i have a 96 honda four trax and if i dont run it with the choke on it spits and sputters and it doesnt matter how long i run it it still does this will cause problems in the long run

 

why not just clean the carb sounds like a clogged jet to me

 

Yep. A dirty pilot jet, I bet.

 

^^^ pull the carb. clean and blow it out and that should fix the problem.

 

It is running lean, and the choke cuts down the amount of air and that gets the mixture back to aproximately normal. Sounds like a classic case of clogged idle (slow/pilot) jet, or a leak in the air filter or air intake.

You can check the air intake, by removing he air filter and holding your hand over the opening. With the kill switch on, crank the starter a couple times, and it should form a vacuum that should hold for a little while.

Modern fuel dries up and leaves a varnish, that easily clogs an idle jet. Idle jets are cheap, so don't even bother trying to clean one. Lots of folks in here say they have "cleaned" their carb, but all they did was spray some cleaner around, and most of them couldn't even tell you where the idle jet was.

Good idea to get a service manual, if you don't have one already.

 

Ditto on all above but one more down side is that running with the choke on can strip the oil off the cylinder wall causing premature wear. But this is only if there is too much gas to burn completely.