starting up a 351 after 12 months in storage
 

Hi guys,

About to start my klx after over a year of sitting. I have the bill blue 351 and pumper carb. It was hard to start even when I was riding it regularly, not looking forward to starting it up now. Any tips or pointers? It just sat in a heated garage, wasn't prepped in any way before storage.

You'll definitely want to drain the float bowl if it isn't already empty. Probably a good idea to empty your gas tank and put fresh fuel in. Check for rust in your tank too, especially if the tank wasn't full.

If it were mine I'd also pull the spark plug and add a little oil, maybe a teaspoon or so and turn it over by hand a few times. An oil change might also be in order.

That's all I can think of offhand - Good luck!

You may get lucky, but it may be likely that the pilot circuit in the carb is plugged which usually requires removal of the carb for cleaning...but...it won't hurt to give it a try. A little fuel treatment like Seafoam in the tank won't hurt if you happen to get the bike fired and running. Your bike shouldn't have been that hard to start with a pumper carb.

I don't think your cylinder is going to need any oil introduced through the plug if you've had it stored in a dry place like you describe. A fully charged battery, fresh gas in the tank with some Seafoam, and you might get lucky. I don't normally recommend starting ether for a higher performance gas engine for different reasons, but some have used it for years in some applications. If your engine won't start and run on fresh fuel, completely cleaning the carb is the right way to proceed.

i would have jumper cables ready, but trickle charge first...just drain the float bowl by turning the screw on the side of the carb....have a oil pan underneath to catch all the gas dribble (do it outside)...use jumper cables if needed (get a new battery)...don't push the choke back in...let it warm for good 10 to 15 minutes...push the choke in and if it dies, repeat with choke out again....once the engine is nice and hot...ride or twist the throttle and keep higher rpm....put some fresh gas and ride more or twist the throttle more...

if you do this and it still won't idle properly, you may need to take the carb apart for a cleaning...

So... I had the battery charged back up with my trickle charger, tipped the bike to one side then next till I saw fuel pour out of the carb. Did a couple of full throttle starts and on the third try, it fired right up and idled like I had just ridden it yesterday. This was after 14 months of sitting with no winterizing/prep. Gotta love it. Thanks guys.