Hitchcocks Forum

Hi my 350bullet will not start or run without the choke on when closed the engine dies I have tried to tune carb but to no avail the air filter is new this year but is badly choked with oil any suggestions please

Sounds like a blocked jet..
As regards the oiled-up air filter,is the bike fitted with the oil breather catchment tank under the seat? If so either clean it out, or get rid of it and lengthen and re-route the larger pipe to the back of the bike and fit a one-way valve (duck bill) and blank off the smaller return pipe which runs back to the timing cover.

You need to get the air filter sorted before you can do anything. If the filter is blocked the air flow will be altered so the mixture will be wrong.
As Wilf says, this will probably be the catch can overflowing. It's a daft system and the best thing to do is to bin it.
Have a read Here

Comments on breather pipe: The post 2003 breather/catch-can can be made to work perfectly with minor pipe re-routing. The vent off the top of the oil tank MUST NOT have a dips in the pipe runs, and needs to have a steady constant rise so as to allow any oil fractions to drain back into the tank, whilst still allowing the fume to vent. Duck-Bill at the end (in the catch can) is critical.
Inability to run with out choke implies that either the pilot and/or pilot bypass outlets in the floor of the carb mouth are obstructed, or there is a serious air leak. Clean all low-speed fuel/air passages and check for leaks at flange

Hi Peter Wilf andTim just like to thank you for the advise regarding the breather problem with my bullet it is up and running many thanks Graham