A poor running ATV can be as frustrating as your in-laws crashing your humble abode for a week with your drunk, stumbling brother-in-law Ned in tote. Nobody wants to deal with Ned and his constant pestering. Worse yet, trying to make a quick escape from the burdensome in-laws on an ATV experiencing lack of power, off-idle stumbles and tough starting can be equally as humbling.

Since we can’t help you with your in-laws and Ned, who is sitting on your favorite recliner belching and scratching, we’ll cover an area of expertise we can aid you with: tuning your ATV’s carburetor for a clean escape next time the in-laws are in town. While we often refer to the carb as the heart of an ATV — it meters the flow of fuel and air — don’t let it intimidate you.

Cleaning and tuning a carb is a task you should be able to handle if you have an ounce or two of technical skills. A few frosty 12-ounce beverages to keep Ned at bay wouldn’t hurt either. If you don’t feel confident in your skills after reading this, have an experienced technician or friend walk you through the process or do the work for you. To coax them into helping, take away Ned’s beverages and offer them to said helper. For this particular carburetor clean-up, we used a 2003 Honda Foreman Rubicon and its gummed-up 33.5mm Keihin CV carb. While carbs differ from model to model, the following instructions should give you a basis to start your service. If your ATV has a twin carbureted engine, you’ll obviously have to do this pro...

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