HELP holding hand over carbs to start

[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

[Finesse]

pete626cali! Glad to have you aboard...

[ducatiman]

1st: a total carb clean/split including all circuits and decel valve (replacing all orings involved)

2nd: rebuild or replace the petcock

3rd: get rid of the accessory petcock

4th:assure all vacuum lines fit tight, if not replace as necessary

5th: make note of your internal jetting/needles/shims

[Triple Jim]

Hi Pete, welcome.

Ducatiman has all the parts on hand and the knowledge to restore these carbs to new condition, in case you want to save some time and effort. I've always done my own work, but I had him do my 250 carbs and the difference was amazing.

[CaliGrrl]

Welcome! What part of SoCal you in? And I second the recommendation for ducatiman's service- he did my friend's bike and it runs great now.

[pete626cali]

Hey thanks for the reply. I currently reside in Riverside but am from Pasadena.ca always and forever. I cleaned my carbs,synched them, and ordered a new petcock and installed it and the bike runs ****. Thanks all for your input Im sure there's gonna be other snags sooner than later with my buzzard luck...

[ducatiman]

exactly what do the 4 stars stand for?

and your internal jetting specs are? main, pilot, needle?

The vent tube is NOT plugged, free to breathe?

[Triple Jim]

I'm a little confused about that too, since the post otherwise makes it sound like the bike is running OK now.

[pete626cali]

The 4 stars were an edit not of my doing it was another word for breasts. As far as those specs go, I have no idea about them,don't even know how to gauge them. The breather is okay. After installing the new petcock,I fired the bike up,it started right away mind you but all of a sudden oily gas started spewing like a geiser out of the crank case breather like crazy. I switched the two lines on the petcock and it seemed to fix the problem. Now I'm gonna change the oil and see what. Happens