[pete626cali]

Hey all i'm new here so bear with me plz. i have an '03 ex 250F which i just bought. all the cali emissions were removed as well as the air box and the carbs have pod filters attached to them. The only way i have any success getting it to start is filters off,throttle full blast,choke off with my hand covering up both carbs essentially choking the hell out of it. the left carb backfires a bit and eventually it starts and runs if i pull my hand away just enough once it starts to fire. I know the petcock is shot wont shut off s would constantly flood except for theres like a secondary petcock looks like off a generator which is definately a temporary. why do i have to hold my hand over the carbs to start it and what can i do to start it normally and keep it running for longer than a minute once i take my hand away from the carbs???????PLEASE HELP