1979 250 OR hard start

Always a good idea to bump the timing back on the older Bikes.
They were built in the day when gasoline would actually burn properly, not like the new crap.
Saves on old knees and joints that use to work or would heal quicker.
Helps save on k-start parts that are hard to find.
Later George

The crankcase was full of gas! I had quite a bit in the pipe upon removal,had to twist the pipe around to pour it out. Then pulled the head and raised the cylinder, flipped it upside down and it gushed fuel all over the floor. The odd thing about that ,is that the tank I'm using is off the 82 which does not fill the crankcase when sitting.......can it flood that badly just by kicking,etc.? I've owned many 2 strokes and have never seen this. I will put it together over the weekend and see what happens.
Thanks to everybody for the input, I will report back my results.
W

Damn getting good at this fixing bikes with a key board. Past 50 years have seen hundreds like this.
Go back and read my first post, about no gas then gas then no then some more.
If while doing this and the fuel isn't leaking from fuel line pitcock is probably not the issue.
could be float level needle and seat???
Tighten the plug back up then restart and go for a ride.
Until you figure out the problem just remove fuel line.
Later George

Onya George right on the $$

I was able to get her running today and cleared her out pretty good then was just getting ready to set the idle when she died.....pulled the plug and she was wet again, New plug, gas line removed and she struggled to run, fired and died. Pulled New plug and it was wet again, couldn't get it to go after that. I will try again tomorrow when it's cold with a new plug. Could the float height be the issue? I've got it set at 17mm or so, basically level with the base of the carb.
W

sounds like its getting too much juice to cope with at idle....high float or flooding needle and seat? the drain tubes on the carb clear? no bugs in them?

I will revisit the float level as it has a new needle and seat from Hall's Husqvarna. Drain tubes are clear and drain when laid over on it's side..... it's close, started to idle and sounded good right before it died.
Thanks again for the advice.
w

Get it running but be ready to RIDE IT.
Have your gear on when it starts, ride it doing whatever to keep it going until it gets warmed up.
Bike has to get hot to be able to clean it out.
Do couple laps around the block easy.

When almost back home make a power run to at least 3rd gear 100 yards then kill button pull clutch in coast into driveway turn off gas asap and pull fuel line .
Now look at the plug.

Later George

The 79's have the carburetor mounted on a downward slope toward the barrel.
I had this same problem on a 79 390CR.
Set the float level at 17mm and thought all would be fine.
Turns out the carb at that angle has a constant drip-drip-drip of fuel, whenever the gas was on.
Shut the bike off and forget to turn the gas off and it would be flooded.
Discovered the problem one day while looking at the carb angle. Decided to mock it up on the bench to see what would happen. Sure enough, gas was coming out through the pilot jet hole and dripping out the front of the carb.
Lowered the float level slightly and the dripping stopped along with the flooding.

I am going to take it out to my local riding area this weekend to get this ironed out. I now have a better understanding on the starting procedure and will take the advise to start and then ride it to get it cleared out. I will pull the carb tonight to make certain that both float tabs are parallel to the carb body and maybe a bit higher than the 17mm that they are currently at, then have a test day so I can get it started and go ride it immediately..... then I can focus on jetting, etc.
I will report back early next week.
thanks again everyone.
w

remember push the little tab down with the carb upside down that is NOT good time to get all lesdicsic

Mixed results this weekend...I pulled the carb and set the float height at 18MM just to be sure it wasn't too high. Once at my local riding area, the bike fired and ran on the 3rd kick, so off I went, got it warmed up and cleared it out after a couple of runs up to 3rd gear. The bike was sounding good and riding well, even started to idle as I was setting the idle screw (which was backed all the way out for the cold start issue), then it died..... would not re-start, pulled the plug and it was wet again. I let it cool down for an hour or so, with new plug, fired after 5-6 kicks and was loaded up.... rode it around, made another clearing run up to 3rd gear and it started to run nicely, then as I was in the process of setting the idle, stalled, no restart, wet plug again. It seams that it would not restart unless I had a brand new plug, even though the "fouled" plug still had good confirmed spark when removed and grounded to the head. It wouldn't start even when bump starting down a long hill, with used plug.Thoughts?
w

Dead/dying Motoplat.

KW68 mite be wright but i had a YZ50 that liked to do the same thing finely i put a float in it all one molded piece of plastic no adjustment possible ALL FIXED bike ran great old floats sometimes don't i'd try that first lot less$$$$

If it was a Bing I would agree, but Mikuni floats rarely go bad and he said in the first post all that is new. That pretty much narrows it down to the Motoplat.

??? idk that YZ was an 80 model and mikuni carbed the new from Yamaha float was not like the old one at all had the same problem 35 years is a long time i guess if your a carb float

bad plug cap.... is that what happened to your hair? sorry cudnt help it I do need a nap

Yes, and it is also typical of weak/failing Motoplats to work until they get hot, then quit.

Sorry for the late replies, dealing with some family issues....... I had ruled out the ignition as I had it rebuilt by one of the vendors known on this sight. I sent the entire system and it came back repaired with a new wire and cap as well as a rewind. My problem is that this was/is a basket case that I am working on reviving, so the carb is an unknown.... plus I struggle with jetting and usually try to get the jetting close, then work on refinements. I did fill the float bowl with gas and the floats seem to come up together and are bouyant. I did make a few runs through the gears to clear it out and it started to run well, then died. Pulled the plug and it was actually "tan" if you will... but also wet, so I need to verify that the low speed/idle components are not way off in the carb. things are on hold for now until the family issues are resolved, but I will report my finding to help the next guy with similar issues.
thanks for the input,
w