL i must say. for me it´s a little strange why the JD needles are so rich from the bottom. Why must they be that fat at light throttle? My bike only bludders if i use the red JD needle in 2nd slot or more. the blue one is way too rich for me.

Johnny

Maybe a 40 pilot, EEL needle in 2nd or the red JD in 2nd groove and a 170 main?

Johnny

it must be some characteristic of the husky engine or reeds or something. i've used the jd needles (and similar ones like the 1370dka, ccl, etc...) in a number of bikes and they are not fat at all at light throttle. in my kx250 and 200xcw they run super clean and crisp from right off idle. (in clip 3 or 4).

I guess i'll eventually try the EEL, just to see if I can learn something, since both of you speak highly of it.

Ok, i don´t know why my bike is a bit rich, but when i use the red JD in tight and gnarly terrain and only use light throttle and have the needle in 3rd clip, i foul my plug almost. It needs cleaning up on an open road in between to be sure not to foul it. Maybe i ride too slow!

Johnny

just got back from riding a bit.
specs.
'08 wr250
gnarly pipe
3000-5000 feet @60-80 degrees
40 pilot
168 main
red needle 4th clip

seems a little rich just off idle and a little hard to start hot
middle and top seem pretty crisp

i'm not surprised. keep in mind that the jd needle is a couple clips richer than the CEL (and probably the EEL too). A cel in clip#3 is similar to a jd rd or ccl in clip #1. a jd in clip 3 or 4 in a 300 ought to be awfully rich and hard to start and sputtery off idle and so forth.

i rode briefly today with the 40p/170m/jd red #1, and the bike felt great. i could maybe go 1/2 clip richer for the desert (3000' elevation), but most of our summertime riding is 5000' and up, so clip #1 should work well.

Well, the CEL has a smaller taper all the way compared to the EEL, so the EEL is richer all the way from off throttle actually. The only similar thing of these two is the base diameter. 1,34 degrees taper on the CEL and 2,00 degrees on the EEL. The red JD has a non straight taper and is richer in the middle then both the CEL and EEL. My bike ran good with the red JD in first or second clip pos, but not as clean from the bottom as the EEL. I also have the EEM to try that is even leaner off throttle. I´m going to try the EEM in 3rd clip when the wheather is better.

Johnny