98 kawasaki ninja250r won't go fast

[knightdalton]

Hello it's me again got everything almost working it starts now I can even ride it a lil bit but it only goes into neutral and second when I had the engine open I didn't see anything wrong broken or anything. I cleaned every lil bit of the carbs the top and bottom. My buddy said it sounds and feels when he rode it that it's only running on one cylinder. Idk what's wrong with it now it can start when it's stopped idels fine I can even rub it to like 10k rpms btw that's awesome haha red lines at 14k haha. But only goes I would say 10 miles an hour. New oil battery ngk or ngr spark plugs (the good ones you guys told me to get) I'm going to check the spark plugs right now but idk what else to do any help is greatly appreciated.

[jkv45]

Check the pipe temps to see if both cylinders are firing.

Even on 1 cylinder it should do better than that.

Can you post a video?

Something may be amiss in the carbs.

[RacinNinja]

Originally Posted by knightdalton

Hello it's me again got everything almost working it starts now I can even ride it a lil bit but it only goes into neutral and second when I had the engine open I didn't see anything wrong broken or anything. I cleaned every lil bit of the carbs the top and bottom. My buddy said it sounds and feels when he rode it that it's only running on one cylinder. Idk what's wrong with it now it can start when it's stopped idels fine I can even rub it to like 10k rpms btw that's awesome haha red lines at 14k haha. But only goes I would say 10 miles an hour. New oil battery ngk or ngr spark plugs (the good ones you guys told me to get) I'm going to check the spark plugs right now but idk what else to do any help is greatly appreciated.

Is this with the engine running or engine off?

[knightdalton]

Originally Posted by RacinNinja

Is this with the engine running or engine off?

Is what going on with the engine off?

[knightdalton]

Originally Posted by jkv45

Check the pipe temps to see if both cylinders are firing.

Even on 1 cylinder it should do better than that.

Can you post a video?

Something may be amiss in the carbs.

How do I check the pipe temps?

[RacinNinja]

Originally Posted by knightdalton

Is what going on with the engine off?

The part in bold....only shift to neutral or second.

[knightdalton]

Originally Posted by RacinNinja

The part in bold....only shift to neutral or second.

It can shift in neutral and 2nd bike running or not running

[VaFish]

Originally Posted by knightdalton

How do I check the pipe temps?

Touch them, if they burn your hand the cylinder is firing if they are cool to the touch it isn't.

You could also just hold your hand over the outlet of your exhaust pipes. If it is firing on that cylinder you will get a warm puff.

Or you could get a compression tester and see how much compression you have in each cylinder

[knightdalton]

Originally Posted by VaFish

Touch them, if they burn your hand the cylinder is firing if they are cool to the touch it isn't.

You could also just hold your hand over the outlet of your exhaust pipes. If it is firing on that cylinder you will get a warm puff.

Or you could get a compression tester and see how much compression you have in each cylinder

So hold each exhaust pipe? Burn me then good if not then no good ok

[RacinNinja]

Better to use a spray bottle with water.

You'll know if it sizzles or not.

Personally, I'd be opening it back up to check the shift star and mechanism/shift drum/whatever you touched while you were in there before I worry about getting it running. One gear isn't any good and you'll only have to open it up again anyway..........

[xorbe]

Originally Posted by knightdalton

98 kawasaki ninja250r won't go fast

Kawasaki makes an H2 and ZX-14R and too. I can't quite decode OP's post. Does it shift to 3rd with the bike running and moving? Both sides warm?

[knightdalton]

Originally Posted by xorbe

Kawasaki makes an H2 and ZX-14R and too. I can't quite decode OP's post. Does it shift to 3rd with the bike running and moving? Both sides warm?

On goes 2ND and neutral no first or 3rd etc

[knightdalton]

Originally Posted by RacinNinja

Better to use a spray bottle with water.

You'll know if it sizzles or not.

Personally, I'd be opening it back up to check the shift star and mechanism/shift drum/whatever you touched while you were in there before I worry about getting it running. One gear isn't any good and you'll only have to open it up again anyway..........

Both are hot but now when I have it in neutral and give it gas it dies? Just started doing that today

[knightdalton]

I think it was because I turned the air mixture I'm going to put it back see what it does

[knightdalton]

Ok now with choke off it spikes up to 5k rpms

[Alex]

Originally Posted by knightdalton

On goes 2ND and neutral no first or 3rd etc

This seems particularly weird. I don't know how it would only go into 2nd, yet not be able to shift further. Is it possible that someone swapped the gear pedal for GP shifting, and pulling it up is putting it into first gear? If it won't go up any further from there, that would be behaving as expected. Then if you pushed down to try and shift to 2nd, it wouldn't be able to go past neutral unless the bike was moving fast enough to bypass the neutral finder.

Any way you can link up the tach speed and road speed to confirm which gear it is really in while moving? www.gearingcommander.com is useful here. At 20 mph, in 1st gear you should be showing ~7200 rpm on the tach. At 20 mph, in 2nd gear you should be showing ~4900 rpm on the tach.

[RacinNinja]

Originally Posted by Alex

This seems particularly weird. I don't know how it would only go into 2nd, yet not be able to shift further. Is it possible that someone swapped the gear pedal for GP shifting, and pulling it up is putting it into first gear? If it won't go up any further from there, that would be behaving as expected. Then if you pushed down to try and shift to 2nd, it wouldn't be able to go past neutral unless the bike was moving fast enough to bypass the neutral finder.

Any way you can link up the tach speed and road speed to confirm which gear it is really in while moving? www.gearingcommander.com is useful here. At 20 mph, in 1st gear you should be showing ~7200 rpm on the tach. At 20 mph, in 2nd gear you should be showing ~4900 rpm on the tach.

OP had the motor apart.....said so in their first post.

when I had the engine open I didn't see anything wrong broken or anything.

[Alex]

Good point. Only being able to flip back and forth between what they believe to be 2nd and neutral still seems strange. Either it has something to do with the neutral-finder mechanism, preventing the bike from actually getting into 2nd, or something is fundamentally broken in the transmission.

[RacinNinja]

Originally Posted by Alex

Good point. Only being able to flip back and forth between what they believe to be 2nd and neutral still seems strange. Either it has something to do with the neutral-finder mechanism, preventing the bike from actually getting into 2nd, or something is fundamentally broken in the transmission.

Yeah.

OP it too focused on making it idle right to worry about what happens after.

[jkv45]

Originally Posted by knightdalton

How do I check the pipe temps?

An IR thermometer is the best way, but you can get creative as well. You are just trying to compare them.

I still think there is something assembled or adjusted incorrectly in the carbs.

The shifting problem is another issue completely...

[VaFish]

Originally Posted by knightdalton

So hold each exhaust pipe? Burn me then good if not then no good ok

You can hold your hand near them without touching them and still tell if they are giving off heat.

Or you can just grab ahold and know for sure.

[VaFish]

Originally Posted by Alex

This seems particularly weird. I don't know how it would only go into 2nd, yet not be able to shift further. Is it possible that someone swapped the gear pedal for GP shifting, and pulling it up is putting it into first gear? If it won't go up any further from there, that would be behaving as expected. Then if you pushed down to try and shift to 2nd, it wouldn't be able to go past neutral unless the bike was moving fast enough to bypass the neutral finder.

Any way you can link up the tach speed and road speed to confirm which gear it is really in while moving? www.gearingcommander.com is useful here. At 20 mph, in 1st gear you should be showing ~7200 rpm on the tach. At 20 mph, in 2nd gear you should be showing ~4900 rpm on the tach.

My café racer has the backwards shifter on it. If that were the case he would shift into 2nd when he tried to go to 1st front neutral. Which he might think gave him only 1, N, 2. OP says he only has neutral and 2nd.

[InvisiBill]

Originally Posted by VaFish

My café racer has the backwards shifter on it. If that were the case he would shift into 2nd when he tried to go to 1st front neutral. Which he might think gave him only 1, N, 2. OP says he only has neutral and 2nd.

With the positive neutral finder, he might only be getting N and backwards-1-which-seems-like-2 (with the PNF keeping him out of backwards-2-which-seems-like-1).