Dropped bike at low MPH, drained float bowls, still won't start.

[BoKing]

About a year ago I had a similar problem and this helped me resolve it:

http://faq.ninja250.org/wiki/How_to_...he_float_bowls

2 nights ago I was coming home in the rain, turned the corner into my driveway and hit a sediment deposit. I must have been going less than 2 or 3 mph, was a light drop. When I pulled it up and tried to start it, I felt it having trouble trying to start (as happened a year prior, so I knew what it was).

I stripped the fairings/plastics off the front for good because they were looking a bit ratty after a few drops, and to give me direct access to the carburetors to drain the float bowls.

I drained them both last night, it wouldn't start. I drained them again and gave it until today to maybe dry out or something, wouldn't start.

Everything looks fine on it, normal power, the battery feels like it's kicking as it should, the engine makes the appropriate noises, it just never turns over.

What else should I be looking at?

Thanks.

[j98sprint]

My guess is that you are not filling them all the way before you try to start the bike. Suggest you apply vacuum (slightly suck on a length of vacuum hose attached to the nipple on the petcock) to the petcock but leave one of the float bowl drain screws open.

When you see gas coming out of the drain hole it will verify that the gas is reaching the bowls. Close the drain screw and give the bowls a couple of minutes to fill then give her a try. Should start.

j98sprint

[csmith12]

Try setting the petcok to prime?

[tc.young]

no prime on our pre-gens, crank that sucker for 5 seconds at a time, i think i did it twice or three times before mine went from empty to running. is the vacuum hose still hooked up?

[BoKing]

I had my brother come over (who used to be a mechanic, I'm very much not a mechanic) and take a look at it.

He said the engine was turning over, it just wasn't starting. I thought if it didn't "turn over" that meant it wasn't starting so I apologize for the misinformation. I drained the bowls several times and tried both quick starts and prologed 5-10 second rev-starts - nothing.

My brother thinks it may be the spark plugs, but he didn't have the tools to address them. We removed the gas tank and he's going to dig into it tomorrow. If its not the spark plugs (getting replacements tomorrow in preparation for his visit), then we have no idea what it is.

[pimpybra]

When I dropped my bike in the parking lot a number of months ago, I had to have a buddy push start me and I had to pop start it.

Once it did, it revved pretty high for a bit. Buddy said the engine got flooded and it just needed some help to work it out with the mechanical push.

[tc.young]

Originally Posted by BoKing

I had my brother come over (who used to be a mechanic, I'm very much not a mechanic) and take a look at it.

He said the engine was turning over, it just wasn't starting. I thought if it didn't "turn over" that meant it wasn't starting so I apologize for the misinformation. I drained the bowls several times and tried both quick starts and prologed 5-10 second rev-starts - nothing.

My brother thinks it may be the spark plugs, but he didn't have the tools to address them. We removed the gas tank and he's going to dig into it tomorrow. If its not the spark plugs (getting replacements tomorrow in preparation for his visit), then we have no idea what it is.

it's even easier if you just pull out the spark plug wire and hook a spare to it. that way you don't have to fiddle getting the spark plugs out of the engine and you can check for spark. but dropping it would have nothing to do with the ignition system.

safety switch maybe?

[BoKing]

Originally Posted by tc.young

safety switch maybe?

It's a 2007 Ninja 250. I don't think there's a safety switch on it. I could be wrong.

[baxtc1]

Kill switch? (sorry, but)

[BoKing]

Originally Posted by baxtc1

Kill switch? (sorry, but)

The killswitch is not engaged. It's off. Power is flowing normally.

[PEN25]

are you trying it with the clutch pulled in or not? try it with the clutch pulled in. if it starts it might be the kickstand sensor.

[cuong-nutz]

Make sure the throttle is closed, choke engaged, and let her fire up. Could try manipulating the throttle a bit while starting the bike.

It's possibly that your carbs are dirty since you said that draining the bowls worked for you a while back. When you dropped your bike it's possible it could have dislodged something and clogged a jet.

Hows the air filter looking?

[cuong-nutz]

Originally Posted by PEN25

are you trying it with the clutch pulled in or not? try it with the clutch pulled in. if it starts it might be the kickstand sensor.

Those are fine since his motor is turning over but not starting. If it wasn't, then the starter would not engage and turn the motor over.

[tc.young]

Originally Posted by cuong-nutz

Those are fine since his motor is turning over but not starting. If it wasn't, then the starter would not engage and turn the motor over.

not necessarily, though my case was different, i friend my ignition switch so when i jerry rigged one up, it would crank all day but because there's a resistor between two wires, there would be no trigger for the spark, even if it's cranking. not that it's the case here.

[cuong-nutz]

Originally Posted by tc.young

not necessarily, though my case was different, i friend my ignition switch so when i jerry rigged one up, it would crank all day but because there's a resistor between two wires, there would be no trigger for the spark, even if it's cranking. not that it's the case here.

I'm aware of that but OP didn't state he hotwired his bike

[tc.young]

Originally Posted by cuong-nutz

I'm aware of that but OP didn't state he hotwired his bike

hehe, more like it was a temporary key.

back to the op, any news on the spark test? you only have to remove the fairings, tank and seat.

[Motofool]

Originally Posted by BoKing

I had my brother come over (who used to be a mechanic, I'm very much not a mechanic) and take a look at it.

He said the engine was turning over, it just wasn't starting. I thought if it didn't "turn over" that meant it wasn't starting so I apologize for the misinformation. I drained the bowls several times and tried both quick starts and prologed 5-10 second rev-starts - nothing.

My brother thinks it may be the spark plugs, but he didn't have the tools to address them. We removed the gas tank and he's going to dig into it tomorrow. If its not the spark plugs (getting replacements tomorrow in preparation for his visit), then we have no idea what it is.

Why have drained the bowls and done all of the above after a simple tip over?

I see no relation among these things.

Plugs are fine, no need to mess with them (the less you disturb them the better).

There is no tip-over safety switch in your model.

Suggest your brother to focus on the level of fuel inside the bowls, which is what gets disturbed after a fall like that more frequently.

Your bike needs to have certain level of fuel inside the bowls to work properly.

This is what happens: one or both floats-valves get out of position and somehow jammed against the cast aluminum body doing one of two things: keeping the flow of fuel closed or open regardless the level of fuel inside the bowls.

The common remedy is to tap the bodies of the carbs with the handle of a heavy screwdriver in order to liberate the float(s) and valve(s).

Charge you battery or use an auxiliary battery for the attempts, or you may end up with an additional problem: a dead or damaged battery.

Also check the level of oil, because some fuel could have flown down into it: too high level + gas smell in oil = bad

[BoKing]

Originally Posted by tc.young

hehe, more like it was a temporary key.

back to the op, any news on the spark test? you only have to remove the fairings, tank and seat.

Long overdue update. Bother took a few weeks to get around to changing the spark plugs.

Here's what we did tonight:

1) Change the spark plugs

2) Test the coils

We saw successful sparks coming out of each spark plug (the new and the old).

My brother says everything looks good with the ignition stuff, and it has to "be fuel related". He doesn't know much about the bike though, so I"m waiting for a friend who works on bikes for a living to come by. I just wanted to update him with what has been tested to save him any time. We also tested the fuel valve thingy in different positions.

Same thing. The engine turns over, just never starts. My brother said he never smelled fuel anywhere at anytime so he thinks fuel isn't getting somewhere it needs to be. We tried tapping the things holding the fuel as suggested above in the prior post, no dice.

Any guesses would be good, I can pass them on to my bike friend.

Thanks again.