Hey from Florida!

**Honzo** · 07-14-2010, 02:07 AM

Hey everyone!

I'm Honzo and I just got my first bike which is a 2001 Rebel 250. I got the license a couple years ago but never had the money to actually buy a bike. I can't say it's exactly what I was looking for, I'm more of a sport bike kinda person, but it was definitely a deal I couldn't pass up. The bike used to belong to a co-worker of my dad's. The guy bought the bike brand new for his wife when they had both completed the MSF safety course, she rode it ONE TIME and decided it wasn't for her. Then it sat for about a year in his garage until he decided to ride it a few times, then it sat again until I bought it last week. He just wanted to get rid of it since it was just taking up room in his garage, so I bought it with 832 miles on the clock for $430 [IMG]http://www.*************/rebelforum/images/smiles/icon_smile.gif[/IMG]

Now heres the only problem. Since it's been sitting so long, the carb is very gummed up (or at least I assume thats the issue). The bike is unrideable at the moment and I had to have it trailered to my house. It'll start up at about half choke, but no matter how long it warms up (which it shouldn't take long being the middle of summer in florida), it dies once you kill the choke. Also, if you give it too much choke it will die or if you give it throttle it will die. If I pump the throttle very lightly I can get it to rev a bit.

So I've gotten the carb out and found a few how-to's to clean it out so thats what I've been doing in my spare time. Should be about a week till I actually take it out for its first ride. I had a couple little questions about this removal as well. There were a few lines I found that were not connected to anything, like one on the bottom of the tank and two coming from the carb. A couple of the openings are cut on a bias so I'm assuming most of them are vent lines, but some are not. Are there any not cut on a bias that don't lead to anything? I'm assuming there are and they're just used for carbon canisters and what not on california bikes.

My second question was if there was a fuel filter on top of the petcock. Mine didn't come with an inline filter between the tank and the carb so I was thinking of installing one if theres not one on the petcock.

Thirdly, since the bike has been sitting so long, how can I tell if the tank needs to be recoated.

and lastly, how do you open the toolbox! lol.. the previous owner only gave me the one ignition key, but it just seems like it doesn't fit the tool box, no matter which way I wiggle it... any idea?

Hmm... what else. I guess I'm unsure of my plans for the bike at this point. I may keep it a while and turn it into a nice little rat bobber or just keep it as is and just ride it until I can save the difference to get the sport bike I'm interested in.

**Fridgitator** · 07-14-2010, 02:31 AM

Welcome, Hondo!

Sounds like you got a good deal. I expect you are right about the carb being gummed up. There is plenty of info about carb cleaning in the forum, and I'm sure someone will chime in with hose diagrams soon.

Was there old gas in the tank when you got it?

The toolbox 'lock' just takes some twisting. Mine was very hard to open the first time.

JunkyardDog · 07-14-2010, 03:00 AM

Welcome. I also like sport bikes, and have owned a few, but I'm now '51 with arthritis, and my current, and probably last sport bike is an '09 Ninja 500 with a Corbin seat and handlebar risers. No more GSXRs for me.

About your issues, you will need to remove, completely disassemble and clean the carb, you may also need to clean out the tank. Check for rust in the tank. There are several ways of removing rust, depending on how bad it is. If it's just a few small spots, you can just leave it alone, and install an inline fuel filter. I do not recommend coating the tank with anything unless it leaks, even then I would consider a good used tank first. If there is a lot of old gas residue in the tank, there is a very strong cleaner that works very well to remove it called Castrol Superclean.

There is a screen in the petcock, plus a sediment bowl, but an inline fuel filter is always a good idea.

Any key that will fit, or even a screwdriver will open the toolbox. There is no actual lock on it.

There are a number of lines/hoses on the Rebel. I am not familiar with the CA model, but here are the rest of them. Some of them come from the factory connected together to a T fitting. I separated all mine.

1. There is a vent line coming from the bottom of the fuel tank, up under the tank, and going down under the bike. This line needs to be left open.

2. There is a fuel line going from the petcock to the carb.

3. There is a crankcase vent hose. This is a larger diameter hose going from the top of the crankcase to a separator between the carb and airbox.

4. There is a line connected directly to the bottom of the carburetor. This is a drain hose. Leave it open, or just remove it.

5. There is a carb float bowl vent line coming out of the left side of the carb. This needs to be left open.

6. There are 2 larger diameter hoses, usually zip tied together, coming out on the bottom left side of the bike. One is the airbox vent, and needs to be left open. The other is commonly called the "puke tube" It comes from the separator between the carb and airbox, and has a plug in it. It needs to be drained every once in a while, and the plug put back. Depending on a lot of variables, you may or may not find anything in it, but if you do, it is usually a nasty combination of gas,, water, and oil that was blown out through the crankcase vent. That's all the hoses/lines on the non CA model. Only the fuel line, and crankcase vent hose connect to anything, and the puke tube needs to be plugged. Jerry.

**flitecontrol** · 07-14-2010, 10:26 AM

Welcome, Honzo. I would suggest that after you clean the carb and tank you add Sea Foam, available at auto parts stores and Wal Mart (16 ounce can only), to the gas. It works very well at removing crud from the fuel system. You might want to invest in a gallon of it since the price per ounce is cheaper and you may be using a lot of it initially. I would add about 4-5 ounces to the first several tanks of gas. Once the system is clean, add 2-3 ounces to a fresh tank of gas every third fill up or so.

JunkyardDog · 07-14-2010, 11:21 AM

Seafoam is definitely great stuff, I got started using it a couple years ago, and it works. It will not clean out a filthy carb, but nothing else will either. You have to do that the hard way. But Seafoam will prevent things from getting into that condition again. I use as much of it as I can afford, but as was said, it is not cheap, and I have 5 bikes to put it in. Jerry.

**Honzo** · 07-14-2010, 03:29 PM

Thanks for all the responses guys! I've actually already had the carb apart and cleaned and I think its ready to go back in, but not entirely sure. Not sure if the slow jet was clogged or it's just naturally that small of a hole because I could just barely see through it looking through it directly at a light. I tried a pin and even that was too big to try to use to scrape off any gum. Either way, got the crud out of the bottom of the float bowl and it looks pretty new now so I'm going to at least try it i guess.

As for the gas tank, i have no idea how old the gas was that was in it... :/ there was a very little amount though, i was thinking i'd just try draining the tank and putting some fresh gas in it... Luckily, I actually have a pretty full bottle of sea foam laying around from when I was trying to clean the engine of a car I no longer own, so I'll be sure to use that. I guess its time to look into cleaning out the tank before i put everything back together

**flitecontrol** · 07-14-2010, 04:34 PM

If you haven't disassembled the carb and soaked the metallic parts in carb cleaning solution, I would. Manual cleaning just can't reach all parts of the carb, and scraping the jets with metal objects can damage them if you aren't extremely careful. When you take it out or the solution, use compressed air to blow out all the orifices. Wear eye protection to keep the stuff out of your eyes! The solution will harm the rubber and plastic components, so keep them away from it.

If you choose to have someone else clean it, Jack, at Jack's Rebel Warehouse in Sanford (http://www.rebelcatalog.com/html/250rebels96.html) has a carb cleaning service and isn't too far from you. He's the guru of all things Rebel! carbworx.com also does ultrasonic carb cleaning for about $40 per carb plus shipping.

If there is any rust in the tank, and with the gas sitting in a closed tank for that long there just about has to be, it should be removed. Google motorcycle tank cleaning and you will find a number of methods. My personal preference is using The Works toilet bowl cleaner, which contains hydrochloric acid ($1.25/bottle at WalMart). Acid should remove not only the rust, but varnish in the tank too. Use eye protection, wear old clothes, and protect the paint on the tank when using any acid to clean the tank. Having a water hose handy and quickly washing any spills off the tank is a good idea. I don't recommend using acetone in the tank as any spills will dissolve the clear coat and paint on the tank almost instantly. Don't ask me how I know this!

**Honzo** · 07-14-2010, 06:53 PM

Well I actually just finished cleaning it all out, and it really didn't look all that bad. Just had a little crud sitting in the float bowel so I got that all out and sprayed the cleaner in all of the orifices i could find along with compressed air afterward. I didn't actually use carb cleaner though, since some of the rubber components looked a little sketchy. I didn't want to take them out and risk ruining them, so I used brake cleaner based on a recommendation from the guy at Advance Auto. This actually worked incredibly well and the carb looked like new once i put it back together. Threw it back in the bike and tested it and it worked like a champ

just have to adjust the idle engine speed.

As for the tank, I used a mini mirror and a flashlight and didn't see anything at all. I even drained some gas from the petcock into a container and the gas looks very clean so I didn't bother doing anything yet. I'm just going to install an inline fuel filter and run some sea foam through the system over the course of a few tanks and I'll deal with the tank if i have any issues down the road. It was a very small amount of gas that was sitting in it and I really have no idea how long that was in there...

**flitecontrol** · 07-14-2010, 09:26 PM

Sounds like you are ready to ride!

JunkyardDog · 07-14-2010, 10:26 PM

When cleaning carb jets, I use the small E string from a guitar. It is small enough not to damage the jets, but still stiff enough to go all the way through, and make sure they are clean. I also use sprat carb cleaner like Gumout. The guitar string works especially well on the slow jet, which has several very small holes, and they have to all be open.

If you have minor rust in the tank, I would either use The Works method, or just leave it alone. I have ridden many bikes with minor rust in the tanks with no problems. If you do use acid to remove the rust, you will first need to remove all traces of gas residue, as it is impervious to acid, and will act as a barrier between the acid and the metal of the tank. That's wHere Castrol Superclean works so well. It will dissolve any petroleum based material, gas, oil, grease, etc. Jerry.

Our Communities

Automotive Communities

RV & Travel Trailer Communities

Marine Communities

Honda Rebel News Delivered to your Email!