Always been a bit worried by the clearance on my secondhand Kazuma Meerkat, between the carb and the top frame tubes.

The clearance is so tight when the machine's on the bench, that the stock carburettor choke lever only just clears the frame at the open position, and can't quite close fully before it collides with the frame. In fact when I ordered a new carb, I modified the old carb's choke lever with an oxy torch and some judicious bending so it would 'sneak' round the frame and operate properly. I see on ebay that some of the aftermarket carbs listed for it, already incorporate a different design of choke lever very similar to my frankenstein job so maybe I'm not alone..

Also the fuel feed pipe skims the frame tube before it locates onto the carb inlet. When I replaced the stock orange thin stuff with a beefier rubber hose, it ended up unavoidably pinned between the frame and the carb.

Now, after a load of bad running problems, I *think* I've pinned down the cause to a snapped inlet manifold. I'm pretty sure this is a consequence again, of the limited clearance between the carb and the frame.

Spent a while looking at the frame and suspension & getting confused as to how it all works but think I've figured it out now. Looks like it's hit a rock underneath the engine mount & the lower frame tubes have bent upwards. Going to try removing the engine & replacing it with a bottle jack and 2 planks, see if I can ease the frame back to shape.

 

Update. Bottle jack worked a treat, only had to swing the engine out to the side. Jacked from the engine mounting plate to a short steel bar spanning the underside of the top 2 frame tubes. Jacked the frame open an extra inch, when pressure released it closed back up again by half an inch. The extra half inch gained was enough to get the carb down clear of the top tubes. New inlet manifold & everything bolted back together, all running nice. Only hope is that it hasn't weakened the frame to the degree that it'll just go back again over time.