Just bought a 250. Question, the battery in the bike is an everstart maxx ES4L-BS. Tried starting and it sounds like it cranks then just ticks and ticks.... kinda like a starter. Looking at connections and the terminals seem loose. How do I crank these down nice n tight? is this battery sufficient for this bike or should I replace with a stock one? Had it on trickle all night, lights and all work when trying to start but just ticks... leaning towards loose terminals but the bolts after I took them out dont tighten it down... Would washers work or any ideas??

The battery, from my experience, can easily power lights and other things without having enough power to actually start the bike. My suggestion, try push starting the bike. It's difficult with the bike, as the positive neutral finder will keep you from shifting into second unless you get the bike moving fairly quickly. It helps to have 1 or 2 friends to help. If you can manage to get it started, ride around for a minimum of 20 minutes to get the battery fairly charged. Then, let it sit for a bit. If you still have the problem (aka the battery drains after you do this) then get a new battery. If you can't get it started this way, I don't know what to do. That's just what has helped me when I accidentally drained my battery a couple of times. Good luck finding the problem! :D

Bill - welcome to the forum. With an unknown battery I would suggest two things; 1) purchase a battery tender since you will need one sooner or later and charge the battery up and go from there or 2) buy a new battery and a battery tender.

The battery is the heart of your electrical system and with out a good one you will find yourself chasing gremlins.

Thank You and I will be purchasing another battery. In the meantime it has been sitting and I pulled the tank off and changed the plugs.
Here is a question the right plug when I put the cap in and pushed down it clicks and I think it is on the plug but it is very loose. It wobbles and does not look like it is flush with the cylinder head. Is this normal? What could be wrong. Also to check for spark can I pull out the plug put the cap on just touch the plug to the head and crank it. I should see a blue spark if the plugs are good right?? Sorry totally new at all this.

Yes you can ground the spark plug to the head and shoud be able to see a spark. I would advise you to wear gloves while holding it to prevent being shocked.

Got multimeter, what should battery read when attempting to start?

Terminals seem loose, is there a way to crank these down and secure a tight connection? Can I add washers? Or place a small nut underneath

I had enough power to start my bike one time, but if i didnt ride it without killing it the 1st time, it would die. i replaced the battery as it just barely had enough cranking amps left to turn it over.
I started a thread about it. It may be worth checking out

Is there a link to the thread?
Do you remember what it was under so I can search

here ya go.
http://www.ninjette.org/forums/showthread.php?t=38927

OK,
turns out battery was wrong one... Just got relalcement and charging now.
I know the fuel hoses and lines are all messed up. Some are missing and I am attempting to just see if it will kick over with starter fluid before I invest more.
Is there is tutorial for fuel line hoses and carb lines... Looks like I have a CA emmisions bike but the fuel tank only has one line coming out. Petcock only has one as well??? Stumped????
Any advice?
Thanks

Great...
On top of all this i just drained the tank, removed petcock and for fun turned the tank upside down and jostled it a bit. When I shake it it sounds like there is sand and dirt sloshing around?? Is this normal? Is there any way to completely clean the tank??

Note:
Fuel that was drained was clear and not a sign of dirt or rust???

Great...
On top of all this i just drained the tank, removed petcock and for fun turned the tank upside down and jostled it a bit. When I shake it it sounds like there is sand and dirt sloshing around?? Is this normal? Is there any way to completely clean the tank??

Note:
Fuel that was drained was clear and not a sign of dirt or rust???

most likely rust in the tank. take the tank off, fill with some gas, slosh it around and dump it out the gas fill hole. dump it through a cloth filter so you can see what the stuff is in the tank. repeat the process until no more stuff come out on the cloth.

install an inline fuel filter for insurance. drain your carb bowls to make sure nothing has made it's way there.

Thank You KKIM,
Finally got the bike to kick over with starter fluid and new battery.
Now on to the intake.
Petcock has been removed, I only have 1 filter sticking up, the long one. The shorter one is missing, and as far as the vaccuum line goes I see a hole behind the fuel nipple but is there a hose that goes in there? If so where does the other end attach to. Wondering if anyone has a link or can direct me to somewhere when I can buy new lines and a diagram to install them.
Cant wait to confirm the petcock is working

ignore most of the other lines in this drawing. you are interested in the orange line. Go to the auto parts store and buy some vacuum hose if yours is missing. without that vacuum line to the petcock, gas cannot flow from the tank to the carbs.

http://faq.ninja250.org/images/d/d8/Routing.gif

KKIM YOU ROCK!!!!!!!!
Thank you,
Now issue is my petcock, the vacuum nipple is not there...
Looks like a new petcock is in store. Is there an aftermarket one I can use to avoid the vacuum or no?

um... can you take a pic of the petcock you have? as far as I know, all ninja 250s came with a vacuum operated petcock. The other question is... if you have no vacuum line to the petcock right now, what happened to the line from the carb that is supposed to be running over to it? It not capped of, a vacuum leak at the carb would make the bike run like crap. make sure the tap for the vacuum line at the carb is blocked off.

some background of the bike? I know you just bought it, but was it running before that or did you buy it not running? accidents/damage, mileage... etc???

Bike was not running when purchased. Sure it has been dropped as has some dings and dents, has 9800 miles, the petcock I have is vacuum operated, just the space where the brass valve should be for the hose to clamp the hose to is missing. Just a hole leading up into the petcock. Will see if I can upload a few pics when I get home.
Thanks

found a '01 petcock online used for sale will that fit a '96?

looks like you are getting it worked out.

im just sitting back and learning right now.

found a '01 petcock online used for sale will that fit a '96?

it should.


Do you know how long the bike was sitting unused before you purchased it? Sounds like the previous owner did some monkeying around with it in the past to solve some fuel issue if the petcock you have has no vacuum nipple. :p

pics would explain a lot.

Just bought a new one from Kawasaki. Hopefully this will solve the issue.
Thanks and will let you know once it arrives.

hey, lets still see pics of the old one. it may help someone else if they search for this issue.

Here guys....
Any ideas what happened

can you post a pic of the back? what's all the green stuff... paint?

Yes,
It is paint peeling off. The back looks fine, I can post one once I get home.

Any ideas on what the heck happened. Is this just not even the proper part? Older one?? I'm stumped...

It looks like there should be a brass nipple in the hole to the right of the main fuel nipple, like you can see in this add on ebay:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/2002-NINJA-EX250-EX-250-PETCOCK-FUEL-VALVE_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQhashZitem27b036caa7QQitemZ170460105383QQptZMotorcyclesQ5 fPartsQ5fAccessories

Either yours is missing somehow, or that petcock is actually from a different bike that didn't use the vacuum feature.

Installed new petcock, finally got bike to kick over.
Now the fun part:
1) Bike idles at maybe 1rpm for about 10 seconds, creeping its way up to 2rpm and as soon as I touch the throttle it dies

2) The gas tank has one line coming out the back, no hose was attached where does that line go and what for?

3) The top of the engine head has an open kind of large hole, should anything be there like a hose or plug of some sort? Sorry this bike was given to me and I have no idea what I am doing.

Please help me to trouble shoot guys You have been awesome so far!!!
Thanks

as far as the idle, are you on full choke when you start it? if that is, the next thing to check out for that is the little black plastic star that is just under the petcock. it may be turned way down. when the bike is fully idling and warmed up, it should be about 1500-1800 rpm.

it sounds like you still have some lines that need to be plugged or hosed to other spots. this is probably what needs more attention than anything else. maybe try sticking your finger over it when you try to rev the bike and see if anything different happens.

as before, can you take a pic of the #3 issue?
youll get it dialed in soon and love it.

Will take a few pics when I get camera.
The diagram kkim posted helped but his shouws the gas tank with 2 hoses coming out. My tank only has 1. Where does that line go to. The little cylinder thing on the left side is there and right now there are 2 lines open. One says to tank, other is at top and not sure what these are for and how to fix.
Will take a pic in a few.
Thanks guys

Here are some pics....
Thanks for all the help guys

The one of the engine you can see a large black opening. Is that supposed to have a hose or plugged off of some sort?

these pics are millions of times better than the 1st 2.
here is a pic of mine showing a hose going from the "hole" you show.
Im sure it will help
http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j314/slabrocks/DSCN0047.jpg

now that im looking at it again, i think the hose goes to the airbox. if you dont have an exact hose, it looks like you could put a breather type filter on it. But, being a motorcycle, there is no hood to keep out sand dust and water like a car, so i would surely put a hose on it so the nasty stuff stays out of the motor.

P.S. GREEN IS AWESOME!!!!

the picture I posted was of a California emissions setup. If yours is not a Cali bike, it will be a little different from the picture. I was using it to illustrate where the vacuum hose should be connected to the fuel petcock.

Yes, that large hole on the engine is the crankcase vent which is usually connected by a hose to the airbox as slabrocks has shown.

As far as other hoses to the tank, someone with a non Cali pregen will need to help you out or I highly recommend you source a service manual for your bike.

i can take pics of any part of my bike you may need (non Cali bike), with my rotten story of where i think the lines are going. when i dont get it right, kelly will be sure to get things back on track for you.

Now I cant get the bike to kick over. I am trying to start it so much the battery is beginning to die...

I just checked the petcock...
With the hoses hooked up, I unplugged the fuel line from the carb and hung it down to a can, started cranking the engine with the valve on the on position, and LOW and BEHOLD... NOTHING... No fuel is coming out from the petcock...
I am perplexed. What the F***
How can I test to see how to get fuel coming out of the fuel line???

for now, put the battery on a 2 amp charger while you get the lines right.

you have found this page right???
http://faq.ninja250.org/wiki/Main_Page
I feel that it it better than any service manual. color pics with explanations of things that could break or what to look for along the way

double post. my connection sucks today

I just checked the petcock...
With the hoses hooked up, I unplugged the fuel line from the carb and hung it down to a can, started cranking the engine with the valve on the on position, and LOW and BEHOLD... NOTHING... No fuel is coming out from the petcock...
I am perplexed. What the F***
How can I test to see how to get fuel coming out of the fuel line???

take the vacuum hose from the backside of the petcock and apply vacuum to it by sucking on the vacuum hose. it should provide enough vacuum to the diaphragm inside the petcock to allow fuel to flow through it. try that and see if that works.

OK,
Just hooked up a line from the vaccum line of the petcock, was sucking as hard as possible and NOTHING...
No fuel flowing from the fuel line of the petcock...while I was sucking
Could I not provide enough force?? Or is something else the issue??
OK so now I just bought this petcock yesterday and I know it is not faulty??? What could be the problem??

sounds to me like the new petcock is not working properly. did the original petcock flow fuel?

http://faq.ninja250.org/wiki/How_do_I_drain_the_fuel_tank%3F

http://faq.ninja250.org/wiki/How_do_I_drain_the_fuel_tank%3F

I was just on the EXACT same page about to link it.

time to leave for work. im sure ill get all the updates when i return

The original petcock that I had was broken, no vacuum nipple.
This petcock is brand new, and yesterday the bike was starting up, only on full choke but it at least kicked over.
Today I drained the tank, added some seafoam and NADA...
Bike wont turn even with choke on...
How can I make sure this petcock is not faulty?
Could there be something with the gas tank??

Bike wont turn even with choke on...


are you saying the starter will not run when the start button is pushed?

No, it tries to start, just wont kick over.
Although the bigger issue is the gas not coming out of the petcock.
Even with all hoses disconnected standing 3 feet off the fuel will not drop out of the lines.

Even with all hoses disconnected standing 3 feet off the fuel will not drop out of the lines.

huh? :confused:

nevermind
How much pressure would it take to check for fuel flow out of the petcock.
I am going to auto parts store now to get new vacuum lines for carbs, just to make sure.
Could one really inhale and suck hard enough and have fuel flow out of the petcock??

now I am trying to crank it so much the battery is beginning to die.
Tried jumping and no luck, anyone want a cheap 250?

wow what an afternoon you have had.

put the battery on 2 amp for half a day or so to get it back to full. dont give up man, you almost have it.

i see your frustration. calm down and tackle it in a few days.

to suck some soda up a really long straw. Remember, ON is handle pointing downwards, RES is handle pointing forwards, OFF is handle pointing backwards.

It may also be possible that there is so much sediment and gunk in the tank that the petcock tube screens are plugged, but you would have seen that when you removed the old one.

Thanks Guys,
Now have a buddy of mine pulling the carbs as I want to watch and learn...
Will let you know, he also thinks I may have hydro locked the engine fuel wise something with the floats, he also said I should watch him do a valve adjustment.
Anyways will let you know tomorrow what the status is.

hey bill. i started having issues with my bike now. i feel cursed.

http://www.ninjette.org/forums/showthread.php?t=40047