My bike doesn't like me...

CmichRider · July 10th, 2011, 04:59 PM

This is on a 2000 ex250 with about 1200 miles on it now. Cliff-notes bolded at bottom.

I took a nice 120 mile ride with my brother and uncle on Wednesday, the bike performed amazingly. We were gone for probably around 2.5 hours, going around 60mph give or take a few. I loved the bike at 9k to 11k RPMs, it had all the power I needed to accelerate, and I was riding with two 1500cc cruisers. Pulled the bike in for the day and called it good.

Time comes to ride home from the week, and on Saturday morning, I left to go on a ~50 mile ride home. Bike ran great, and then the crap hit the fan, all at once. I revved the bike up and started to pick up speed, got to about 70 for a second, and then noticed my revs were starting to drop, the bike lost power! I thought maybe I was out of gas, so I switched to reserve and it kept losing power. My speed started to drop quickly, so I pulled off to the shoulder of the road, luckily my girlfriend was trailing in her truck and she saw me. The bike stalled as I stopped.

I looked at the bike for a couple seconds, thinking about what could have happened. I had a total loss of power. I tried starting the bike up and it wouldn't. It just cranked and cranked, eventually the battery died...

I pulled the jumped cables from the truck and jumped the bike, and after a second of cranking, it started right up. Got a break there...so I thought.

So we start back up going down the highway, it's a 2 lane 55mph road now, and early, so it wasn't too bad getting back on. I take off and immediately notice a lack of power, chugging (bucking), if I had to, I'd say it was similar to a bad plug in a car.

The next thing I notice down the road is that the speedo needle is bouncing crazy! At this point, I'm just trying to limp the bike the last 30 miles home. I want to throw my helmet down, sign off the title and put it on the bike at the side of the road. The needle is bouncing from 40mph to 65mph. I had no clue how fast I was going.

Once in the city and going slower, I noticed the exhaust was popping, the girlfriend said there was gray smoke coming out when it popped. Just my luck that an older CBR pulls up next to me at a light and revs the engine, Hah!

I ordered 4 NKG sparkplugs from Oreilly's Auto Parts, at 2.09 a piece. I figure for that price, it's worth a shot to replace them.

Cliff-notes:
Bike lost power after accelerating, I pulled over, bike stalled, wouldn't start, battery died, got jumped and it started, loss of power and chugging on the road, speedo needle jumps 20 mph, exhaust is popping.

What happened to my bike, Ninjette Gurus?! It just about left me stranded...I thought I'd be calling Progressive for roadside assistance. Poor bike is sitting outside now, I'm afraid to use it again until I get this fixed.

CynicalC · July 10th, 2011, 05:24 PM

Speedo needle jumping around seems odd. Did you jump the bike from a running car?

kkim · July 10th, 2011, 08:31 PM

first, check to see the battery connections are tight. sometimes, if they are loose, weird things can happen. If the bike still loses power, try popping the gas cap open. you may have a fuel tank venting problem.

alex.s · July 10th, 2011, 10:03 PM

it sounds like a bad ignition coil

JeffM · July 11th, 2011, 08:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CynicalC

Did you jump the bike from a running car?

This is important. Jump starting from a running vehicle can damage the 250's electrical components: http://faq.ninja250.org/wiki/How_to_...ike_from_a_car

Also, check the vent lines coming from the back of your fuel tank (remove the seat to check). If they get out of place they can be crimped by the front of the seat.

The jumping speedo is probably a coincidence as it is mechanically driven and has no connection to the tuning of your bike.

CmichRider · July 11th, 2011, 07:03 PM

I thought my post sent earlier, but my internet was acting up.

We tried at first to jump with the truck off, but with no luck, we turned it on and the bike started up...

I took the bike for a small ride today, just to see if the symptoms were an anomaly. the speedo seems to have corrected itself, but the misfire is still there. I had a little bit of difficulty starting the bike also, had to use half throttle and give more air..

Other than the misfire/chugging, the bike seems to be fine. I'm going to replace the plugs tomorrow, as Oreilly's didn't get them in today. I want to shim my needles also, and the pre-gens don't have a snorkel to remove, correct?

CmichRider · July 12th, 2011, 11:43 AM

I'm not sure how the bike even started. I took out the plugs and they are completely shot. Whoever changed these last used Champion plugs.

kkim · July 12th, 2011, 11:53 AM

yikes! I'd be concerned about where the missing parts from the spark plugs are. They could still be loose in the cylinders.

what's the model number of the champions?

CmichRider · July 12th, 2011, 12:00 PM

Model number is Z9Y. Who knows where that piece is at, it's completely gone from the plug altogether...

kkim · July 12th, 2011, 12:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CmichRider

Model number is Z9Y. Who knows where that piece is at, it's completely gone from the plug altogether...

You should. If it's still in the cylinder, it will cause all kinds of damage if it's still in there and you start the bike and run it.

http://faq.ninja250.org/wiki/Changin...rands_to_avoid

KELPHYN · July 12th, 2011, 12:25 PM

Ditto, Kelly. I too would be VERY concerned where the rest of the plug is. Years ago a friend had the same thing happen to his bike, a VFR. Our local Honda shop at the time was run by very good people. They contacted Champion and explained the situation, documented it with pictures of the damage to the engine cylinder. To make a long story short Champion footed the bill for the rebuild. So if you have a competent shop in your area maybe they can help you out. At the very least you should get a cylinder leak down test done to try to see if any damage has been done to the cyclinder. Good luck, fingers crossed.

CmichRider · July 12th, 2011, 12:26 PM

I've read that page a few times now, that's why I ordered 4 NGK plugs to replace these and have spares. So am I looking into a complete tear-down of the engine to find this piece? I rode the bike about 30 miles back home after what I can only assume was the spark plugs giving out on me, would whatever damage that will occur have already occurred?

kkim · July 12th, 2011, 12:34 PM

Believe who/what you want to believe. All I'm saying is that I'd be very concerned about where the rest of the plug went. If it's still in your engine, it will be in the combustion chamber portion, above the piston. If it is, it can bend valves and score the cylinder walls, at a minimum.

You may be right, though... if you rode it 30 miles like that already, the damage is already done or you might have lucked out and the pieces went out the exhaust port and into your exhaust pipe.

the link I posted said to just change the plugs and see how it runs. You could do that as well.

CmichRider · July 12th, 2011, 12:45 PM

Oh I believe you, I don't doubt your knowledge on these bikes. I'm just not sure where to go from here. I don't want to run the risk of putting the new plugs in and destroying the engine, but at the same time, I have to think that something would have happened already if it were to...

kkim · July 12th, 2011, 01:05 PM

during those 30 miles, did you hear anything rattling around or grinding while riding? the center electrode of one of the plugs is completely gone in your pic. the electrode is made of metal and that's what I'd be concerned about.

any loud, sudden noises when the troubles began?

it could be that the electrode melted, but normally you would see at least a part of it remaining. yours is completely missing.

KELPHYN · July 12th, 2011, 01:15 PM

You could start with a cyclinder leak-down test. This would tell you if there is excess compression leakage due to scored cylinder walls, broken rings, bent or stuck valves. You could also see if there is a shop that has a camera scope where they could look inside the cylinder through the sparkplug hole for damage and the missing parts. You could even try contacting Champion and seeing what they say. Or you could put in new plugs and cross your fingers.

Donnyd21 · July 14th, 2011, 04:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KELPHYN

You could start with a cyclinder leak-down test. This would tell you if there is excess compression leakage due to scored cylinder walls, broken rings, bent or stuck valves. You could also see if there is a shop that has a camera scope where they could look inside the cylinder through the sparkplug hole for damage and the missing parts. You could even try contacting Champion and seeing what they say. Or you could put in new plugs and cross your fingers.

Honestly if it were my bike and you rode it for 30 mins after it started giving you problems I bet the peices made there way out of one of the 2 exhaust valves, I would bring each piston to TDC and look into the spark plug hole to get a small peek, if all is good I would throw new plugs in it and run it, if the peices are in there the damage is already done.

"A" · July 15th, 2011, 07:14 AM

From the looks of the spark plugs, seems to me like classic 'too much sustained high-rpm operation' or 'valves too tight'.

choneofakind · July 15th, 2011, 09:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by "A"

From the looks of the spark plugs, seems to me like classic 'too much sustained high-rpm operation' or 'valves too tight'.

yes and no. they were champion plugs. ninja250.org warns about those too with a picture that's practically identical to the OP's

http://faq.ninja250.org/wiki/Changin...rands_to_avoid

CmichRider · July 15th, 2011, 11:35 AM

Here's an update for anyone who's been following this.

I had to put the new plugs in before checking anything else, since I needed a way to get to work. The bike runs pretty good, with a little hiccup here and there. It idles all sorts of wacky though. I can't even give a good description of what it does, since it changes everytime I start the bike. Sometimes the bike starts first try, sometimes I need to open the throttle halfway, sometimes I need to use the choke, sometimes using the choke will kill the bike, the idle is erratic, and it is constantly hunting for an idle now.

I've decided to do the dirty work on the bike that the PO probably didn't have done. I'm going to check and adjust valves, because I'd be willing to bet that this bike didn't have its 500 mile service done even. I also plan to remove the carbs and clean them, since I know this bike sat for a while, and also synchronize the carbs.

I'm also going to compression test the cylinders before doing any of that, just so I can know if anything is wrong there. I feel like the bike doesn't perform as well as it could because none of the above was ever done to it, AFAIK.

KKim, I didn't hear any loud noises when the problem started, but I was at highway speed so wind and engine were both loud. As far as I could tell, the dropping in speed was my first notice that something went wrong. I didn't notice any sort of rattling around on the ride back.

kkim · July 15th, 2011, 12:13 PM

Jacob,

sounds like you have a plan on getting your bike into shape. assume at this point, nothing was damaged, but keep an open mind concerning the thinigs that are wrong and what might cause them. The compression check before doing any work is an excellent idea to establish a baseline as is doing a valve clearance check/adjustment. carb cleaning is a must.

GL... let us know if/when you need help.

CmichRider · July 15th, 2011, 12:39 PM

Thanks Kelly,

Despite the bike not running as great as I would like, I'm actually not too disappointed or upset about it. As long as nothing serious is damaged, that is. I figure that I'll take this time to learn how my bike works and how to work on it. Nothing seems too difficult, just time consuming.

kkim · July 15th, 2011, 12:49 PM

you do have a service manual, right?

CmichRider · July 15th, 2011, 12:53 PM

Yup!

"A" · July 15th, 2011, 03:04 PM

If you keep riding the bike at high rpm without the valves check, you're going to burn a valve or worse bend a valve, crack cylinder head, etc..

ducducgooseit · July 15th, 2011, 04:21 PM

CmichRider · July 17th, 2011, 07:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by "A"

If you keep riding the bike at high rpm without the valves check, you're going to burn a valve or worse bend a valve, crack cylinder head, etc..

Well here's hoping nothing went wrong when I was revving the piss out of it just to get home, Lol!

I'm about to do the dirty work tomorrow, going to start off with the compression test. On these bikes, it's pretty much just remove the sparkplugs-open throttle-get 'er going and record results, correct?

Also, since i'm going to be removing the carbs to clean them eventually, would you guys suggest removing the carbs before doing the valves, since it would be one less thing in the way? But if I left them in, I could check the bike after the valve adjustment to make sure I didn't FUBAR anything too badly.

One last question, and I've read every article on the valves out there, when adjusting the valves, there is only the one screw and locknut that is used to adjust them all, correct?

planet-beaver · July 18th, 2011, 07:00 AM

Yes just a screw and the locknut. Make sure you have long 9mm socket or two inch 1/4 drive extension. I would not mess with the carbs and valves at the same time. Always do one thing at a time so that if the bike don't run you'll know what the problem is. Taking carbs out will not make valve job any easier.

CmichRider · July 18th, 2011, 04:39 PM

Oh ok i see, I got to the valves today, but it started to rain out so I had to call it quits. I saw each pair of valves had a screw. Just to clarify, I only need to turn the engine until the valve I'm adjusting has the lobe pointing up, correct? No need to bother with the sight gauge?

planet-beaver · July 19th, 2011, 06:46 AM

Thats correct. As long as the lobes point away from the rockers, you are fine. Just wiggle the nut , it should be sloppy with lots of play, then you know there is no pressure on it from the lobes.

CmichRider · July 19th, 2011, 05:58 PM

Finally finished with the adjustment! Some of the valves, exhaust mainly, were tight. Not too many hiccups, other than dropping a socket into the engine. I don't have the things to make the makeshift carb-syncher tonight, so i'll do that tomorrow.

I tried starting the bike up and it did-no loud clunking noises or anything..so that's good. It wouldn't stay started though, I had to blip the throttle to keep it going, even with the choke on, it would still have an erratic idle and then die. I'm assuming this is due to the carbs needing to be synched. Hopefully that's all it needs and I won't even need to take the carbs out.

planet-beaver · July 20th, 2011, 04:24 AM

Make sure to get 5/16od, 3/16id clear tubing vs 3/8 like it's stated on Ninja250.org. 3/8 just falls on the barb fitting and no amount of clamp force will seal it. That web site has it wrong.

CmichRider · July 20th, 2011, 07:01 PM

Will do, thanks.

I'm just wondering about the carbs...the bike ran fine before this issue, so I find it hard to believe that the carbs are to blame. I dunno, but if it still doesn't work correctly after the synch, they'll be the next to come out.

Donnyd21 · July 26th, 2011, 07:57 PM

Have you done a compression check yet? This is very important BEFORE doing a carb sync, especially since a small amount of your spark plugs came off!

CmichRider · July 27th, 2011, 07:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Donnyd21

Have you done a compression check yet? This is very important BEFORE doing a carb sync, especially since a small amount of your spark plugs came off!

No. I planned to, but the compression gauge I have does not have the proper fittings for the bike. I will be picking one up from Harbor Freight soon.

I have a bigger problem currently.

I rode the bike about 45 miles today, round trip, came back and when pulling in, the bike stalled. I didn't pay any mind to it, but about 2 hours later, a neighbor comes to the door and says that the motorcycle out there has a puddle of gas underneath it! Turns out, my carbs seem to be leaking fuel! I can't do anything tonight since it's dark, but I turned the petcock to off and they stopped leaking....

What now?

planet-beaver · July 28th, 2011, 06:30 PM

Did you mess with the carbs. Can it be hose leaking. If not hoses, the only thing it can be is stuck float or needle valve seat. Try just tapping with small hammer on the cards, see if it helps. If not, got to pull them out. Had the same problem on my Kiwi 1000. I must have bent the top of the float metal thing when cleaning and the float was getting stuck.

You have got a lot of problems with that little ninja. Somewhat surprised. They are very reliable.

CmichRider · July 28th, 2011, 06:41 PM

I haven't even pulled the carbs yet, that's the funny part. Could be a hose, it rained on and off today so I didn't want to pull anything or go too deep into the bike, but tomorrow I will. It looks like the fuel isnt coming directly out of the bowls, but somewhere above them.

From what I've gathered, for the bike to be leaking, I must have a faulty petcock and float bowls, correct? Since the vacuum (or lack of) is supposed to stop fuel from flowing when the engine is off, the petcock is suspect also?

Edit: I'm determined to get this ninja running at peak performance. I've already learned so much about motorcycle from the little I've done, I'm excited to take the carbs out and get some time with those. But yes, this bike has become a headache recently. I'm debating on whether or not to sell it, making profit, and buy a better condition ninja, or ride this one as it, with the cosmetic flaws but knowing that the maintenance has been done.

CmichRider · July 29th, 2011, 11:41 AM

Got the carbs out today, took all but 20 minutes to get them out. I didn't remove the airbox, but i feel like I may need to to get the carbs back in. It seemed like the carbs were barely connected to the airbox though, that was suspect. When removing the carb boots, gasoline was leaking from them and out of the engine.

anyone know how to remove gasoline stains from concrete?

July 10th, 2011, 04:59 PM	#1
CmichRider ninjette.org member Name: Jacob Location: Michigan Join Date: Mar 2011 Motorcycle(s): 2000 Ninja 250 Posts: 227	My bike doesn't like me... This is on a 2000 ex250 with about 1200 miles on it now. Cliff-notes bolded at bottom. I took a nice 120 mile ride with my brother and uncle on Wednesday, the bike performed amazingly. We were gone for probably around 2.5 hours, going around 60mph give or take a few. I loved the bike at 9k to 11k RPMs, it had all the power I needed to accelerate, and I was riding with two 1500cc cruisers. Pulled the bike in for the day and called it good. Time comes to ride home from the week, and on Saturday morning, I left to go on a ~50 mile ride home. Bike ran great, and then the crap hit the fan, all at once. I revved the bike up and started to pick up speed, got to about 70 for a second, and then noticed my revs were starting to drop, the bike lost power! I thought maybe I was out of gas, so I switched to reserve and it kept losing power. My speed started to drop quickly, so I pulled off to the shoulder of the road, luckily my girlfriend was trailing in her truck and she saw me. The bike stalled as I stopped. I looked at the bike for a couple seconds, thinking about what could have happened. I had a total loss of power. I tried starting the bike up and it wouldn't. It just cranked and cranked, eventually the battery died... I pulled the jumped cables from the truck and jumped the bike, and after a second of cranking, it started right up. Got a break there...so I thought. So we start back up going down the highway, it's a 2 lane 55mph road now, and early, so it wasn't too bad getting back on. I take off and immediately notice a lack of power, chugging (bucking), if I had to, I'd say it was similar to a bad plug in a car. The next thing I notice down the road is that the speedo needle is bouncing crazy! At this point, I'm just trying to limp the bike the last 30 miles home. I want to throw my helmet down, sign off the title and put it on the bike at the side of the road. The needle is bouncing from 40mph to 65mph. I had no clue how fast I was going. Once in the city and going slower, I noticed the exhaust was popping, the girlfriend said there was gray smoke coming out when it popped. Just my luck that an older CBR pulls up next to me at a light and revs the engine, Hah! I ordered 4 NKG sparkplugs from Oreilly's Auto Parts, at 2.09 a piece. I figure for that price, it's worth a shot to replace them. Cliff-notes: Bike lost power after accelerating, I pulled over, bike stalled, wouldn't start, battery died, got jumped and it started, loss of power and chugging on the road, speedo needle jumps 20 mph, exhaust is popping. What happened to my bike, Ninjette Gurus?! It just about left me stranded...I thought I'd be calling Progressive for roadside assistance. Poor bike is sitting outside now, I'm afraid to use it again until I get this fixed.

July 10th, 2011, 10:03 PM	#4
alex.s wat Name: wat Location: tustin/long beach Join Date: Sep 2009 Motorcycle(s): wat Posts: Too much. Blog Entries: 5 MOTM - Oct '12, Feb '14	it sounds like a bad ignition coil __________________________________________________

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July 10th, 2011, 05:24 PM	#2
CynicalC ninjette.org certified postwhore Name: Colin Location: Bay Area Join Date: Feb 2011 Motorcycle(s): '96 EX250 Posts: A lot.	Speedo needle jumping around seems odd. Did you jump the bike from a running car?

July 10th, 2011, 08:31 PM	#3
kkim Join Date: Nov 2008 Posts: Too much.	first, check to see the battery connections are tight. sometimes, if they are loose, weird things can happen. If the bike still loses power, try popping the gas cap open. you may have a fuel tank venting problem.

July 11th, 2011, 07:03 PM	#6
CmichRider ninjette.org member Name: Jacob Location: Michigan Join Date: Mar 2011 Motorcycle(s): 2000 Ninja 250 Posts: 227	I thought my post sent earlier, but my internet was acting up. We tried at first to jump with the truck off, but with no luck, we turned it on and the bike started up... I took the bike for a small ride today, just to see if the symptoms were an anomaly. the speedo seems to have corrected itself, but the misfire is still there. I had a little bit of difficulty starting the bike also, had to use half throttle and give more air.. Other than the misfire/chugging, the bike seems to be fine. I'm going to replace the plugs tomorrow, as Oreilly's didn't get them in today. I want to shim my needles also, and the pre-gens don't have a snorkel to remove, correct?

July 12th, 2011, 11:53 AM	#8
kkim Join Date: Nov 2008 Posts: Too much.	yikes! I'd be concerned about where the missing parts from the spark plugs are. They could still be loose in the cylinders. what's the model number of the champions?

July 12th, 2011, 12:00 PM	#9
CmichRider ninjette.org member Name: Jacob Location: Michigan Join Date: Mar 2011 Motorcycle(s): 2000 Ninja 250 Posts: 227	Model number is Z9Y. Who knows where that piece is at, it's completely gone from the plug altogether...

July 12th, 2011, 12:25 PM	#11
KELPHYN ninjette.org guru Name: Calvin Location: Quesnel, B.C Join Date: Aug 2009 Motorcycle(s): '08 250R (sold), 2013 300SE Posts: 276	Ditto, Kelly. I too would be VERY concerned where the rest of the plug is. Years ago a friend had the same thing happen to his bike, a VFR. Our local Honda shop at the time was run by very good people. They contacted Champion and explained the situation, documented it with pictures of the damage to the engine cylinder. To make a long story short Champion footed the bill for the rebuild. So if you have a competent shop in your area maybe they can help you out. At the very least you should get a cylinder leak down test done to try to see if any damage has been done to the cyclinder. Good luck, fingers crossed.

July 12th, 2011, 12:26 PM	#12
CmichRider ninjette.org member Name: Jacob Location: Michigan Join Date: Mar 2011 Motorcycle(s): 2000 Ninja 250 Posts: 227	I've read that page a few times now, that's why I ordered 4 NGK plugs to replace these and have spares. So am I looking into a complete tear-down of the engine to find this piece? I rode the bike about 30 miles back home after what I can only assume was the spark plugs giving out on me, would whatever damage that will occur have already occurred?

July 12th, 2011, 12:34 PM	#13
kkim Join Date: Nov 2008 Posts: Too much.	Believe who/what you want to believe. All I'm saying is that I'd be very concerned about where the rest of the plug went. If it's still in your engine, it will be in the combustion chamber portion, above the piston. If it is, it can bend valves and score the cylinder walls, at a minimum. You may be right, though... if you rode it 30 miles like that already, the damage is already done or you might have lucked out and the pieces went out the exhaust port and into your exhaust pipe. the link I posted said to just change the plugs and see how it runs. You could do that as well.

July 12th, 2011, 12:45 PM	#14
CmichRider ninjette.org member Name: Jacob Location: Michigan Join Date: Mar 2011 Motorcycle(s): 2000 Ninja 250 Posts: 227	Oh I believe you, I don't doubt your knowledge on these bikes. I'm just not sure where to go from here. I don't want to run the risk of putting the new plugs in and destroying the engine, but at the same time, I have to think that something would have happened already if it were to...

July 12th, 2011, 01:05 PM	#15
kkim Join Date: Nov 2008 Posts: Too much.	during those 30 miles, did you hear anything rattling around or grinding while riding? the center electrode of one of the plugs is completely gone in your pic. the electrode is made of metal and that's what I'd be concerned about. any loud, sudden noises when the troubles began? it could be that the electrode melted, but normally you would see at least a part of it remaining. yours is completely missing.

July 12th, 2011, 01:15 PM	#16
KELPHYN ninjette.org guru Name: Calvin Location: Quesnel, B.C Join Date: Aug 2009 Motorcycle(s): '08 250R (sold), 2013 300SE Posts: 276	You could start with a cyclinder leak-down test. This would tell you if there is excess compression leakage due to scored cylinder walls, broken rings, bent or stuck valves. You could also see if there is a shop that has a camera scope where they could look inside the cylinder through the sparkplug hole for damage and the missing parts. You could even try contacting Champion and seeing what they say. Or you could put in new plugs and cross your fingers.

July 15th, 2011, 07:14 AM	#18
"A" vampire Name: A Location: IT Join Date: Feb 2011 Motorcycle(s): 2 many 2 list Posts: A lot.	From the looks of the spark plugs, seems to me like classic 'too much sustained high-rpm operation' or 'valves too tight'.

July 15th, 2011, 11:35 AM	#20
CmichRider ninjette.org member Name: Jacob Location: Michigan Join Date: Mar 2011 Motorcycle(s): 2000 Ninja 250 Posts: 227	Here's an update for anyone who's been following this. I had to put the new plugs in before checking anything else, since I needed a way to get to work. The bike runs pretty good, with a little hiccup here and there. It idles all sorts of wacky though. I can't even give a good description of what it does, since it changes everytime I start the bike. Sometimes the bike starts first try, sometimes I need to open the throttle halfway, sometimes I need to use the choke, sometimes using the choke will kill the bike, the idle is erratic, and it is constantly hunting for an idle now. I've decided to do the dirty work on the bike that the PO probably didn't have done. I'm going to check and adjust valves, because I'd be willing to bet that this bike didn't have its 500 mile service done even. I also plan to remove the carbs and clean them, since I know this bike sat for a while, and also synchronize the carbs. I'm also going to compression test the cylinders before doing any of that, just so I can know if anything is wrong there. I feel like the bike doesn't perform as well as it could because none of the above was ever done to it, AFAIK. KKim, I didn't hear any loud noises when the problem started, but I was at highway speed so wind and engine were both loud. As far as I could tell, the dropping in speed was my first notice that something went wrong. I didn't notice any sort of rattling around on the ride back.

July 15th, 2011, 12:13 PM	#21
kkim Join Date: Nov 2008 Posts: Too much.	Jacob, sounds like you have a plan on getting your bike into shape. assume at this point, nothing was damaged, but keep an open mind concerning the thinigs that are wrong and what might cause them. The compression check before doing any work is an excellent idea to establish a baseline as is doing a valve clearance check/adjustment. carb cleaning is a must. GL... let us know if/when you need help.

July 15th, 2011, 12:39 PM	#22
CmichRider ninjette.org member Name: Jacob Location: Michigan Join Date: Mar 2011 Motorcycle(s): 2000 Ninja 250 Posts: 227	Thanks Kelly, Despite the bike not running as great as I would like, I'm actually not too disappointed or upset about it. As long as nothing serious is damaged, that is. I figure that I'll take this time to learn how my bike works and how to work on it. Nothing seems too difficult, just time consuming.

July 15th, 2011, 12:49 PM	#23
kkim Join Date: Nov 2008 Posts: Too much.	you do have a service manual, right?

July 15th, 2011, 12:53 PM	#24
CmichRider ninjette.org member Name: Jacob Location: Michigan Join Date: Mar 2011 Motorcycle(s): 2000 Ninja 250 Posts: 227	Yup!

July 15th, 2011, 03:04 PM	#25
"A" vampire Name: A Location: IT Join Date: Feb 2011 Motorcycle(s): 2 many 2 list Posts: A lot.	If you keep riding the bike at high rpm without the valves check, you're going to burn a valve or worse bend a valve, crack cylinder head, etc..

July 15th, 2011, 04:21 PM	#26
ducducgooseit Name: ... Location: ... Join Date: May 2009 Motorcycle(s): ... Posts: 999

July 18th, 2011, 07:00 AM	#28
planet-beaver ninjette.org member Name: Chris Location: Pike County, PA Join Date: Jul 2011 Motorcycle(s): Ninja 250, Vulcan 500 Posts: 50	Yes just a screw and the locknut. Make sure you have long 9mm socket or two inch 1/4 drive extension. I would not mess with the carbs and valves at the same time. Always do one thing at a time so that if the bike don't run you'll know what the problem is. Taking carbs out will not make valve job any easier.

July 18th, 2011, 04:39 PM	#29
CmichRider ninjette.org member Name: Jacob Location: Michigan Join Date: Mar 2011 Motorcycle(s): 2000 Ninja 250 Posts: 227	Oh ok i see, I got to the valves today, but it started to rain out so I had to call it quits. I saw each pair of valves had a screw. Just to clarify, I only need to turn the engine until the valve I'm adjusting has the lobe pointing up, correct? No need to bother with the sight gauge?

July 19th, 2011, 06:46 AM	#30
planet-beaver ninjette.org member Name: Chris Location: Pike County, PA Join Date: Jul 2011 Motorcycle(s): Ninja 250, Vulcan 500 Posts: 50	Thats correct. As long as the lobes point away from the rockers, you are fine. Just wiggle the nut , it should be sloppy with lots of play, then you know there is no pressure on it from the lobes.

July 19th, 2011, 05:58 PM	#31
CmichRider ninjette.org member Name: Jacob Location: Michigan Join Date: Mar 2011 Motorcycle(s): 2000 Ninja 250 Posts: 227	Finally finished with the adjustment! Some of the valves, exhaust mainly, were tight. Not too many hiccups, other than dropping a socket into the engine. I don't have the things to make the makeshift carb-syncher tonight, so i'll do that tomorrow. I tried starting the bike up and it did-no loud clunking noises or anything..so that's good. It wouldn't stay started though, I had to blip the throttle to keep it going, even with the choke on, it would still have an erratic idle and then die. I'm assuming this is due to the carbs needing to be synched. Hopefully that's all it needs and I won't even need to take the carbs out.

July 20th, 2011, 04:24 AM	#32
planet-beaver ninjette.org member Name: Chris Location: Pike County, PA Join Date: Jul 2011 Motorcycle(s): Ninja 250, Vulcan 500 Posts: 50	Make sure to get 5/16od, 3/16id clear tubing vs 3/8 like it's stated on Ninja250.org. 3/8 just falls on the barb fitting and no amount of clamp force will seal it. That web site has it wrong.

July 20th, 2011, 07:01 PM	#33
CmichRider ninjette.org member Name: Jacob Location: Michigan Join Date: Mar 2011 Motorcycle(s): 2000 Ninja 250 Posts: 227	Will do, thanks. I'm just wondering about the carbs...the bike ran fine before this issue, so I find it hard to believe that the carbs are to blame. I dunno, but if it still doesn't work correctly after the synch, they'll be the next to come out.

July 26th, 2011, 07:57 PM	#34
Donnyd21 ninjette.org member Name: Donny Location: Oklahoma City Join Date: Jun 2011 Motorcycle(s): 2008 250R Posts: 36	Have you done a compression check yet? This is very important BEFORE doing a carb sync, especially since a small amount of your spark plugs came off!

July 28th, 2011, 06:30 PM	#36
planet-beaver ninjette.org member Name: Chris Location: Pike County, PA Join Date: Jul 2011 Motorcycle(s): Ninja 250, Vulcan 500 Posts: 50	Did you mess with the carbs. Can it be hose leaking. If not hoses, the only thing it can be is stuck float or needle valve seat. Try just tapping with small hammer on the cards, see if it helps. If not, got to pull them out. Had the same problem on my Kiwi 1000. I must have bent the top of the float metal thing when cleaning and the float was getting stuck. You have got a lot of problems with that little ninja. Somewhat surprised. They are very reliable.

July 28th, 2011, 06:41 PM	#37
CmichRider ninjette.org member Name: Jacob Location: Michigan Join Date: Mar 2011 Motorcycle(s): 2000 Ninja 250 Posts: 227	I haven't even pulled the carbs yet, that's the funny part. Could be a hose, it rained on and off today so I didn't want to pull anything or go too deep into the bike, but tomorrow I will. It looks like the fuel isnt coming directly out of the bowls, but somewhere above them. From what I've gathered, for the bike to be leaking, I must have a faulty petcock and float bowls, correct? Since the vacuum (or lack of) is supposed to stop fuel from flowing when the engine is off, the petcock is suspect also? Edit: I'm determined to get this ninja running at peak performance. I've already learned so much about motorcycle from the little I've done, I'm excited to take the carbs out and get some time with those. But yes, this bike has become a headache recently. I'm debating on whether or not to sell it, making profit, and buy a better condition ninja, or ride this one as it, with the cosmetic flaws but knowing that the maintenance has been done.

July 29th, 2011, 11:41 AM	#38
CmichRider ninjette.org member Name: Jacob Location: Michigan Join Date: Mar 2011 Motorcycle(s): 2000 Ninja 250 Posts: 227	Got the carbs out today, took all but 20 minutes to get them out. I didn't remove the airbox, but i feel like I may need to to get the carbs back in. It seemed like the carbs were barely connected to the airbox though, that was suspect. When removing the carb boots, gasoline was leaking from them and out of the engine. anyone know how to remove gasoline stains from concrete?