hi!  i am in a pickle.  sarah from denver here.  i just took a trip up to breckenridge (10,000 ft) and since i got here my bike keeps dying when i idle or slow down.  now i am not sure if i can make it home with my bike acting like this.  i have my clymer manual with me, the only thing i can think to do is adjust the idle until i get home but i can't get it to idle to adjust it. i tried the choke too (never had to use it before) but it didn't help. i bought the bike this summer, the only work i have done so far is change the oil and check the air filter.  it has run great all summer but i have kept it in denver driving around the city and surrounding areas, this is the first high altitude trip.  i am supposed to head home tomorrow.  any ideas? any help would be great, thanks in advance, a little worried here    

Try turning the idle screw clockwise 1/4 turn before you start the bike, adjust accordingly. Pull the choke out full to start it and put it in 1/2 way after it fires up, for a few seconds. Hit the throttle a bit after pushing it in. At this point I would go for the higher idle until you get back down to earth.

If switching to prime, don't forget to switch back to "run" after shutting down or you may get gas in your oil.

High altitude messes with our carbs jet settings which balances our  air/fuel mixture at sea level, which is thrown off by the thin air up there.

Bump this thread to the top, hopefully one of our more experienced members will add something to the mix. I'm sure adjusting the air/fuel mixture may help, but I'll leave that to more experienced hands.

Good luck.

hi!

toesnose, turning it on prime worked.  so i am guessing the petcock is bad.  can i run it on prime until i replace the petcock?

photojoe, i adjusted the idle too, it sounds better. i'll make sure the rpms are right when i get home.

deejaysham, we should start a newbie club in denver!  glad you got to take a mountain trip with no issues

ONCE AGAIN, THANKS TO EVERYONE BUNCHES AND BUNCHES!!! i am a newbie determined to work on my bike myself, this community is so helpful!

high altitude makes the carb run Rich
Running with the choke out will just make it worse.
Glad it was an easy fix. Could be a bad vac line.

When you are home Sarahkhas, go to the tech section, table of contents and links and scroll to petcock and click on test your petcock, don't just turn it to prime. If the petcock fails this test and you Raptorise make sure you get a 5/16"outlet Raptor. Then go back to the tech section and click on txsizzlrs post on how to replace the petcock. This is right at the top of the tech section.

thanks jcstokes once again!  will do.  i was supposed to take her on another trip i just got back from, hard to see all the bikes on the mountain roads and me in my car, but better safe than sorry, always! deejaysham- the cripple creek ride would be great on a bike (where i just got back from)- more of a gradual climb with awesome views!

thanks again everyone, i know i post repeat questions but there is sooo much information here i get a bit overwhelmed. soon enough i will be as bada** as the rest of ya  

Hi all!  I FINALLY had some spare time today to try the petcock test.  I am having trouble getting the vaccuum line off the carb- it seems really stuck.  I bent back the wire clamp (forgot the name of those) and pulled pretty hard to no avail.  Being a newbie I don't want to mess this up, is there some way to loosen the vaccuum line? Or should I just muscle it until it comes off?

Yea,,  dont grip it too hard, just wanna spin it & break the thing loose, then itll pull  right off.,