any tips on cleaning a carb? my 400ex is running like crap and it needs to be cleaned i think. i have tried twice already. one time just taking the bowl and the other plates and covers off and spraying cleaner in there. when that didnt help i tried it again spraying cleaner in all the passages and everything and blowing it out with air. it seems to run a little better, but still wont idle worth a crap with the choke off. i'm afraid to take the card apart too far because ive never really taken one apart. i dont know if there are certain tolerances and settings for the jets and needles and stuff. it runs like a raped ape with the choke all the way open, but bogs down with a little bit of gas with the choke closed. thanks

 

should be 2 jets that screw up in the carb.You can see them when you take the bowl off .screw them all the way out and make sure their not clogged up.one has a real small opening.I'll bet its the one clogged

 

The center holes on the jets are small, especially the idle jet. Unless they are unscrewed and removed from the carb body, they wont clear out. Blowing into them, only drives the obstruction deeper.
Sounds like the pilot (idle) jet is plugged. It just takes a small flat screwdriver blade to unscrew it. Once its out...look down the jet, like looking thru a telescope. If you dont see light from the other side, coming thru the center of it, then its plugged. If the deposits are really stuck on it, it can be almost imposible to clean it.
Your best bet, just remove the pilot jet, and go to the local honda dealer with it and get a one size bigger #40 pilot jet. Stock is #38, and youll notice itll start and run easier cold, after the bigger jet.
To prevent the jets from clogging up again, the float bowl needs to be left dry, when its gonna sit for more than a couple of days. As you are putting away the quad, turn the gas valve to off, and let the motor idle til it dies. This prevents the constant evaporation and refill of the float bowl, which condenses the solids into the jets.
If you look in the owners manual, itll say to shut the gas to off,before parking , and this is one reason,the other is to prevent a stuck float needle, from flooding out the motor with gas.