ninjette.org - View Single Post - Took tank off and disconnected many things, now bike won't stay on.

CZroe · June 20th, 2014, 08:32 PM

I ran the bike for 30 minutes today just because it's been sitting a LOOONG time and, though I don't recall revving it, it seemed fine. Later, I disconnected seemingly everything in an effort to get my birdcage off (upper fairing stay). Now I'm having problem revving. Yes, it's been sitting a long time, but last time I ran it due to sitting was less than a month earlier and it idled and revved fine.

I needed the birdcage off so that I could take the entire upper fairing with windscreen, gauges, etc inside where I could start zip-tying my HID ballasts and wire harness, but it forced me to disconnect everything from the handlebar controls to the ignition to the fuel tank. My tank was leaking fuel like crazy when I lifted it to get at the ignition plug so I went ahead and drained the tank and replaced the petcock (already ordered/had a new spare).

I'm pretty sure I reconnected everything to the tank but it died when I revved it and now the bike just dies when I try to start (shouldn't be too cold yet). I turned up the idle speed and it ran better so I walked away to leave it running for a few minutes and it was off again when I came back. I started it again and it died when I revved it, after which it was now really hard to start. I put the petcock in Prime and it still wouldn't stay on. Eventually I just had to pack it up under threat of rain.

Unless I'm missing something or did something wrong, these are the only differences from when it ran fine earlier today:
Throttle cables left disconnected from grip controls
Choke cables left disconnected from carbs
Clutch cable left disconnected from lever
Brake switch left disconnected from wire harness
Gauges left disconnected from wire harness

Now, as far as I can tell, it shouldn't require any of those to stay running when I started it up the second time. It seemed to be fine at idle before I revved it and then it wouldn't even idle right. Even when I got it to idle fine it would almost die when I played with the throttle cables even though I could rev it before disconnecting all that other stuff.

Could it be because I only test-fitted the tubing without the hose clamps? I didn't redo those yet because they were a pain to disconnect and I knew I was just going to have to undo them again when finalizing my HID wiring.

Edit: Solved! It's almost certainly something gumming the carbs after messing with the tank but I burned it out without taking the carbs apart. Fresh E0 fuel and almost a whole can of Seafoam didn't seem to be doing anything at first (fully warmed; would still die with throttle). It wasn't until I increased the idle up to the point that made it almost die and then left it there that things began to slowly improve (engine would speed up and slow down every few seconds). About ten minutes later, I was hitting the rev limiter and it was totally clear.

June 20th, 2014, 08:32 PM	#1
CZroe CPT Falcon Name: J.Emmett Turner Location: Newnan, GA Join Date: Apr 2009 Motorcycle(s): '08 CP Blue EX250J, '97 unpainted EX250F, 2nd '97 unpainted EX250F (no engine), '07 black EX250F Posts: A lot.	Took tank off and disconnected many things, now bike won't stay on. I ran the bike for 30 minutes today just because it's been sitting a LOOONG time and, though I don't recall revving it, it seemed fine. Later, I disconnected seemingly everything in an effort to get my birdcage off (upper fairing stay). Now I'm having problem revving. Yes, it's been sitting a long time, but last time I ran it due to sitting was less than a month earlier and it idled and revved fine. I needed the birdcage off so that I could take the entire upper fairing with windscreen, gauges, etc inside where I could start zip-tying my HID ballasts and wire harness, but it forced me to disconnect everything from the handlebar controls to the ignition to the fuel tank. My tank was leaking fuel like crazy when I lifted it to get at the ignition plug so I went ahead and drained the tank and replaced the petcock (already ordered/had a new spare). I'm pretty sure I reconnected everything to the tank but it died when I revved it and now the bike just dies when I try to start (shouldn't be too cold yet). I turned up the idle speed and it ran better so I walked away to leave it running for a few minutes and it was off again when I came back. I started it again and it died when I revved it, after which it was now really hard to start. I put the petcock in Prime and it still wouldn't stay on. Eventually I just had to pack it up under threat of rain. Unless I'm missing something or did something wrong, these are the only differences from when it ran fine earlier today: Throttle cables left disconnected from grip controls Choke cables left disconnected from carbs Clutch cable left disconnected from lever Brake switch left disconnected from wire harness Gauges left disconnected from wire harness Now, as far as I can tell, it shouldn't require any of those to stay running when I started it up the second time. It seemed to be fine at idle before I revved it and then it wouldn't even idle right. Even when I got it to idle fine it would almost die when I played with the throttle cables even though I could rev it before disconnecting all that other stuff. Could it be because I only test-fitted the tubing without the hose clamps? I didn't redo those yet because they were a pain to disconnect and I knew I was just going to have to undo them again when finalizing my HID wiring. Edit: Solved! It's almost certainly something gumming the carbs after messing with the tank but I burned it out without taking the carbs apart. Fresh E0 fuel and almost a whole can of Seafoam didn't seem to be doing anything at first (fully warmed; would still die with throttle). It wasn't until I increased the idle up to the point that made it almost die and then left it there that things began to slowly improve (engine would speed up and slow down every few seconds). About ten minutes later, I was hitting the rev limiter and it was totally clear. Last futzed with by CZroe; July 2nd, 2014 at 02:39 PM.