I rebuilt the carburetor on my 1997 Honda Rebel last month. Figured might as well, since I had to replace the float needle. Finally managed to shove it all back inside the frame but now my motorcycle sometimes has a starting/running probem. Last weekend I rode around for an hour, no problems. Started heading home and it started dying on me every couple hundred feet and would have a hard time starting up each time. Took 3-5 minutes to get going each time, so I just kept going a couple hundred feet at a time while trying to troubleshoot.
The solution ended up being removing the gas cap to relieve the pressure inside the tank. Put the cap back on, bike instantly started.
But I still dont understand the reason for why pressure in gas tank would prevent the bike from starting or running. Any ideas?