[LR44]

Originally Posted by jcarbelbide

Hi Ninjette! First time posting here. I have a problem with my Ninja that I can't solve.

For the past 3 months or so, I've been trying to get my Ninja 250 running again, but I'm running into a lot of issues. I'm a complete noob when it comes to this. This was my first bike, and my first real project I've worked on. It started with what seemed to be a carb issue. I let the bike sit for about a month, and it started having trouble with its idle revs. The idle revs would swing ± 1500 rpm, so I had to leave it at high RPMs or it would stall. It would also get stuck at high RPMs when I gave it throttle, and would eventually come back down slowly. The throttle cable was working properly. So I decided to try cleaning the jets. That didn't do anything. I then tried rebuilding the carbs. However, now the bike won't even start. I ordered another carb off of ebay to try, but I accidentally cracked it being too rough with a stripped screw. I'm not sure if the crack matters too much so I tried it anyway, but same problem as my original carb.

At this point, when I try to start the bike, I can hear it trying to start, but it doesn't fully start. I hear the electrical sounds, and I hear a small thump. I put my hand over the exhaust and I can feel stuff coming out. I don't really know what I could have messed up so bad that it won't even start. Could it be the floats? I had to bend the tabs to get the height correct but I might have messed that up.

Any ideas about what I can try? At this point, I might just take it to the mechanic, but I don't really want to give up either. Thanks!

For what it's worth, my bike tends to hunt for a stable idle immediately after startup (especially if its a cold day). Immediately after a cold start, I've seen the tach surge as high as 3500. For that reason, I usually stand by and reduce the choke until it stabilizes, which usually between 1200 and 1500 rpm. If I let it sit there for about 5 minutes, I can usually kill the choke and ride off without issue.