Hey all,

First post here, been reading for a while though. I had a strange (to me) experience on the trail the other day.

I was riding a trail with several larger water crossings and puddles, getting a feel for the bike. Of course, as a new rider, I slid out on the bike and it stalled. It started up fine, but then as soon as I gave it throttle it wanted to die. It took a good few minutes of idling before I could ride it again. This happened several times on the ride.

I thought it was just a bit of engine flooding, so I didn't worry about it. However, I was reading the huge thread over on ADV rider, and came across a post where a guy had similar symptoms from getting water in the carb breather tube. I didn't even know this was a possibility.

The next time I got on the bike, it was harder to start than normal. So I'm paranoid now that I messed something up by getting water/mud in one of the breather tubes.

Can anyone enlighten me? Thanks, -Chris

 

Welcome to kf man! i am having kinda the same problem with my bike... but my problem comes from riding on wet roads...like during a heavy rain storm...was wondering if the Carb breather "T" mod would solve this problem?

 

Hey welcome to KF,,, I beleive mudwhore is right,,, do a search on the Breather "T" Mod and see what you come up with.. Nobrakes a moderator here had a very nice link on how to do this mod,, I havent done it yet but I havent had that problem but sounds like it would fix yours! and Again welcome to KF!

 

Thanks for the welcome and responses! I'll definitely check out that breather mod how to.

So is is possible to actually damage the engine this way? Can water/mud actually enter the carb, or just block the breather tube and cause temporary issues? Or should I just go off the fact that my bike seems to run well currently (after I manage to start it..)?

 

Welcome to the forums, sorry for the late response.

 

Water does get in the carb, from condensation in the gas tank, rain being sucked in through the air cleaner etc. You can put a fuel system dryer, usually ethyl alcohol, in your gas or just drain the float bowl on your carb. I'm sure you will see water droplets in the fuel if you do. I use a ball ended allen wrench to reach that little tiny allen screw that drains the carb. Just shut off your petcock so you don't empty the whole tank. You will improve your throttle response by draining the float bowl after wet rides or tipovers into water crossings. If you really sucked a bunch of water into your engine, change the oil, too.

 

Dirt in the engine will wear it faster. It doesn't matter if you sucked dirt/grit in through the air cleaner or a little dirty water splashed in somewhere. Since your motorcycle runs fine, I would not worry about it too much. Try the breather mod and let us know how it works for you.

 

Thanks for the welcome and responses! I think I will try the breather mod when I am done figuring out the jetting, and not removing/reinstalling the carb so much. Though things have dried up a bit around here, and I haven't had any further issues. I'm still nervous to go through deeper streams though!

 

Read this thread about the T-Mod, it was one of the first mods I did. And it kept water out of the carb. Scroll down and take a gander. Have a good one guys, I'm out till Saturday night. In Tacoma for a few days.

https://www.kawasakiforums.com/forum...ght=Carb+T-Mod

 

by deej. have fun!