Varadero 125 fuelling issue

Hi guys,

A friend's picked up a Varadero 125 recently, and it absolutely reeks of petrol when it's running. Still on stock carbs with nothing done to them (apparently).

Causes I can think of:

Cylinder not firing (though unlikely, seems to run just fine)
Float adjusted incorrectly
Clogged air-filter
Fuel line connected directly to exhaust

Anything else we should look at while we're checking it over later tonight?

Does it ride fine? If one cylinder is out I doubt it will pull at all. Where exactly is the small coming from, sounds like you are saying exhaust?

Track down the smell is the first thing. If its coming from the exhaust then it means its either over fueling or a sparker has gone out (so to say)...

If its not the exhaust then obviously check hoses etc etc.

Im not that up on carbs but i think if the diaphram on the back of them is broken then it can cause excess fuel? Have a look and see how the carbs move around.

HTH's

Yeah, exhaust smells. Or rather, reeks. You could probably light it with a match

He says it pulls fine, but he's not let me ride it to check it out just yet. Order of things to check so far is filter, plugs, carbs - hopefully it should be an easy fix.

They're super sensitive to the plugs, I had one for a bit and new ones cured the poor idle, poor running and even a fuel smell too I think, it was a while ago.

It's looking like the rear plug or (more likely) the rear carb now...the bike runs absolutely fine on just the front cylinder with the rear disconnected, but dies almost immediately if you take the power away from the front plug. Only way to keep it running is to give it lots of throttle. We also found a tube coming out of the airbox (looks like some kinda overflow) that's been cut and melted closed - we're a bit concerned about it, so he's taking some photos and posting on a Honda forum about it