Fixing a motorcycle that wont start after sitting a long time | GTAMotorcycle.com

Fixing a motorcycle that wont start after sitting a long time

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otwo_91

Well-known member
Yesterday I picked up a Ninja 250, which will be my partners first starter/learner bike.

its a 2010 Ninja 250R. It has had 3 owners. It's last owner is an older gentleman who had become too busy to ride. He rode the bike 1 single time in the 2021 season. As far as I am concerned, the bike had been sitting for a little over a year.

When I turn the key over, the lights and the dashboard light up. But when I try to start it, I can hear it cranking but sadly won't turn over.

The first thing I did was take the battery out and charge it overnight. I put it back, and it sounded much better (like closer) but the problem persisted.

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I am now going to reveal my extremely rudimentary understanding of mechanical wrenching of motorcycles.

As I understand, this motorcycle is carbureted, does that mean it does not have fuel injectors?

My next step I think is to try this:


Where would I be able to find the leads this guys uses at 7:39?

If this wont work.
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If that does not work, I will filter out the old gasoline and replace it with fresh gas. The gasoline, does not smell diffrent, but perhaps, it's not perfectly clear.

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I have seen some videos with guys removing, taking apart the carbs and cleaning them.

That is something I am not willing to do, way above my level of interest, at that point I would tow it to the shop.

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Any other suggestions?

Thanks folks!
 
I believe all of the the US/Canadian EX250s were carbureted. If you are unfamiliar with carbed bikes, here's a silly question which might save you hours of unnecessary work: have you turned the fuel petcock on?
 
Fuel+Spark+Oxygen, the three ingredients to fire up.
(The starter motor is turning the motor so that cause is eliminated)
- if this is a bike with carbs, a quick check will be to open the float bowl(s) and check for deposits and free movement of the float. If there is evidence of deposit, the jets will need cleaning.
- change the fuel.
- check for a spark, hopefully there is a spark at the plug.
- check the air filter, change if dirty.

Good Luck.
 
How old is the battery?
Did you measure the voltage with a multimeter after it was charged?
What did it read before you plugged it in to start up?

If it reads below 12.7 I would consider changing it out.

Chris-CJ said:
Fuel+Spark+Oxygen, the three ingredients to fire up.
Click to expand...

 
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Ash said:
I believe all of the the US/Canadian EX250s were carbureted. If you are unfamiliar with carbed bikes, here's a silly question which might save you hours of unnecessary work: have you turned the fuel petcock on?
Click to expand...
Hey Ash, I had not done that.

I just checked it and the motorcycle only has two positions on the fuel petcock,

One says “PRI” and the other says “ON”

The motorcycle was on PRI, which also means it was that way for the entire time it was sitting.

I turned it over to on and tried to start, it feels like its almost there,

You ever turn the key to start the car, and you hear the engine turn over and you let go of the key, I get that with the motorcycle, i push the button and I hear it actually start, but I let go of the button and within a second its out again.

I put it back to PRI for now.

I am going to follow Chris CJ’s suggestions tommorow after work, see if clean fuel can make a diffrence.

“- if this is a bike with carbs, a quick check will be to open the float bowl(s) and check for deposits and free movement of the float. If there is evidence of deposit, the jets will need cleaning.”

Does that involving pulling out the carburetor and taking it apart?
 
POWERMAN said:
How old is the battery?
Did you measure the voltage with a multimeter after it was charged?
What did it read before you plugged it in to start up?

If it reads below 12.7 I would consider changing it out.



Click to expand...

I can’t be sure but likely old. i dont have access to multimeter, my battery charges shows a solid green light to indicate the battery is fully charged and good to go basically.
 
TK4 said:
DO NOT take the carbs apart unless you have the tools, knowledge and patience. Its a job best left to the pros.
Click to expand...
Agreed, thats why I mentioned in my first post, I would draw the line there and tow it to my local repair shop.
 
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The gasoline still smells like gasoline, but its much more faint, I just feel like the gasoline in here has a bit of a darker texture (like slightly golden/brown color), the regular gasoline feels like it looks more clear.
 
Oh, interesting. The petcock on that bike apparently has "PRI", "ON" and "OFF" positions: Ninja 250: Petcock Problems

You might have to look closely to see the "OFF" position. The markings are often confusing.

The "PRI" position on the petcock is to "PRIME" the carb for starting. That is to say, it allows the carb to fill with gas, which is useful if it's been sitting for a long time. You normally want to switch the petcock to "ON" after you've got it started and the engine warms up and is running smoothly.

One possible drawback of leaving the petcock in the "PRI" position for a long time is that it could flood the carbs (too much gas), making it impossible to start. If it is flooded it will likely smell strongly of gas while you're trying to start it. There should be large bolts on the very bottom of the carbs which will allow you to drain the excess gas out of the carbs to solve this problem, but be very sure that the petcock is in the OFF position if you try this, otherwise the entire tank can drain itself onto your garage floor.

If you don't want to mess with the carb drains, an easier experiment is to switch the petcock to "OFF" and then try to start the bike. If it really is flooded, the starter turning the engine over will cause the excess gas to eventually be pulled out of the carb and the bike will no longer be flooded. This might take a minute or two. It's possible that your battery might die before all the excess gas is gone, though.

edit: there are a lot of EX250 variations. Looks like your petcock could indeed have only PRI and ON positions (random ebay pic). Even if you don't have an OFF position, you can usually clear flooding by holding the throttle open 50% while you thumb the starter.
 
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Another silly question if you're new to carbed bikes: are you familiar with using the choke? There should be a little black lever on the clutch housing. If you pull that lever it will restrict the amount of air getting pulled through the carb. If the Ninja 250 is anything like my old Ninja 500, using the choke is absolutely necessary to get it started in cold weather. Once the engine is warmed up, you can reduce the choke to normal.
 
I remember back when kneedragger88 would post frequently here, he mentioned that he would end up taking care of a lot of Ninja 250s as part of his storage business and he would usually have to deal with a LOT of them getting jets clogged over the winter. Jets were apparently tiny
 
edit: there are a lot of EX250 variations. Looks like your petcock could indeed have only PRI and ON positions (random ebay pic). Even if you don't have an OFF position, you can usually clear flooding by holding the throttle open 50% while you thumb the starter.

Would I want it on PRI or On when I do this?
 
TK4 said:
Ninja 250s are jetted notoriously lean from the factory, thus making them hard to start under the best of circumstances.
Get one of these, either from your local shop or Fortnine - Jet Kit for Kawasaki 250R NINJA
Click to expand...

Until I tuned my carbs it would never start unless the enrichment circuit “choke” was used. It’s the lever on the the left bar housing


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
otwo_91 said:
Would I want it on PRI or On when I do this?
Click to expand...

Short answer: In normal usage you'll always want to leave the petcock in the ON position.

Long answer: The petcock on that bike is vacuum operated, meaning that when it's in the ON position gas will only flow into the carbs when the engine is turning over, either by the starter or by normal running. You can test that this is working correctly by switching the petcock to ON and pulling off the rubber tube between the petcock and the carbs. After the little bit of residual gas in the tube drains out, no more gas should flow out of the tank. Now thumb the starter button. Gas should start to flow out of the tube again (use a cup or something so you don't end up covered in gas), and the flow of gas should stop when you stop thumbing the starter.

The PRI setting bypasses that whole vacuum thing, meaning that gas will flow unimpeded from the petcock into the carbs regardless of whether the engine is turning over or not. If you pull the rubber tube off between the petcock and the carb while the petcock is in the PRI position, the entire gas tank will eventually drain out. You probably don't want to do this. You should normally only need to use the PRI position if the carb bowls are empty. It's common to drain the carbs in the fall when you store the bike for the winter, for example, so you'd use PRI in the spring to fill them back up. You should only need to put it in the PRI position for less than a minute to fill the bowls.
 
There is a sticky in this section about this.

www.gtamotorcycle.com

Ongoing 250R problem: starting issues

Should make this a sticky. Just did another one yesturday. Same thing every time. Old 03-31-2010, 03:01 PM #18 kneedragger88 Dealer/Vendor kneedragger88's Avatar Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 2,830 Default Re: '09 Ninja 250 - Not Starting I store about 30 of these every year. End of season I...
www.gtamotorcycle.com www.gtamotorcycle.com
 
1. If the bike has been sitting, charge battery, then drain old gas by pulling the rubber line off the peacock and then switching to prime with the gascap open.
2. Add 5l of fresh premium fuel. Inspect air filter, if dirty replace.
3. Try starting on petcock prime. if the bike fires up, switch to on.

My experience with EX 250s has been good, the carbs are good quality and don't corrode quickly, even when poorly cared for. Goid battery, clean fuel and air filter gets them going most of the time.
 
The line of keihin carbs (CVK) found on that era of Kawi bikes (EX, EN etc) has extremely small pilot jets that are stuck in a hole in the carb body and are known for clogging up at the best of times.
If you have one of these bikes it is important to drain the carbs... DRAIN THE CARBS... no amount of mechanic in a can is going to help, if the bike is going to sit for more than a couple of weeks.
If the bike runs ONLY with the choke on or by adding fuel like propane... REPLACE,not clean, replace the pilots.
 
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