First motorcycle - Starting issues and possible oil leak

[Statue5]

Second Update 7/5:


- Throttle plate on the carbs was installed incorrectly. Re-installed it and throttle is now working smoothly.

Update 7/5:


- Flushed the tank, drained float bowls, cleaned carbs, adjusted idle mix screw, adjust float bowls
- Throttle doesn't engage until I roll it to the end (hope I'm explaining this correctly)
- Choke is extremely sensitive depending on when I move it slightly. It starts up around mid-way though but it's hard to accurately warm it up on low revs because it either revs very high or low on a slight choke change.
- I'm thinking that both of the above issues may have something to do with cable re-installation so I was thinking of putting everything back together
- It now starts up with a bit of choke on and idles pretty well. I still need to play around with the idle adjustment, carb sync, and idle screws to fine tune it once I get it fully up and running

Sorry for all the text, you can skip to the summary if you want.

Background:

- 6500 miles
- Sat for a year
- Previous owner knew it wouldn't start and gave up
- Said he cleaned carbs, refreshed gas, and changed oil/filter

I recently bought a used 07 250 with 6500 miles on it and have been working on it all week to get it up and running to no avail. The previous owner had it for 4 years with no issues, but he dropped it once. He had to replace the odometer and continued to ride it for 2k miles bringing it to the total of 6.5k.

He left it sitting for a year and couldn't get it to run again before selling it. I got it for $650 and though it would be a good project to learn with for both fixing and riding (hopefully). I'm still struggling with the fixing part at this point and could use some help.

Issues:

- Barely starts up
- Can't idle for more than a few seconds

So first thing I did was change the battery since he didn't charge it for a year and it wasn't giving any power. It started up but couldn't idle for more than a few seconds with a little white smoking coming out of the exhaust. After a while it wouldn't start at all.

I've done so far:

- Changed the battery
- Fixed the valve clearance
- Replaced spark plugs

After doing some research it seemed like the valve clearance was the issue and they turned out to be way too tight. After correcting them and replacing the spark plugs, it started up right away and was able to idle for half a minute while it revved up to 3/4k before dropping down below 1k and stalling. It hasn't been able to start since.

Oil looked low so I thought that might be an issue as well, but it didn't help after I added some more.

Next afternoon I try to start it up again and same thing happens - starts up for more than a few seconds then stalls. At this point I thought I'd check the carbs and float levels. As I'm about to get started I find an oil leak appearing directly under the crankcase. Also seemed to leak along the exhaust under the crankcase, but not sure if it's because it's sitting under it or from the crankcase itself. It's occurring very slowly as the first drop fell like 5 hours after I last tried to start it. It's only dripped 2 times since then (2 hours ago).

At this point I haven't done the carbs yet since I need some help.

Summary:

- Sat for a year
- Previous owner knew it wouldn't start and gave up
- Said he cleaned carbs, refreshed gas, and changed oil/filter

- Barely starts up
- Can't idle for more than a few seconds
- Seems to have an oil leak under the crankcase

- Changed the battery
- Fixed the valve clearance
- Replaced spark plugs


Should I go ahead and check the carbs/float level? Does the oil leak seem like it's going to be a major issue I should focus on instead? Any help would be much appreciated.

http://imgur.com/JrWpKZw
http://imgur.com/s1Hk94Y
http://imgur.com/P7NWWvG
http://imgur.com/sGRzic9
http://imgur.com/bp3VuT4

Thanks,
Stafa

[jkv45]

There could be a few things causing your problems.

How does the inside of the tank look? Rust will clog the filter at the inlet and restrict fuel flow. When it stops running, open the floatbowl drains to see if fuel runs out. It should for about 7 to 10 seconds.

Did you completely drain the tank? Any old gas has to go. Drain the float bowls as well and look at the gas that comes out. Use 87 octane without ethanol if it's available.

Is it running with the choke off? If not, the carbs probably need to be cleaned. There's a good chance that could be at least part of the problem.

Make sure the air filter is clean and there's nothing blocking the snorkel opening under the seat.

If that doesn't do it, report back and we'll continue the troubleshooting.

Here's a bunch of info that may help you - https://faq.ninja250.org/wiki/Ninja250_Howto

From the photos it looks like the o-ring on the oil filter cover is leaking. If you don't know what oil is in there I would change it and the filter (and the o-ring) when you get it running properly.

[Statue5]

I had the chance to work on it some more last week, but just had time to provide an update today. Following your advice I was able to start it up pretty consistently now. I'm running into a few issues with the throttle and choke as provided in my update below:

- Flushed the tank, drained float bowls, cleaned carbs, adjusted idle mix screw, adjust float bowls
- Throttle doesn't engage until I roll it to the end (hope I'm explaining this correctly)
- Choke is extremely sensitive depending on when I move it slightly. It starts up around mid-way though but it's hard to accurately warm it up on low revs because it either revs very high or low on a slight choke change.
- I'm thinking that both of the above issues may have something to do with cable re-installation so I was thinking of putting everything back together
- It now starts up with a bit of choke on and idles pretty well. I still need to play around with the idle adjustment, carb sync, and idle screws to fine tune it once I get it fully up and running

I don't really know how well to explain it, but when I tried test riding it the throttle wouldn't engage until I rolled it completely to the end. It just seemed very loose and just wouldn't engage. Even when I rolled it completely it would barely give enough gas for me to move and I would stall once I slowed down. The choke is also very sensitive and will either rev extremely high or low when playing with it when I first start it up.

I'm thinking both issues have to do with cables when I was putting it back together. Might not have re-installed as carefully as I should have so I'm going to do that today. Any other advice you think might have caused it?

[jkv45]

Definitely sounds like something is not right.

Look at this link to determine if the cables are adjusted properly - https://faq.ninja250.org/wiki/Adjust...hrottle_cables

This section has more info on carbs and such - https://faq.ninja250.org/wiki/Intake

You should immediately get a RPM increase when you twist the throttle. With the engine off, watch the cable move at the carb, and see if it's rotating the throttle shaft completely.

Make sure it's snapping back sharply when you let go of the grip.

How far did you disassemble the carbs?

[Statue5]

Thanks for the link, I'll check it out today.

As for the carbs, I followed the wiki to clean them from this link: https://faq.ninja250.org/wiki/Cleaning_the_carbs_1 and part 2. Also watched videos and guides at the same time. They are pretty clean and I was able to unplug and adjust the idle mixture screws. Unfortunately I was unable to remove one of the pilot screws since they were pretty stripped so I did my best to clean them.

Overall carbs looked pretty good and with the idle mixture screws adjusted it starts up and idles much better than it did previously. I'm hoping that the issue is just the throttle cables so I'll work on that today and report back.

[Statue5]

Got it working! When putting the throttle cables back together at the carbs I didn't install the plate correctly. It's running great now, sometimes the revs will act up on idle and go from 1-3k or drop down, but it hasn't stalled. Going to sync the carbs and readjust idle mixture screw if needed.

Thanks for the help!

[jkv45]

Originally Posted by Statue5

Got it working! When putting the throttle cables back together at the carbs I didn't install the plate correctly. It's running great now, sometimes the revs will act up on idle and go from 1-3k or drop down, but it hasn't stalled. Going to sync the carbs and readjust idle mixture screw if needed.

Thanks for the help!

Good to hear you're getting close.

The rising idle speed suggests a possible vacuum leak between the carb and engine or a lean mixture. With the engine at idle, spray some carb cleaner around the boots to see if the speed changes. Also make sure the cables are routed correctly and operating freely. Turn the bars left and right to see if that changes the engine speed. They could just need to be lubed.

You should be close on the idle mixture if you are around 2.5 turns out. You could add 1/4 turn (out = richer) to see if it changes anything. Basically you want the highest idle speed you can get when making idle mixture adjustments. From there I like to go slightly richer (out) until you hear the speed start to change - 1/8 turn or so usually. Then reset the hot idle speed to 1300.