Help! Dewinterizing But Bike Won't Idle Without Choke

azia · March 9th, 2009, 08:02 PM

So yesterday bf and I went to install my new lowering kit. We're all finished and I went to start the bike for the first time since winterizing late last fall.

We winterized by adding new gas with stabil, taking battery out and putting on tender and oild change.

We started the bike with choke fully open and it revved really high. Then we closed choke half way and it started revving erratically. Soon as we closed choke, the bike died.

Later last night bf checked bike again. Same thing only less erratic.

Tonight we first tried with choke 3/4 open and no throttle, let it run for almost 10 minutes. It was revving around 3000 rpm. Turned choke down to 1/2 open and it revved around 2500rpm. Very minimal erratic revving (barely noticeable). Let it sit there for another 5 minutes or so but nothing happened. Slowly tried to turn choke off and it died out.

After that, tried to adjust the idle with no affect. Also added some throttled periodically. No effect either. Bf rode it around the building garage once and it stalled when he took both throttle and choke off. Parked it back and tried the whole thing again. Nothing's changed.

Help!! PS: I know very VERY little mechanically so please don't talk "shop". Lol!

Nemy · March 9th, 2009, 08:08 PM

Ya made it! lol welcome. Good bunch of guys here. Only one that seems to do e-humping is kkim

and he'll love you more because of your green rim tape

Check rynownd's post that I sent you, because draining the bowls solved my problem too. Otherwise I've had hesitations/choke problems on my bike but a can of seafoam fixed it right up.

Alex · March 9th, 2009, 08:19 PM

If it's running, but just needs a little choke, I'd take it for a decent length ride, 30+ minutes at a minimum. Let everything come up to temp, let a decent amount of fuel get through the carbs, and see what happens. Seems like you did everything right winterizing the bike, and it was running when you did that, so the first assumption needs to be that nothing is fundamentally wrong. Once some fuel burns off, add some fresh fuel, perhaps even high-octane, as the octane level does drop, even if only slightly, as fuel ages.

kkim · March 9th, 2009, 08:20 PM

moi?

Yep, that you got it started is saying fuel is getting to the carbs, just that it's most likely gummed up or water has settled in there. Drain the bowls and see if it starts after that. You may need to put the fuel petcock into the prime position to get the fuel to refill the bowls.

jonb08 · March 9th, 2009, 09:03 PM

I have the same issue. Here's what I do when its in the 40s (Fahrenheit) and it's a cold start.

1. Start the engine with the choke all the way on.

2. Watch the revs and take the choke down so that the bike is not revving past 2500 - 3000 RPMS. Sometimes when its really cold, you gotta let it rev a bit higher than that but not too high. Having the choke all the way on is only for initially starting the bike when its cold.
NOTE: I do not want it rev it too high because some parts will heat up faster than others which could lead to problems down the road with some metal parts having expanded due to the heat while others are still cold and contracted. Some might think otherwise, but I think this is a good precaution doing it this way because everything (including seals and stuff like that) warms up gradually and expands together.

3. Sometimes giving it just a bit of gas helps to get things under control. The choke should do almost all of the work though.

3. Keep watching those RPMS and see if you can take the choke down more and more as the bike warms up. As the bike warms up, it will tend to rev higher so keep decreasing the choke.

4. Once the choke has been lowered considerably and the bike has warmed up a bit, you can look to get the bike into idling range which is about 1300-1500 rpms. You can tell that it's about time for this when the revs are under more control.

5. After following this procedure, the bike is running in the idle range and the choke is on at its minimum, just before turning it off completely. If I turn it off, the bike stalls. It is at this point that I start riding with the choke on at minimum.

6 Sometimes, when I first put it into first gear it will stall. Don't worry about it. Just hold down the clutch and start it back up.

7. After riding around for a bit (sometimes as much as 15-20 minutes), I can turn the choke off entirely and it will idle fine. Just don't forget to turn it off when you can!!

Every bike is different but if you follow this general procedure, you shouldn't have any problems. PATIENCE IS KEY. Eventually, you'll learn what works for your bike. When the weather gets warmer, the process becomes muuuuch easier. Hopefully you understood all that.

Also, how cold is it? I'd wait till warmer weather starts before thinking that anything is wrong with the carbs.

kkim · March 9th, 2009, 09:09 PM

shimming the carb needles would help the cold starting problems.

Speedster · March 9th, 2009, 09:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kkim

shimming the carb needles would help the cold starting problems.

I didn't winterized my bike, but I did do the shimming the carb needles. My bike start up okay in the cold weather.

kkim · March 9th, 2009, 09:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Speedster

I didn't winterized my bike, but I did do the shimming the carb needles. My bike start up okay in the cold weather.

did you take the snorkel off, too, while you were shimming?

Speedster · March 9th, 2009, 09:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kkim

did you take the snorkel off, too, while you were shimming?

yes, I took the snorkel off also.

g21-30 · March 10th, 2009, 03:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by azia

We winterized by adding new gas with stabil, taking battery out and putting on tender and oild change.

Did you drain the bowls, before putting the bike away? If not, I'll bet the float needle is gummed up. You might try spraying some carb cleaner directly in the carbs (disconnect the gas tank hose and spray in the hose), after draining the bowls. Let it set overnight and fire it up.

azia · March 10th, 2009, 07:14 AM

Thanks for the advice everyone! Was way too tired last night to continue on.

Will drain the fuel bowl (wait, that's the same thing as "draining the float bown" or "draining the carbs", right?) tonight. I see it's just opening the screw tap and letting it drain out? Then running the engine with petcock set to PRI to get it flow back into the carbs....

Sounds about right?

Then maybe riding it around the garage a few times. It's 1C/35F right now. Where's my SUMMER?!!

g21-30 · March 10th, 2009, 08:41 AM

I was asking if you drained the bowls, prior to storing the bike. If not, the alcohol tends to gum up the internal parts, i.e. float needle, etc. If this needle doesn't open completely, the bowl doesn't fill completely and fuel doesn't flow as it should.

What a gummed up bowl looks like:

Another pic:

You can drain the bowls via the screws you mentioned. Disconnect the fuel hose from the tank and pour carb cleaner into the bowls. Let is set overnight and either crank the bike with the bowls full of cleaner or drain it and reconnect to the tank and run gas.

If the carbs are so bad that you need to disassemble them, then you can use this to clean them:

Good Luck and keep us informed.

noche_caliente · March 10th, 2009, 03:45 PM

Hi Lindsay - good to see you made it over, and I'm happy to hear that you got the bike lowered

Welcome to the site, and good luck getting her running!

thebulbousone · March 10th, 2009, 04:09 PM

sta-bil is the devil!!!! ive been in the lawn and garden industry for over 20 years and most of the 2 and 4 stroke engine problems are a result of stabil. here in ohio its widely known that both BP and Shell gasolines are also troublesome when left over the winter with sta-bil in them. im only speaking from personal history (god i all of a sudden feel old) but whether it be tractors, mowers, chainsaws etc. that i've worked on most of the issues with winterization have been due to sta-bil. there are other stabilizers that work fabulously without problem. a little research from some local mechanics may help rectify your current situation...

kkim · March 10th, 2009, 04:11 PM

can you name a few that work well? that would help tons next winter.

thebulbousone · March 10th, 2009, 04:24 PM

surprisingly enough the john deere brand stabilizer works awesome in 2 and 4 stroke. i worked at a deere dealership for years and we used that exclusively. the brand i chose for my bike i got from iron pony in columbus,ohio was a brand called Spectro. its red in color in a clear bottle with easy squeeze measuring. its an american product distributed from canada. ( does that make sense?) the harley guys use Spectro oil because its made in the u.s.a. and they swear by it. my bike sat for 3.5 months and i went out 2 weeks ago and fired it right up. i had rejetted just prior and the fuel bowls were spotless! seems like good stuff so far. also, i only use 91 or higher octane from sunoco. sunoco, marathon, certified, and all the other "off" brand fuels seem to burn better in tractors and mowers so i just used that same logic when filling my bike. seems to be doing just fine so far....

kkim · March 10th, 2009, 04:35 PM

this stuff?

I used to use only Golden Spectro premix oil in my two strokes. Great oil.

thebulbousone · March 10th, 2009, 04:38 PM

thats it. all the guys at iron pony that i talked to recommended it.

Nemy · March 10th, 2009, 04:55 PM

hmmm I'll have to see if we can even get that spectro stuff in Canada. But from the sounds of it, some seafoam as a fuel stabilizer works too... and I swear by that stuff now

g21-30 · March 10th, 2009, 05:48 PM

See my previous post for pics and other details.

azia · March 10th, 2009, 08:02 PM

g21-30, thanks for the pics! very helpful!

unfortunately, didn't have much time as i'm leaving in about 5-6 hours for vacay and haven't done a single thing!

tonight we drained the carbs and put it in a glass bottle. it looked clear with a slight yellow tinge. there was about a table spoon of dirty water but i'm afraid that might also be from the ice tea in it earlier.

anyways, we started it up and let it run for about 5 minutes but then my bf noticed that the header was glowing bright red so we turned off the choke and it immediately died off, then i turned the bike off completely. does anyone know what is causing that? bad tank of gas?

if not, gonna have to work on it after i get back NEXT week. ARGH!!

M-Oorb · March 10th, 2009, 08:51 PM

Not entirely if this is a good thing to test for or not...so if yes or no could someone say it haha. I'd say check the little idle knob. No idea why it would happen but maybe if as you shut the choke off turn the knob to raise the idle to keep it where you want it. Keep lowering the chocke and twisting the knob until eventually the choke is all the way off and just the idle knob was used to keep it in the right rev range. Then i'd go for a ride and make sure that the revs stay normal, if as the bike warms up it idles higher just lower the knob back down. I could be completly wrong so someone else lemme know if I am haha

Sound Wave · March 10th, 2009, 09:47 PM

edit: i didn't even notice, but the post before me said that same thing. doh!

this probably isn't it... but one day i tried to turn on my bike with the choke as usual. it seemed to be warming up fine, but when i turned the choke off, it would die off. tried 3 times with the same results.

my bike worked fine the time before, so i couldn't figure out what happened. i hadn't changed anything.

anyways, with my little knowledge of my bike i tried just turning the idle control knob on the left side of the bike until it was able to idle on its own again. that did the trick. still don't know why i had to do it though. been running ok again ever since.

probably not the solution for your bike, but it is so simple to do that it is worth a shot. hope you find out what is wrong.

Suey250 · March 10th, 2009, 10:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thebulbousone

sta-bil is the devil!!!! ive been in the lawn and garden industry for over 20 years and most of the 2 and 4 stroke engine problems are a result of stabil. here in ohio its widely known that both BP and Shell gasolines are also troublesome when left over the winter with sta-bil in them. im only speaking from personal history (god i all of a sudden feel old) but whether it be tractors, mowers, chainsaws etc. that i've worked on most of the issues with winterization have been due to sta-bil. there are other stabilizers that work fabulously without problem. a little research from some local mechanics may help rectify your current situation...

Interesting I have Stabil in my bike right now....but with Chevron gas. Hopefully there won't be a problem in a few more weeks when the warmer weather rolls in.

Nemy · March 10th, 2009, 10:05 PM

It should largely depend on whether you drained your bowls or not too. If not, I'd get cracking on it! You don't want to put on all your gear for the first nice day and not have her start up! I would know...

thebulbousone · March 11th, 2009, 12:18 PM

Azia.. when the bike was running on choke how did it sound? Normal or sputtering?

g21-30 · March 13th, 2009, 01:57 PM

The choke and pilot circuits with most motorcycle carburetors share passageways. When pilot jets become obstructed, the choke circuit compensates and allows the engine to start and idle with choke, but stalls without choke.

azia · March 16th, 2009, 06:21 PM

alright everyone, i admited defeat. just had a bike mechanic on another board come by and pick up the bike. it should be back to me by next week. i'm pretty sure it's just flooded and he does, too but i have no more time to tinker. 12 hour work days in a cublicle are not fun and all i want to do when i get home is smash something, not FIX something. lol.

anyways, i'll update this thread once i get it back with the cause in case someone else has the exact same issue in the future.

again, thanks for all the help. i might not have fixed the bike up myself, but definitely learned alot.

jonb08 · March 17th, 2009, 04:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by azia

alright everyone, i admited defeat. just had a bike mechanic on another board come by and pick up the bike. it should be back to me by next week. i'm pretty sure it's just flooded and he does, too but i have no more time to tinker. 12 hour work days in a cublicle are not fun and all i want to do when i get home is smash something, not FIX something. lol.

anyways, i'll update this thread once i get it back with the cause in case someone else has the exact same issue in the future.

again, thanks for all the help. i might not have fixed the bike up myself, but definitely learned alot.

Gotta give you credit for trying. Good luck with your mechanic.

azia · March 18th, 2009, 09:59 PM

^ Thanks. Working on the bike myself was getting too frustrating. I enjoyed learning but getting home late meant I only had an hour or two before bed. Grrr...

I can't wait to get it back but sounds like it won't be until next week sometime.

azia · March 23rd, 2009, 12:37 PM

good news! i'm getting the bike back tonight. just as we thought, it was flooded but also the gas was all funky and orange colored. bf had followed instructions to a T with the stabil so not sure what happened. maybe the gas he got at the end wasn't good...

either way, she's coming home!!!

g21-30 · March 23rd, 2009, 01:12 PM

That's great news. Just in time for warmer weather!

Nemy · March 23rd, 2009, 05:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by azia

good news! i'm getting the bike back tonight. just as we thought, it was flooded but also the gas was all funky and orange colored. bf had followed instructions to a T with the stabil so not sure what happened. maybe the gas he got at the end wasn't good...

either way, she's coming home!!!

lol unless you filled up at the same shell that I did, I'm thinking stabil really aint all that reliable.

azia · March 25th, 2009, 02:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nemy

lol unless you filled up at the same shell that I did, I'm thinking stabil really aint all that reliable.

you with problems, to??? Dane and Steve (not sure if you rode with them b4?) got bad gas at an Esso downtown last week and Dane's gf got bad gas in her car at a different Esso. WHAT IS GOING ON?!

you going to do anything differently next year? i'm think of running her periodically instead of just letting her sit for 4 months straight.

kkim · March 25th, 2009, 02:26 PM

fill the tank completely full and drain the float bowls of all gas before storing. don't start it during hibernation. keep your battery on a battery tender.

when taking it out, drain all gas from gas tank, put fresh gas in there, then start bike.

Rawr · March 25th, 2009, 08:47 PM

Was having trouble starting mine too...ran out and got some Seafoam (great stuff btw)...poured some in the gas tank...let it sit a little...started it up to let it run through the jets...poured some more in and let sit overnight, started right up the next morning, no choke

azia · March 25th, 2009, 08:53 PM

thanks for the tips kkim, will keep that in mind for next fall.

rawr, thanksfully my bike's fixed now. unfortunately, i have a feeling this wasn't something Seafoam could fix...don't think that tank of gas could have been saved. lol!

kkim · March 25th, 2009, 09:20 PM

did they tell you exactly what they did?

there have been posts that have said to stay away from Stabil.... someone mentioned some other product that they recommended.

azia · March 25th, 2009, 09:36 PM

the mechanic checked everything through and realized that it was the gas. the bike wouldn't idle on MY tank of gas but when he switched it to an external supply, it worked. so he drained the gas out, put new gas in, and voila, it started running again.

this is our first year and we did research the winterizing process. i have to say, it's a little frustrating because it seems only after the problem ocurred and we posted on a few forums about it, we discovered people had problems with Stabil. actually some replies were kind of rude...a very "why the heck would you do that?!" kind of attittude.

but before we winterized, everything we read and receive in response was to use Stabil.

oh well! i guess it's a YMMV kinda thing.

Timm3h · March 6th, 2010, 02:52 PM

blah I wish I had seen this thread last fall.

I used stabil and sheel + esso gas. I had a hard time getting my bike started had to adjust the idle screw to get it started....

I also have some wierd RPM issues.... looks like I have to pull the carbs

March 9th, 2009, 08:02 PM	#1
azia ninjette.org member Name: Lindsay Location: Toronto, Canada Join Date: Mar 2009 Motorcycle(s): 08 Ninja 250 Posts: 67	Help! Dewinterizing But Bike Won't Idle Without Choke So yesterday bf and I went to install my new lowering kit. We're all finished and I went to start the bike for the first time since winterizing late last fall. We winterized by adding new gas with stabil, taking battery out and putting on tender and oild change. We started the bike with choke fully open and it revved really high. Then we closed choke half way and it started revving erratically. Soon as we closed choke, the bike died. Later last night bf checked bike again. Same thing only less erratic. Tonight we first tried with choke 3/4 open and no throttle, let it run for almost 10 minutes. It was revving around 3000 rpm. Turned choke down to 1/2 open and it revved around 2500rpm. Very minimal erratic revving (barely noticeable). Let it sit there for another 5 minutes or so but nothing happened. Slowly tried to turn choke off and it died out. After that, tried to adjust the idle with no affect. Also added some throttled periodically. No effect either. Bf rode it around the building garage once and it stalled when he took both throttle and choke off. Parked it back and tried the whole thing again. Nothing's changed. Help!! PS: I know very VERY little mechanically so please don't talk "shop". Lol!

March 9th, 2009, 08:19 PM	#3
Alex ninjette.org dude Name: 1 guess :-) Location: SF Bay Area Join Date: Jun 2008 Motorcycle(s): '13 Ninja 300 (white, the fastest color!), '13 R1200RT, '14 CRF250L, '12 TT-R125LE Posts: Too much. Blog Entries: 7	If it's running, but just needs a little choke, I'd take it for a decent length ride, 30+ minutes at a minimum. Let everything come up to temp, let a decent amount of fuel get through the carbs, and see what happens. Seems like you did everything right winterizing the bike, and it was running when you did that, so the first assumption needs to be that nothing is fundamentally wrong. Once some fuel burns off, add some fresh fuel, perhaps even high-octane, as the octane level does drop, even if only slightly, as fuel ages. __________________________________________________ Montgomery Street Motorcycle Club / cal24.com / crf250l.org / ninjette.org ninjette.org Terms of Service Shopping for motorcycle parts or equipment? Come here first. The friendliest Ninja 250R/300/400 forum on the internet! (especially Unregistered)

March 10th, 2009, 08:41 AM	#12
g21-30 ninjette.org certified postwhore Name: Sam Location: Northern Virginia Join Date: Nov 2008 Motorcycle(s): Ninja 250R 2009 Posts: A lot.	I was asking if you drained the bowls, prior to storing the bike. If not, the alcohol tends to gum up the internal parts, i.e. float needle, etc. If this needle doesn't open completely, the bowl doesn't fill completely and fuel doesn't flow as it should. What a gummed up bowl looks like: Another pic: You can drain the bowls via the screws you mentioned. Disconnect the fuel hose from the tank and pour carb cleaner into the bowls. Let is set overnight and either crank the bike with the bowls full of cleaner or drain it and reconnect to the tank and run gas. If the carbs are so bad that you need to disassemble them, then you can use this to clean them: Good Luck and keep us informed. Last futzed with by g21-30; March 10th, 2009 at 05:47 PM.

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March 9th, 2009, 08:08 PM	#2
Nemy ninjette.org sage Name: Tim Location: Portland, OR Join Date: Dec 2008 Motorcycle(s): 2009 SE Ninja 250R Posts: 796	Ya made it! lol welcome. Good bunch of guys here. Only one that seems to do e-humping is kkim and he'll love you more because of your green rim tape Check rynownd's post that I sent you, because draining the bowls solved my problem too. Otherwise I've had hesitations/choke problems on my bike but a can of seafoam fixed it right up.

March 9th, 2009, 08:20 PM	#4
kkim Join Date: Nov 2008 Posts: Too much.	moi? Yep, that you got it started is saying fuel is getting to the carbs, just that it's most likely gummed up or water has settled in there. Drain the bowls and see if it starts after that. You may need to put the fuel petcock into the prime position to get the fuel to refill the bowls.

March 9th, 2009, 09:03 PM	#5
jonb08 ninjette.org member Name: Jon Location: Long Island, NY Join Date: Mar 2009 Motorcycle(s): 2007 EX250 Posts: 91	I have the same issue. Here's what I do when its in the 40s (Fahrenheit) and it's a cold start. 1. Start the engine with the choke all the way on. 2. Watch the revs and take the choke down so that the bike is not revving past 2500 - 3000 RPMS. Sometimes when its really cold, you gotta let it rev a bit higher than that but not too high. Having the choke all the way on is only for initially starting the bike when its cold. NOTE: I do not want it rev it too high because some parts will heat up faster than others which could lead to problems down the road with some metal parts having expanded due to the heat while others are still cold and contracted. Some might think otherwise, but I think this is a good precaution doing it this way because everything (including seals and stuff like that) warms up gradually and expands together. 3. Sometimes giving it just a bit of gas helps to get things under control. The choke should do almost all of the work though. 3. Keep watching those RPMS and see if you can take the choke down more and more as the bike warms up. As the bike warms up, it will tend to rev higher so keep decreasing the choke. 4. Once the choke has been lowered considerably and the bike has warmed up a bit, you can look to get the bike into idling range which is about 1300-1500 rpms. You can tell that it's about time for this when the revs are under more control. 5. After following this procedure, the bike is running in the idle range and the choke is on at its minimum, just before turning it off completely. If I turn it off, the bike stalls. It is at this point that I start riding with the choke on at minimum. 6 Sometimes, when I first put it into first gear it will stall. Don't worry about it. Just hold down the clutch and start it back up. 7. After riding around for a bit (sometimes as much as 15-20 minutes), I can turn the choke off entirely and it will idle fine. Just don't forget to turn it off when you can!! Every bike is different but if you follow this general procedure, you shouldn't have any problems. PATIENCE IS KEY. Eventually, you'll learn what works for your bike. When the weather gets warmer, the process becomes muuuuch easier. Hopefully you understood all that. Also, how cold is it? I'd wait till warmer weather starts before thinking that anything is wrong with the carbs.

March 9th, 2009, 09:09 PM	#6
kkim Join Date: Nov 2008 Posts: Too much.	shimming the carb needles would help the cold starting problems.

March 10th, 2009, 07:14 AM	#11
azia ninjette.org member Name: Lindsay Location: Toronto, Canada Join Date: Mar 2009 Motorcycle(s): 08 Ninja 250 Posts: 67	Thanks for the advice everyone! Was way too tired last night to continue on. Will drain the fuel bowl (wait, that's the same thing as "draining the float bown" or "draining the carbs", right?) tonight. I see it's just opening the screw tap and letting it drain out? Then running the engine with petcock set to PRI to get it flow back into the carbs.... Sounds about right? Then maybe riding it around the garage a few times. It's 1C/35F right now. Where's my SUMMER?!!

March 10th, 2009, 03:45 PM	#13
noche_caliente ninjette.org certified postwhore Name: Kim Location: mundo de ensueño Join Date: Nov 2008 Motorcycle(s): '08 250 Posts: A lot.	Hi Lindsay - good to see you made it over, and I'm happy to hear that you got the bike lowered Welcome to the site, and good luck getting her running!

March 10th, 2009, 04:09 PM	#14
thebulbousone ninjette.org member Name: mason Location: columbus, ohio Join Date: Jan 2009 Posts: 42	sta-bil is the devil!!!! ive been in the lawn and garden industry for over 20 years and most of the 2 and 4 stroke engine problems are a result of stabil. here in ohio its widely known that both BP and Shell gasolines are also troublesome when left over the winter with sta-bil in them. im only speaking from personal history (god i all of a sudden feel old) but whether it be tractors, mowers, chainsaws etc. that i've worked on most of the issues with winterization have been due to sta-bil. there are other stabilizers that work fabulously without problem. a little research from some local mechanics may help rectify your current situation...

March 10th, 2009, 04:11 PM	#15
kkim Join Date: Nov 2008 Posts: Too much.	can you name a few that work well? that would help tons next winter.

March 10th, 2009, 04:24 PM	#16
thebulbousone ninjette.org member Name: mason Location: columbus, ohio Join Date: Jan 2009 Posts: 42	surprisingly enough the john deere brand stabilizer works awesome in 2 and 4 stroke. i worked at a deere dealership for years and we used that exclusively. the brand i chose for my bike i got from iron pony in columbus,ohio was a brand called Spectro. its red in color in a clear bottle with easy squeeze measuring. its an american product distributed from canada. ( does that make sense?) the harley guys use Spectro oil because its made in the u.s.a. and they swear by it. my bike sat for 3.5 months and i went out 2 weeks ago and fired it right up. i had rejetted just prior and the fuel bowls were spotless! seems like good stuff so far. also, i only use 91 or higher octane from sunoco. sunoco, marathon, certified, and all the other "off" brand fuels seem to burn better in tractors and mowers so i just used that same logic when filling my bike. seems to be doing just fine so far....

March 10th, 2009, 04:35 PM	#17
kkim Join Date: Nov 2008 Posts: Too much.	this stuff? I used to use only Golden Spectro premix oil in my two strokes. Great oil.

March 10th, 2009, 04:38 PM	#18
thebulbousone ninjette.org member Name: mason Location: columbus, ohio Join Date: Jan 2009 Posts: 42	thats it. all the guys at iron pony that i talked to recommended it.

March 10th, 2009, 04:55 PM	#19
Nemy ninjette.org sage Name: Tim Location: Portland, OR Join Date: Dec 2008 Motorcycle(s): 2009 SE Ninja 250R Posts: 796	hmmm I'll have to see if we can even get that spectro stuff in Canada. But from the sounds of it, some seafoam as a fuel stabilizer works too... and I swear by that stuff now

March 10th, 2009, 05:48 PM	#20
g21-30 ninjette.org certified postwhore Name: Sam Location: Northern Virginia Join Date: Nov 2008 Motorcycle(s): Ninja 250R 2009 Posts: A lot.	See my previous post for pics and other details.

March 10th, 2009, 08:02 PM	#21
azia ninjette.org member Name: Lindsay Location: Toronto, Canada Join Date: Mar 2009 Motorcycle(s): 08 Ninja 250 Posts: 67	g21-30, thanks for the pics! very helpful! unfortunately, didn't have much time as i'm leaving in about 5-6 hours for vacay and haven't done a single thing! tonight we drained the carbs and put it in a glass bottle. it looked clear with a slight yellow tinge. there was about a table spoon of dirty water but i'm afraid that might also be from the ice tea in it earlier. anyways, we started it up and let it run for about 5 minutes but then my bf noticed that the header was glowing bright red so we turned off the choke and it immediately died off, then i turned the bike off completely. does anyone know what is causing that? bad tank of gas? if not, gonna have to work on it after i get back NEXT week. ARGH!!

March 10th, 2009, 08:51 PM	#22
M-Oorb ninjette.org sage Name: Matt Location: South East Florida/Rutgers University Join Date: Dec 2008 Motorcycle(s): 2008 250r (Fastest Color) Posts: 914	Not entirely if this is a good thing to test for or not...so if yes or no could someone say it haha. I'd say check the little idle knob. No idea why it would happen but maybe if as you shut the choke off turn the knob to raise the idle to keep it where you want it. Keep lowering the chocke and twisting the knob until eventually the choke is all the way off and just the idle knob was used to keep it in the right rev range. Then i'd go for a ride and make sure that the revs stay normal, if as the bike warms up it idles higher just lower the knob back down. I could be completly wrong so someone else lemme know if I am haha

March 10th, 2009, 09:47 PM	#23
Sound Wave Ramen Rider Name: Gary Location: Honolulu, Hawaii Join Date: Jan 2009 Motorcycle(s): 2015 BMW R1200R, 08 Honda VFR800A (sold), 09 Ninja 250R (sold) Posts: A lot.	edit: i didn't even notice, but the post before me said that same thing. doh! this probably isn't it... but one day i tried to turn on my bike with the choke as usual. it seemed to be warming up fine, but when i turned the choke off, it would die off. tried 3 times with the same results. my bike worked fine the time before, so i couldn't figure out what happened. i hadn't changed anything. anyways, with my little knowledge of my bike i tried just turning the idle control knob on the left side of the bike until it was able to idle on its own again. that did the trick. still don't know why i had to do it though. been running ok again ever since. probably not the solution for your bike, but it is so simple to do that it is worth a shot. hope you find out what is wrong.

March 10th, 2009, 10:05 PM	#25
Nemy ninjette.org sage Name: Tim Location: Portland, OR Join Date: Dec 2008 Motorcycle(s): 2009 SE Ninja 250R Posts: 796	It should largely depend on whether you drained your bowls or not too. If not, I'd get cracking on it! You don't want to put on all your gear for the first nice day and not have her start up! I would know...

March 11th, 2009, 12:18 PM	#26
thebulbousone ninjette.org member Name: mason Location: columbus, ohio Join Date: Jan 2009 Posts: 42	Azia.. when the bike was running on choke how did it sound? Normal or sputtering?

March 13th, 2009, 01:57 PM	#27
g21-30 ninjette.org certified postwhore Name: Sam Location: Northern Virginia Join Date: Nov 2008 Motorcycle(s): Ninja 250R 2009 Posts: A lot.	The choke and pilot circuits with most motorcycle carburetors share passageways. When pilot jets become obstructed, the choke circuit compensates and allows the engine to start and idle with choke, but stalls without choke.

March 16th, 2009, 06:21 PM	#28
azia ninjette.org member Name: Lindsay Location: Toronto, Canada Join Date: Mar 2009 Motorcycle(s): 08 Ninja 250 Posts: 67	alright everyone, i admited defeat. just had a bike mechanic on another board come by and pick up the bike. it should be back to me by next week. i'm pretty sure it's just flooded and he does, too but i have no more time to tinker. 12 hour work days in a cublicle are not fun and all i want to do when i get home is smash something, not FIX something. lol. anyways, i'll update this thread once i get it back with the cause in case someone else has the exact same issue in the future. again, thanks for all the help. i might not have fixed the bike up myself, but definitely learned alot.

March 18th, 2009, 09:59 PM	#30
azia ninjette.org member Name: Lindsay Location: Toronto, Canada Join Date: Mar 2009 Motorcycle(s): 08 Ninja 250 Posts: 67	^ Thanks. Working on the bike myself was getting too frustrating. I enjoyed learning but getting home late meant I only had an hour or two before bed. Grrr... I can't wait to get it back but sounds like it won't be until next week sometime.

March 23rd, 2009, 12:37 PM	#31
azia ninjette.org member Name: Lindsay Location: Toronto, Canada Join Date: Mar 2009 Motorcycle(s): 08 Ninja 250 Posts: 67	good news! i'm getting the bike back tonight. just as we thought, it was flooded but also the gas was all funky and orange colored. bf had followed instructions to a T with the stabil so not sure what happened. maybe the gas he got at the end wasn't good... either way, she's coming home!!!

March 23rd, 2009, 01:12 PM	#32
g21-30 ninjette.org certified postwhore Name: Sam Location: Northern Virginia Join Date: Nov 2008 Motorcycle(s): Ninja 250R 2009 Posts: A lot.	That's great news. Just in time for warmer weather!

March 25th, 2009, 02:26 PM	#35
kkim Join Date: Nov 2008 Posts: Too much.	fill the tank completely full and drain the float bowls of all gas before storing. don't start it during hibernation. keep your battery on a battery tender. when taking it out, drain all gas from gas tank, put fresh gas in there, then start bike.

March 25th, 2009, 08:47 PM	#36
Rawr Blue Blue Blue Name: Matt Location: Mooresville, IN Join Date: Mar 2009 Motorcycle(s): 2008 Candy Plasma Blue Ninja 250R Posts: 97	Was having trouble starting mine too...ran out and got some Seafoam (great stuff btw)...poured some in the gas tank...let it sit a little...started it up to let it run through the jets...poured some more in and let sit overnight, started right up the next morning, no choke

March 25th, 2009, 08:53 PM	#37
azia ninjette.org member Name: Lindsay Location: Toronto, Canada Join Date: Mar 2009 Motorcycle(s): 08 Ninja 250 Posts: 67	thanks for the tips kkim, will keep that in mind for next fall. rawr, thanksfully my bike's fixed now. unfortunately, i have a feeling this wasn't something Seafoam could fix...don't think that tank of gas could have been saved. lol!

March 25th, 2009, 09:20 PM	#38
kkim Join Date: Nov 2008 Posts: Too much.	did they tell you exactly what they did? there have been posts that have said to stay away from Stabil.... someone mentioned some other product that they recommended.

March 25th, 2009, 09:36 PM	#39
azia ninjette.org member Name: Lindsay Location: Toronto, Canada Join Date: Mar 2009 Motorcycle(s): 08 Ninja 250 Posts: 67	the mechanic checked everything through and realized that it was the gas. the bike wouldn't idle on MY tank of gas but when he switched it to an external supply, it worked. so he drained the gas out, put new gas in, and voila, it started running again. this is our first year and we did research the winterizing process. i have to say, it's a little frustrating because it seems only after the problem ocurred and we posted on a few forums about it, we discovered people had problems with Stabil. actually some replies were kind of rude...a very "why the heck would you do that?!" kind of attittude. but before we winterized, everything we read and receive in response was to use Stabil. oh well! i guess it's a YMMV kinda thing.

March 6th, 2010, 02:52 PM	#40
Timm3h ninjette.org member Name: Tim Location: Ottawa Join Date: Jun 2009 Motorcycle(s): 2009 Ninja 250R Posts: 60	blah I wish I had seen this thread last fall. I used stabil and sheel + esso gas. I had a hard time getting my bike started had to adjust the idle screw to get it started.... I also have some wierd RPM issues.... looks like I have to pull the carbs