Details about the bike:
2007 250 Ninja
560 Miles

Just today I have the following problem:

Started the bike in the afternoon, had trouble firing up initially.
Put the bike to choke, bike started up however the RPMs went straight to 7,000 after choke was on and then gradually died down, as the let off the choke gradually the bike died.
Bike will not start without choke, and won't keep running unless on choke.


Then I placed the Fuel on RESERVE, and the bike runs with no problems at all..

Any ideas on what's going on?

Thank you!

sounds like you need more fuel in the tank!

also, how old is the gas in the tank? if it's old, I'd drain it first before trying to run it through the bike. fill with fresh gas. did you just buy the bike and starting it for the first time? did it run fine prior to this or ???? need some background before we can help you on what's possibly wrong.

Bought the bike last Tuesday, we filled it up before we drove it home (about a 50 mile ride)... since then I filled up the tank again on Saturday.. it's been running fine until today. Yesterday I changed the Oil & Oil Filter.. (should've probably included this in my first post, my bad!!!)

how many miles did you put on the bike from the time you filled gas till now?

did you fill the oil to the proper level in the sight glass with the bike vertical and not on it's side stand?

welcome to ninjette! You're in good hands with Kelly on the case :)

Bought the bike with 228 Miles on it.. about 100 miles (probably a little under that) since the last fillup.

Yep -- oil was filled to proper level with the bike on the center stand..


how many miles did you put on the bike from the time you filled gas till now?

did you fill the oil to the proper level in the sight glass with the bike vertical and not on it's side stand?

welcome to ninjette! You're in good hands with Kelly on the case :)

ya welcome to the forum! and +1000 for kkim

sounds like you need more fuel in the tank!

also, how old is the gas in the tank? if it's old, I'd drain it first before trying to run it through the bike. fill with fresh gas. did you just buy the bike and starting it for the first time? did it run fine prior to this or ???? need some background before we can help you on what's possibly wrong.

also +1000 for fresh gas. When you say you filled up - was the tank empty or did you just top up the gas to the top? A 2007 bike with that little kms has been sitting around for awhile... running some Seafoam (I love the stuff :D) would help clean up your carbs if they're gummed up (and likely are).

Bought the bike with 228 Miles on it.. about 100 miles (probably a little under that) since the last fillup.

Yep -- oil was filled to proper level with the bike on the center stand..

actually mveezy, the oil should be filled to the proper level when the bike has both tires on the ground but stood upright. On the center stand, you won't get the proper reading.

actually mveezy, the oil should be filled to the proper level when the bike has both tires on the ground but stood upright. On the center stand, you won't get the proper reading.

Ah okay, We did take the reading after taking the bike off the center stand again though so I'm fairly sure that I'm good here -- however I'll double check tomorrow..

I will also drain the gas and rock some seafoam and see if that does anything....

Then I placed the Fuel on RESERVE, and the bike runs with no problems at all..



sounds to me like you were just low on fuel. are you filling the fuel all the way to the filler neck of the tank manually or letting the the pump shut off on it's own?

Though it may not be the cause of your problem, I agree with Nemy that you should clean out the old fuel and start fresh. Seafoam is a good product to help break down any spooge you may have left over from the old fuel.

I've been manually filling it to the top of the tank...

I'm going to drain fuel, check fuel valves and run some seafoam through it tonight.. will update you guys on results soon as I can..

Thank you all for your input and help thus far!

to drain the tank, you'll need to disconnect the fuel line from the carbs and put the end of the tube into a gas container.

at the petcock, turn it to "reserve" and disconnect the rubber vacuum hose to the back of the petcock. attach another hose to the back of the petcock and gently suck on the hose till gas starts pouring out of the gas line into the container.

if you don't apply vacuum to the back of the petcock, gas does not flow.

Throw in some SeaFoam into the gas tank. That'll get things right, too. ;)

Finally got around to this last night...

Emptied the gas tank out completely, took the putcock off inspected for blockage, and then just ran some gas through the tank to wash anything stuck in there out.. had some crap come out..

Put everything back together... Filled with a little gas and attempted to start.. started up, but died right away. Was a bit too tired to go on so I picked up this afternoon.. Filled the tank with about 2 gallons of gas and threw some SeaFoam in. Started the bike up and let it sit for about 10 minutes.... bike didn't die so I was surprised. I took it for about a 30 minute ride and no issues.

Hopefully I'm all set now.. but only more riding will tell. Thank you everyone for all of your help!

Hopefully I'm all set now.. but only more riding will tell. Thank you everyone for all of your help!

Good stuff. If you wanna clean your carbs with brute force pour half of the Seafoam in when you're gas tank is almost empty and run it till you get that beautiful white smoke and/or go for a quick ride. Let it sit overnight - fill it up in the morning and add the other half of Seafoam in.

:D
Beautiful white smoke:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-QIWu_M-HU

Well.. just finished the tank of gas that I filled in after the cleanup and all... filled er up to the top again... so far so good!!!

and threw some SeaFoam in. Started the bike up and let it sit for about 10 minutes.... bike didn't die so I was surprised.

:cool: