Confirmation that Venom Ghost is running lean

[ghostsNghouls]

Just received a Ghost about a month ago. I am exactly at 10ft above sea level and the weather is usually 85 degrees with enough humidity to drop a bead of sweat down your back the first two steps from leaving the front door. Upon getting the Ghost, I have lubed the chain and cables, sprayed the brake cleaner for brakes, changed the sprocket, replaced the POS battery(More of a problem than I intended), placed a 105 main jet, and turned the pilot screw 1 1/2 out from seated.

I am a complete newbie to the motorcycle world. MSF course is this weekend. I do know how manual engines work and have driven manuals for years. I know that motorcycles are a completely different set of muscle memory and I have yet to develop it. As of now, after failing to seal and fit the carb the first two times, I managed to re-install the stock PZ30 correctly. At first, it struggled to start and stay on. I turned to idle speed up a bit to compensate, which it eventually smoothened out after the engine was properly warmed(5 min at idle). From there, I went for a short spin in the cul-de-sac(starting small with the practicing). After two figure-8s, I practiced my friction zone stop starts which I then stalled. Thinking to myself, what a NOOB! Flipped the switch, pulled the clutch in, started the engine again, slowly and evenly releasing the clutch and stalled again.

To spare you all in dragging on any longer, the bike starts and idles ok. It just stalls every time. I have practiced figure-8s and stop/starts before the carb adjustments just fine. Am I for sure running too lean? Not enough gas to power when the engine is engaged.

Please let me know your wisdom and experience.

[JerryHawk250]

You settings seem to be good. Idle speed should be around 1500-1600 rpms. Give the engine some time to break in. She's going to be a little tight those first few 100 miles. She'll smooth out. Be sure your choke lever is all the way off and not half way or on.

[ghostsNghouls]

Thanks! I still think it needs some fine tuning. There are pops from the exhaust after blipping the throttle while in neutral. Also, while at idle if I fully choke the engine it remains the same idle as if closing the butterfly did nothing at all. Again, first time learning all of these things but from what I've researched the engine is supposed to struggle and possibly kill when this is done; otherwise it is an indication of a lean situation. Am I misguided by this information?

[JerryHawk250]

With this warm weather you shouldn't have to use the choke. Make sure you have no open vacuum lines or air leaks in the intake.

[ghostsNghouls]

I appreciate the direction. After pulling the carb and inspecting, the most common issue was my culprit; pilot jet clogged. I also replaced the spark plug for a later diagnostic indicator to my engine condition.

Once I got everything mounted again and checked for any air leaks by spraying carb cleaner at certain points of concern, the idle ran a bit better. I started with 2 turns out with the pilot screw. The stalling everytime issue was fixed. I did notice that the beginning of the exhaust manifold discolored a bit to a grey color, confirming the lean situation that I had before.

Has anyone had a seeping of air and gas when removing the protective cap over there pilot screw? This happened with me just before the cap popped out. I've been thinking it could be contributing to an air leak this entire time.

The bike is still a bit rough and/or sluggish at points, I'm assuming this is apart of the natural break in cycle. The exhaust still pops(at a lesser extent) when the throttle is returning to idle. After some time riding, if it continues I may consider changing the pilot jet from 40 to 42.

Am I approaching the process correctly? Also, how important is the timing of spacing the spark plug and the valves?

[China Rider 27]

For somebody new to carburetors, you seem to have a good grasp of the situation. Always with tuning or a running condition issue a good place to start is to set or check the valves if they have not been done in awhile. The PZ30 uses a fuel screw (idle mixture screw adjustment) so turning it meters a change in fuel flow at idle. Given its popping on deceleration a pilot change may be worth a try and can't hurt. But if you can get the master tuner, JerryHawk250, to give his opinion I defer to him.

[ghostsNghouls]

Thank you. Hours of research and content from you all has helped tremendously. I try not to be afraid of the trial and error process.

Thanks for the answer on setting the valves. Being the first time doing all of these things, for some reason the setting of the valves intimidates me. Eventhough a lot of the forum replies says that it's a fairly simple process. Nonetheless, it must be done at some point.

I'll continue to update and ask for suggestions, thank you all for sharing your knowledge.

[ghostsNghouls]

Finally at a comfortable spot. I intended for this bike to be a good introduction to riding and the maintenance of the motorcycle world, I don't think I was quite ready for the amount of maintenance it was going to take to get the bike to run at a somewhat acceptable engine condition.

To anyone having the exhaust pipe slowly turning white/light grey more and more along the way, please remove the secondary air induction system, get a compatible aftermarket pilot screw, a compatible and adjustable jet needle, and an oil cooler. It almost felt impossible to achieve an optimal engine condition. I was running either too lean or too rich, and mostly just too lean.

Also has anyone found a remedy to center the rear wheel that seems to be commonly offset to the left side of the rear fender?