Stalling in 1st Gear at stops - HELP!!!!!

[kingskater]

I just bought a used 2008 Ninja 250 and it seems to be stalling in 1st gear at stops, even with the clutch pressed in.

What's odd is when its about to stall, I roll the throttle to try to prevent it from stalling, and it ignores me and doesn't rev up at all..

Anyone have ANY IDEAS?!?!?!

[Monkeytofu]

Tried adjusting your idle?

[kingskater]

I have not. I'm completely new to this and JUST bought the bike a few days ago. It currently idles around 500-1k RPM I believe. Is that too low? What's a good idle? How do I adjust it?

Another note is that this happens intermittently, not always.. and it happens when the bike is warmed up already.

[Monkeytofu]

Originally Posted by kingskater

I have not. I'm completely new to this and JUST bought the bike a few days ago. It currently idles around 500-1k RPM I believe. Is that too low? What's a good idle? How do I adjust it?

Another note is that this happens intermittently, not always.. and it happens when the bike is warmed up already.

that is pretty low. I keep mine around and you want it to idle from 1k-2k. Some people set it higher depending on how they're using their bikes.

[kingskater]

Thanks, I'll give that a try. What seems odd though is that the throttle was unresponsive when I would try to rev it up. Hopefully adjusting the idle higher fixes that issue also.

thanks again!

[flynjay]

Fully warmed up, the idle should be ~1300 rpm per the owners manual. Unresponsive throttle at idle could be a mixture issue (too lean), which will require removal the carbs to "fix".

Try increasing the idle first.

[csmith12]

For an 08, 1300 to 1500 rpm is a good starting point for idle speeds (warm engine with choke off). Adjust for your location and your bike's specific needs.

And there is a point where the engine is stumbling and on its way to dying that more throttle will only kill it faster. Nature of the beast.

[broilmebk]

Originally Posted by csmith12

And there is a point where the engine is stumbling and on its way to dying that more throttle will only kill it faster. Nature of the beast.

This

[Jiggles]

Originally Posted by kingskater

I just bought a used 2008 Ninja 250 and it seems to be stalling in 1st gear at stops, even with the clutch pressed in.

So I'm guessing you've tried it without the clutch pressed in? If not try that and report back

[csmith12]

omg Jiggles... hahahahahah

Never underestimate the power of simplicity.

[thisisbenji]

Mine has been doing the same thing lately. I have the idle set to 1500 RPM but probably 75% of the time it'll never go above 1000 RPM unless I allow it to warm up for 4-5 minutes before riding. If I try to ride of after about a minute it'll die at stop lights just like yours.

[choneofakind]

Originally Posted by thisisbenji

Mine has been doing the same thing lately. I have the idle set to 1500 RPM but probably 75% of the time it'll never go above 1000 RPM unless I allow it to warm up for 4-5 minutes before riding. If I try to ride of after about a minute it'll die at stop lights just like yours.

Do you leave the choke on or turn it off immediately when it starts? Leave the choke on for a while and keep it at ~2000-2500 rpm, and once it accepts a little throttle (after about 1 minute) take off and ride with low rpms. Gradually turn the choke down over the course of about the next 1.5 miles, and you're good to go once it rides completely normally.

[Jiggles]

Originally Posted by thisisbenji

Mine has been doing the same thing lately. I have the idle set to 1500 RPM but probably 75% of the time it'll never go above 1000 RPM unless I allow it to warm up for 4-5 minutes before riding. If I try to ride of after about a minute it'll die at stop lights just like yours.

Hmm interesting problem. Quick question, have you ever heard of a choke?

[thisisbenji]

Originally Posted by choneofakind

Do you leave the choke on or turn it off immediately when it starts? Leave the choke on for a while and keep it at ~2000-2500 rpm, and once it accepts a little throttle (after about 1 minute) take off and ride with low rpms. Gradually turn the choke down over the course of about the next 1.5 miles, and you're good to go once it rides completely normally.

That's EXACTLY how I do it.

Originally Posted by Jiggles

Hmm interesting problem. Quick question, have you ever heard of a choke?

Do you ever have anything worthwhile to say?

[Jiggles]

Why yes I do. From your post I inferred that you are not using the choke correctly as a bike with the choke on does not idle at 1k rpms. If you have to leave the choke fully on so it idles at 4k and slowly take it down until the bike is warmed up

[choneofakind]

Originally Posted by thisisbenji

That's EXACTLY how I do it.

Huh, that's not really the vibe I got from your first post. If you keep it at 2000-2500, it's already above 1000, and if you ride with the choke, there's no waiting 4-5 minutes for it to warm up, plus riding it makes it warm up quickly enough that it will idle and accept throttle normally within about a mile, no exaggerating.

Anyhow, have you made any jetting changes? I know you had issues with your carbs a while ago, but I really don't remember exactly what you ended up doing to them If it takes forever to warm up while riding, I would try raising the needles a little, that's where the factory set them a little lean. If it's hard starting, turning the mix screws out just a little might help.

Did this issue start recently or has it been doing this for a while? If it just started recently, has there been anything changed on the bike at all that would affect it in the way that you're describing?

[thisisbenji]

If I wait 4-5 minutes to ride it doesn't die. It only dies when I do the methods that you guys are saying to use. In fact it tends to die faster if I ride it with the choke on. Also it accepts throttle response pretty quickly after turning it on I'd say probably about 30 seconds or so.

Sometimes the bike won't start with the choke on.

At one point in time I'd warm it up just the way choneofakind said to and I had no problems what so ever. The fact that I'm having problems now leads me to believe something is wrong. I didn't all of a sudden forget how to turn a motorcycle on.


I had the dynojet kit installed at a local shop, so I'm not really sure what they did.

I'v had the bike die maybe 3-4 times on me over the summer, but the last couple of weeks it's got pretty bad. Thinking about taking it back in.

In my first post I said it won't go above 1000 RPM with the choke off most of the time, but sometimes it will. This is after the bike is warmed up.

[choneofakind]

Without the choke, does it start better when warm or completely cold?

When it refuses to start with the choke, does it start without the choke? Does a little throttle help start it in this scenario?

Has the bike been sitting at all?

Do you notice any slight bogging when it's fully warmed up?

EDIT: did they change spark plugs at all? Does it make any odd sounding puffing noises at idle, or have an irregular idle? When my head got stripped, the spark plugs wouldn't hold compression and starting got REALLY hard, along with an idle that sounded like this:

Just watch the part with some revving (00:14- 00:41). You'll hear a really irregular idle where it misses every once in a while. This was before my bike spat the plug out...

Link to original page on YouTube.

when's the last time that your valves were adjusted?

[csmith12]

Originally Posted by thisisbenji

I had the dynojet kit installed at a local shop, so I'm not really sure what they did.

Check the following;

Battery & connections - tight and clean - good battery?
Exhaust - from header to can - any leaks?
Air filter - clean and dry? need a new one?

Lastly, run a tank of seafoam and cross your fingers or ensure your idle jets (and the rest) are clean. One would assume your local shop did that when installing the jet kit but I don't take anything for granted anymore.

[thisisbenji]

Thanks for the suggestions I'll try to check some of that stuff later today.

The bike hasn't been sitting for more than a week.

I ran a tank of sea foam through it already, and that did not fix the problem.

It starts better with no choke when it's been sitting all day after riding it to work, but not in the morning before work.

Before it dies it starts to sound like it's running out of gas and gradually runs out of power. It's kind of a bogging sound.

Oh, and the valves. I don't think they've ever been adjusted, I asked them to check them when I brought the bike in at 600 miles but I don't think they did. The bike has just under 5,000 miles on it now.

[choneofakind]

Turn your idle screws in 1/4 turn. Sounds to me like they're rich.

Starts better without choke, bogs to dead etc.

Did it get suddenly warm?

[zimmyjim]

check for proper gas flow before u go messing up ur carb settings...
an 08 shouldnt have anything wrong with the carb...
mine still runs great with 15000 miles on it....zimmy

[Jiggles]

Originally Posted by zimmyjim

check for proper gas flow before u go messing up ur carb settings...
an 08 shouldnt have anything wrong with the carb...
mine still runs great with 15000 miles on it....zimmy

Unless it wasn't ridden for a month

[choneofakind]

I suggested messing with the idle screws because if it's now significantly warmer than it was when the bike was jetted, the idle mix could be so rich that it dies at idle - exactly what my bike did at Mid-Ohio, I turned the screws in 1/4 turn and it was perfect the rest of the afternoon

there's nothing wrong with tweaking the idle mix depending on the season/temp. Your bike will run better that way.

[thisisbenji]

You know now that you mention weather, I think when I'v had problems with the bike it's been above 90 outside. When I had the bike jetted it was probably in the high 40s.

I checked my air filter and it does seem to have a little oil on it, not sure how much is too much though.

Also, I haven't gone longer than a week without riding the bike since March.

[thisisbenji]

I adjusted the idle mixture screws today, I had a hard time trying to get at them because of the akward angle. Even with the offset screwdriver. After I finally adjusted them the bike seemed to run a lot better. I'll have to wait and see if it actually fixed the problem until the bike is completely cooled down though.

[choneofakind]

If you had it tuned when it was high 40's and now it's 90's, I'm not surprised it's stalling

[thisisbenji]

Well I thought I had fixed the issue but I guess not. I might be making a visit to a shop with a dyno very shortly.