Need jetting help for '14 300 xc-w *Bribes gladly given*

bitingdog

Member
Hi, hoping that someone will kindly give me a hand. I will gladly supply a bottle of your favorite stuff, or a case of your favourite beverage, or lunch at your favorite haunt. I bought my bike used, and it is my first two-stroke since 1992 (!). I don't know how to jet a carb, and really need to learn. Would be forever grateful for someone to teach me how to do it. I have read up on this somewhat, and not sure whether I should get a JD jet kit? Some have even suggested using Suzuki needles. So I need some assistance. Please PM if you can help.

Regards, Adam
 

offworlder

Moderator
While no replacement for experience, this seems insightful, straight from the school of Da Google:

Start here:

then watch part 2:
 
Last edited:

bkoz

Member
I have had great luck with the Suzuki needles. Right now I am running a NEDW. What, specifically, is the bike doing right now that you are unhappy with the jetting?
 

bitingdog

Member
I have had great luck with the Suzuki needles. Right now I am running a NEDW. What, specifically, is the bike doing right now that you are unhappy with the jetting?

Thank you for the reply!
The bike is acting too rich under part throttle. Very weak and burbley midrange, lots of spooge, never gets much more than warm. I can usually touch the stinger after riding for an hour, it gets warm but not hot. Feels like the bike loads up a bit in tight and slow trails. On the other hand, my idle is normal (I think) and off-idle low rpm torque feels really strong. I've seen videos on YouTube, but would like someone who's an old hand at this to supervise. I don't want to f--- it up!

cheers, Adam
 

G-Ray

New member
This may be of little use to you, because it's almost ancient history now. I had a '98 300 EXC with almost the same problem. Loading up when running on the pilot circuit, then as I fed in more throttle and the revs jerckingly climbed, the engine would clean out on the needle circuit. Blubbering turned into an explosive mid-range hit that was no fun on technical climbs. No combinations of leaner pilot jets, needles, or clip positions would fix the problem. I finally took a leap of faith, and forked out close to $90 for a slide with a cut-away 2 sizes larger. It transformed the throttle response from what you'd expect in a motocross bike, to almost trials bike smooth. Traction and wheelspin were actually controllable with the throttle. KTM, at the time, did not list anything but the stock slide. The same carb was used on Polaris snowmobiles, and they had a full range of slides listed in their shop manual. Hope this is of some help. It's no fun not having a bike not working in the tight stuff, not everyone spends the day blasting around in the upper gears. Cheers, Greg.
 

cactusreid

Active member
bitingdog, i think a trip over to ktmtalk forums would probably give you a real good starting place for your jetting and type of riding you do. the 300 2 smoke is pretty well the most popular bike on the continent, so i'm thinking folks must have sorted out the jetting specs by now. But do remember,you can jet your way from mild to medium to flatout arm jerking scary hit and power on any 2 stroke, so you'll have to read between the lines and try a couple of jetting combos,just to see if your on the right track building the type of power and the delivery that you are looking for.

on a side note i'm running the same NEDW suzi needle that bkoz is only mine is in a 300 gasgas. It gives me a nice clean smooth delivery all the way from idle to wide open. it's no where close to the overall power delivery available with some of the other jetting combos i've tried, but as i said, you'll need to pick the type of power your looking for and then jet to that end result. maybe bkoz will chime back in and give you his jetting specs, as most 250 and 300's can run pretty close to the same jet sizes, as not to many guy's can hold a 300,or 250 for that matter on the pipe and wide open for more than a few seconds at a time. I have found that the needle is the biggest contributor to how the power is delivered and at what point and how hard it hits in the rpm range. also remember that jetting crisp/leaner will give you a harder and snappier power delivery than if you jet just a tad on the rich side. but as it shows in the charts above, you will have to follow this system from the pilot jet , through the needle and on to the main jet to keep the power delivery consistent through the rpm range.On the other hand,lots of guys jet their bikes a bit rich in the low and mid range for smoother delivery, and then have a big hard hitting/ wheel spinning yank once you get it up on the pipe,when the power valves open.
 
Last edited:

bitingdog

Member
Thank you Greg and Reid. Right now I've got good torque from about 800-3000 rpm, after that it's weak and burbley, firing every 4th or 5th stroke it seems. Full throttle with lots of revs sounds clean, but not much of a hit. My fe350s hits way harder up top for example. I have lots of spooge, engine barely gets warm. Was going to start with adjusting float. Also, bike leaks a lot of gas when you lean it over on a trail. That points to excessively high float according to what I've read on ktm talk.
I was hoping that I could get someone to supervise my work, as I've never had a carb off of any motorbike, let alone changed some jets or adjusted a float. Theory I got, but practical experience and muscle memory I don't. Hence the offer of a minor bribe, such as a favorite bottle of scotch or rye. Always good to make a new friend too.

Regards and Thanks, Adam
 

cactusreid

Active member
well i'm in the "loops" , and g-ray looks to be from the island, so you may have to jump in without a net on this one. Float sounds like it is way to high, and you wont get any where with jetting till your float height is set. i always hold the carb on it's side and blow gently into the fuel line as i close the float,to see when the float needle actually hits bottom and cuts off the fuel flow. most carbs seem to have the float level set to be parallel with the carb body. This is how they are measured as well. from the carb body to the casting line on the side of the float. gently bend the little tab at the float needle to adjust the level. you may?? want to try the bike at this stage before any jetting changes, just to see the difference that the float height made if any?
 
Last edited:

bkoz

Member
biting dog, reid is bang on with the float being the first place to check. If you lean your bike over at a 45 degree angle and the fuel starts flowing out of the carb hoses the float is too high.

On my 250 I was running a 168 main jet, with a 40 pilot and the NEDW needle. That would probably be pretty close for your 300. The NEDW need part number is 13383-37FL0 from a Suzuki dealer.

That being said you could probably get the bike running pretty good with the stock jets. Do you have the little tube with the spare needle/jets/power valve springs that KTM gives you with the bike?
 

bitingdog

Member
Thank You both. Will get on it hopefully after work. I have the little tube with green and red pv springs, couple of jets. Will try to muddle through it. It's one of those things ya gotta learn... Appreciate the guidance.

Cheers,
Adam
 
Top