So I got my 2000 Lakota back from the shop today after getting the carbs cleaned. It would not idle without choke. Well now it idles without choke and starts just fine, but stumbles and backfires when you give it gas. It revs fine in the higher RPMs, but seems to have very little in the middle. Backfires through the carb and has no power in the middle band, and seems to take longer than it should to idle back down when you get off the throttle. This is noticeable when you shift because it kinda jolts. Has good power when you rev it up though and moves along.

Could this be a bad CDI? The guy who did the carbs said the CDI was probably going out and the and the "middle" range was shot. It seems to get warm fast, and blows smoke like its running lean, but the spark plug says otherwise, more like running too rich. What do you think?

 

dosent sound like the cdi to me generally when the cdi starts going you loose reliability everywhere not just midrange.

What color is the smoke ? Black smoke is rich, blue smoke is oil (rings or valve seals leaking )

Have you tried a general tune up ? New or Cleaned airfilter, new sparkplug, oil change ?

You could also have a worn out camshaft lobe causing the symptoms your describing.

If you have the money it would be easier to let a shop figure it out, but mention to mech. the possiblities so they dont get overlooked.

 

smoke is white (running lean?). New spark plug, oil change, carburator cleaned (professionally at the shop), valves adjusted to spec., air filter removed, cleaned and re-oiled. At this point I'm thinking of swapping the CDI, voltage regulator, coil, and if all else fails, the entire carburator. I have a 96 lakota that runs like a champ so I can swap parts one at a time and see what happens. I also noticed my 2000 Lakota has a brake light, whereas the 96 just has a running light on the rear. Read someplace that the brake sensor could be causing this too so thinking of unplugging it all to rule that out as well. In the high RPM band, this thing really moves along and is very fast, just has a hanging throttle when letting off to shift.

 

go back to the carbs, you have a float sticking or air jet loose. take filter box off and see if it dont straighten out. bet it will lean it out. just because he is a professional does not mean he isnt human and murphy is everywhere.