250 Won't Run for @$%T

[badblown572]

Hi there. Got a question for the experts. Wife decided to go out and buy her own bike, without me knowing (I have an R1), and she came home with a 2010 Ninja 250 with 450 miles on it. Yep, 450 miles is correct. She bought it private party and the girl that owned it NEVER rode it. Still was on its original factory oil.

Here is my problem. The bike won't run decent. When I fire it up, it takes full choke to get it to light off and stay running. I have to let it run for about 10 minutes just to get it to the point where I can take the choke off and it idle down low. After that, it is REALLY slow to rev up. Often to get it to run right, I have to have her run it for the first 4-5 miles with the choke on and idling at 3k rpm. After a couple of miles, we can take the choke off and it will be ok. Not good, but ok. Some of the time, we have to adjust the screw to the carb to bring the idle up. Are these things really that cold blooded? My R1, I fire up and could take off immediately if I wanted to. This one you can't.

What do you guys suggest? I don't know what the bike is supposed to be like to begin with. I would assume better, but I also know that it is probably not going to rev like my R1, but should be better than what it is. When taking off, you can't do the throttle and clutch together. You have to first set the rpm at about 3500-4k, and slowly let the clutch out. If you try to do them in tandem, the bike boggs the motor down too much and stalls it. It is a pain in the butt.

The bike is bone stock. Nothing has been done to it. Unfortunately the bike is out of warranty so taking it back to the dealer will be a last resort. Anyone have any suggestions. It has new fuel, filter, oil, etc... I have chased all of the gremlins I could find, but some are escaping me. I don't think that it is the pilot jet because once it has ran for a while, the bike idles perfectly once it gets to the point that it can.

Any suggestions, or does anyone know of someone in So Cal that can help me figure this one out? Specifically in Orange County and/or LA County.


Thanks,
Danny

[Jiggles]

Well don't give it **** then

[Jiggles]

But, you should clean the carbs. First off though run some seafoam through, people get lucky sometimes

[badblown572]

Originally Posted by Jiggles

But, you should clean the carbs. First off though run some seafoam through, people get lucky sometimes

It might be the carbs, but I don't think so. It idles perfectly once it has been run for a while.

What is this seafoam you talk about?

[Alex]

It does sound like the carbs are clogged. This is an extremely common problem on ninja 250's that sit for any length of time. The reasonably high ethanol content we have in much of our gas in California hasn't helped things. Once you get it running correctly, riding it every few weeks will keep it from falling into the same state.

But in the meantime, you need to get it there. Jiggles is right, sometimes people get lucky with fuel additives. It's easy enough to try with no downsides. But the next step is to take the carbs out and clean them well. making sure all jets are clear, and replacing as needed. There is a sticky thread at the top of the tech section that lists all DIY threads ("do it yourself"), and in those are a few links to carb-related threads.

[jjb84]

These bikes definitely dont like running well when cold. It takes me a few miles just to get the engine warmed up properly. After that, it seems fine.

[Jiggles]

http://www.seafoamsales.com/

Buy a bottle of this, pour the recommended amount in your gas tank and then pray. Taking the carbs out isn't fun.

[Jiggles]

Originally Posted by jjb84

These bikes definitely dont like running well when cold. It takes me a few miles just to get the engine warmed up properly. After that, it seems fine.

Really? Because mine would be run fine after 30-60 seconds of being on. Do you live in super norcal?

[rdano1197]

It is quite possible that the carbs need to be cleaned. As Jiggles mentioned try running some Seafom through it first to see if you get lucky.

With only 450 miles on it, I would guess that it has been sitting alot. The person she bought it from might not have started it often or put any stabil in it.

If seafom doesn't do the trick, pull the carbs and take a look at the condition they are in. It can be a PITA on a stock bike. Check the DIY section on here for tips and advice like JIS screw bits.

Good luck.

[edxmon]

Originally Posted by rdano1197

It is quite possible that the carbs need to be cleaned. As Jiggles mentioned try running some Seafom through it first to see if you get lucky.

With only 450 miles on it, I would guess that it has been sitting alot. The person she bought it from might not have started it often or put any stabil in it.

If seafom doesn't do the trick, pull the carbs and take a look at the condition they are in. It can be a PITA on a stock bike. Check the DIY section on here for tips and advice like JIS screw bits.

Good luck.

If you do take the carbs out save yourself the trouble of buying those bits, just take them out as best you can and replace the carb cover screws with socket head cap screws, also get yourself a milwaukee offset screwdriver, it's a great tool to have when working in tight spots

[DaBlue1]

Originally Posted by badblown572

.... Are these things really that cold blooded?

.... When taking off, you can't do the throttle and clutch together. You have to first set the rpm at about 3500-4k, and slowly let the clutch out. If you try to do them in tandem, the bike boggs the motor down too much and stalls it. It is a pain in the butt.

....Any suggestions, ....?

Unfortunately the Ninja 250 is very cold blooded and it does take a little bit for them to get going. A well tuned and regularly run Ninja 250 can launch a little bit off of idle speed (about 1500 RPM) but it really needs closer to 3k. Even at 3k take off speed is very tame as there is no power down low (below 3k).

One thing that was suggested by others to do is add a little Seafoam to the fuel tank. I also recommend Startron Fuel treatment if Seafoam does not do it for you. You may also want to consider shimming the needles to help a little with the low end lack of power and warm up issue.

[alex.s]

unless it is below like 40F out, the bike should start and be happy to ride in about 10-30 seconds, or after a few blips to clear things out and get some oil pumping. if its not, your carbs are either clogged, not tuned correctly, or you need a valve job.

a bike like that with 450 miles sounds like clogged carbs.

[setasai]

If you do end up yanking out the carbs to clean it, consider shimming the needles and removing the snorkel while you're in there. It'll make it much more friendly to ride and it only costs a few cents for the washers. DIY in the sticky section.