1999 klr 250 hard start

[hoover]

HI
have a 1999 klr 250, 4500 miles, starts very easily when cold with maybe half use of the choke. runs fine, idles fine, but when i park it for maybe an hour its impossible to start. I can smell gas because its flooded. Ive tried starting with a bit of throttle , without throttle, one hard kick, just about every thing you can think of. I took the carb out and it was spotless but i still sprayed cleaner everywhere, air cleaner is fine, the fuel petcock isnt leaking when parked as I had the fuel line sitting in a jar overnight and it doenst leak. the bike runs fine when its running, took the choke assembly apart and its works fine, opens and closes smoothly, floats may be out of whack but they arent leaking when parked, anything im missing?

any help appreciated.

Thanks
gord

[hoover]

ok let me rephrase that,, I had the fuel petcock in the "off" position when i tested it just to make sure the petcock wasnt faulty. I have also tried closing the petcock after a ride and then starting in an hour with whats left in the float but still had the same symptoms.

[adam_c_]

why dont you turn the fuel off and keep it running so it takes all the fuel out the carb and then its got nothing to flood with has it

[hoover]

maybe i should just stop putting gas in the tank altogether ? sorry that doesnt really solve the issue and the minute you put the petcock back to "run" the problem whatever it is would return immdiatley.

thanks
Gord

[nemisis]

Hoover you may have a bad float needle since it seems the only place left for gas to leak from would be the float bowl, and since cleaning the entire carb didn't help i'd put my money on the float needle. To check the needle pull carb back apart and pull floats out and inspect needle if it has a rubber tip which most do look for scoring, dirt, or a indented ring where it sits on the seat which would leak gas, if any of these or anything else you notice just replace it they are not that expensive.

[hoover]

thanks
I changed that out and it didnt make a difference, now im thinking that it does sit in the hot sun all day after my commute to work in the morning. Anyone have any ideas how i can check to see if the tank vent is functioning properly? its clean and the underside of the gas cap looks clean and the little springs still work.
I called a repair shop and he said the KLR was a fussy machine when considering the valve adjustment and he thinks thats the problem. anyone have any past experience with out of whack valves and flooded hard starting when warm?
thanks
Gord

[hoover]

ok, i took it all apart again and bent the float tabs about a 1mm in a last ditch attempt to see if that would cure the problem and it cured the problem sort of.... it starts super easy now but while im riding along and then say let off the throttle to coast into a traffic jam i smell gas... it still runs smooth and doesnt stumble or stall but maybe the float is still a bit to high and the gas is running over when i slow down.... on a side note i purchased the bike about two months ago so this is an existing problem nothing new that just occured.

thanks
Gordon