Engine running poorly + tach not working

[Ausoi]

So after taking a couple months off from riding because of the cold, I decided to start her up and take a short trip to school, turns out I barely got on the main road and the bike dies on me and refuses to run smooth for the whole day. It just so happened that my tach went bananas as well and wasn't reading worth a damn and later that day died completely. Well I maned up and dragged her over our hill to home (just about killed me.)

Over the past week I've been going over her trying to figuere out what is going on. The first thing I noticed was the throttle was getting stuck and wouldnt open all the way, so I fixed that. Then I noticed the choke wasn't working properly and I fixed that. I checked most of the troubleshoots for the tach and I think its just dead unless the ignite somethingorother in the back is screwing it up... anyone ever had a tach go haywire and just die on you like that?

Lastly I put some seafoam in the tank (Maybe too much) to see if I could clean out any crap in the carbs, this is the part that really bugs the hell out of me, the bike starts up - it loves for me to blip the throttle but it dies if I try and hold the throttle in place? My pop thought it might be having trouble getting gas? Or maybe I just need to pull the carbs out and clean them? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[cuong-nutz]

Did you drain the carb bowls and put in fuel treatment when you stored your bike? If you didn't, it's very likely that your carbs need a good cleaning which means you will need to remove it from the bike and disassemble it.

[Ausoi]

I didn't but its only been a couple months. If that's the only feedback I get I'll just pull the carbs originally that's what I wanted to do when it ran like **** because It sounds like the most common problem. I guess I'll have to buy a new tach too. I'll try running her again, maybe some water got into the lines.. I don't really have a garage, just a canopy and a motorcycle tarp to protect against the elements and it just rained before I ran her.

[DaBlue1]

Sounds like you have quite a few problems going on. I would bet that most of it has come from not storing the bike properly over the winter.

As far as your tach goes, they can be sensitive to moisture. It you allow it or manually dry it out it might work again. You also might want to check all of your electrical connections just to make sure you have good contact and no corrosion going on. If the tach still does not work, it might need replacing. Also have a look at the wiki. It may contain some info pertinent to your issue. (-" if your lights on the Ninja 250 begin to flicker or your gauges or engine speed start to act erratically, check your battery connections")

If you use Seafoam stick to the directions. More is not always better. I would recommend using Star Tron instead. You can't overdose with it. It has gotten some good reviews. I have seen a couple of people with issues after using Seafoam.

Here is what one Ninja 250 owner experienced following the Seafoam directions correctly. He did not know what happen for almost 2 weeks until he removed the carbs. Although his issue is rare, many have had good success with it.




Always make sure you use fresh fuel, especially after the bike has been sitting for a while. Even after a couple of months of sitting in changing elements/conditions, gas containing ethanol can start to go bad.

Here's some good info on
Preparing Your Motorcycle for the Riding Season

[csmith12]

Check the battery & connections.

[Ausoi]

Its a brand new battery and the connections look good.

[CThunder-blue]

Possibly a bad CDI? The tach gets a signal from the CDI if I'm not mistaken. The CDI also controls your ignition, so it's a possibility. The manual has directions on how to test the CDI I believe.

[Ausoi]

I was thinking it could possible be the cdi. Would it just affect the tach?

quick update: I ironed out the majority of the problems, turns out the hose that runs from the tank has a filter in it, and when I took it apart it was all scrunched up and partially blocking fuel. Now I've got her running smoothly at idle and she will take throttle nicely now I think I can live without a tach for a while, they run about $100-150 used and twice that for a new one - the digital ones have been tempting me Anyways thanks for the suggestions, i'll take her on a spin and see how things work out.

[csmith12]

Glad you got it sorted!

[Ausoi]

Another update: I'm having some wierd issues again with my bike. I'll try my best to describe them. I've already taken the carbs out and cleaned them so I'm pretty sure that isn't the problem. My bike has a hard time with going up hills, I use to be able to go up my hill in second gear and now I always have to be in first and very high on the rpms to get any power out of her, otherwise she will die. My bike is dying when I come to a stop and have to downshift to first gear, then I have to use full choke and start the engine 2x before she will turn over. Also sometimes she won't idle correctly unless I blip the throttle a litttle bit. And finally sometimes she will have no power at all in first, like I can go WOT and nothing happens, the engine will just die but the next time I start the bike she acts like she got too much gas and the rpms go crazy. I've also noticed she seems very sluggish - the acceleration isn't what I remembered.

Any ideas? I'm thinking it has something to do with the vacuum or the gas tank? I think I've ruled out my throttle cable, choke and carbs, I took all three apart and made sure they were working as intended.

[Ausoi]

no thoughts or suggestions?

[DaBlue1]

Originally Posted by Ausoi

Another update: I'm having some wierd issues again with my bike. I'll try my best to describe them. I've already taken the carbs out and cleaned them so I'm pretty sure that isn't the problem. My bike has a hard time with going up hills, I use to be able to go up my hill in second gear and now I always have to be in first and very high on the rpms to get any power out of her, otherwise she will die. My bike is dying when I come to a stop and have to downshift to first gear, then I have to use full choke and start the engine 2x before she will turn over. Also sometimes she won't idle correctly unless I blip the throttle a litttle bit. And finally sometimes she will have no power at all in first, like I can go WOT and nothing happens, the engine will just die but the next time I start the bike she acts like she got too much gas and the rpms go crazy. I've also noticed she seems very sluggish - the acceleration isn't what I remembered.

Any ideas? I'm thinking it has something to do with the vacuum or the gas tank? I think I've ruled out my throttle cable, choke and carbs, I took all three apart and made sure they were working as intended.

How much gas was in the tank when this happened? Does your situation sound similar to this one? http://www.ninjette.org/forums/showthread.php?p=629961

[Ausoi]

sounds like it might be a venting issue like I thought, I'll look into it more.

[KELPHYN]

i would suspect vacuum leak. Check your carb seal into the boots. If you over tighten the claps it can cause a leak, to loose can cause a leak. Also recheck all your hoses. Good luck.