Bike dies less than 1/4 miles down road

[Rubioj02]

I bought a 2002 GZ250 a few days ago but waiting for a replacement title so I haven't drove it much. After purchasing, I drove about 30 miles home with no problem but now I can't even make it our of my subdivision before it dies on me. It starts up a little rough but after idling I am able to start riding down the street. I get to a stop sign less than 1/4 mile down the road and top fine but as soon as I start going again, the bike either dies right there or gets less than 1/8 of a mile and dies. I am planning on changing the oil, oil filter, spark plugs, and air filter this weekend hoping that works. Also plan to add Seafoam or some fuel injector to clean out the carbs. After it dies i try to start up again 2-4 times before it completely dies and I have to push it home. Any help would be appreciated

[blaine]

Welcome to the forum. I would use the Sea Foam,not the fuel injector cleaner.You can use it double the instructions on the can.You may need to run through a couple of tanks of fuel to get best results.Good luck.
:cool: :)

[jonathan180iq]

If the bike sat for a while, you'll have gummy gas varnish build up in there. If you can get some carb cleaner and a good long ride out of it, that should clear right up.

[alanmcorcoran]

Scan the many, many threads on here re carbs, petcocks, reserve, idling, choke, fuel filters, etc. There's a lot of stuff that could be causing your problem but it's likely something related to the carb - either before or inside. It may be that some crap got loose in the tank and has floated down into the works. Have you tried switching to "reserve"? that pulls the fuel directly from the bottom of the tank rather than through the "straw." Also, don't do anything drastic (pulling the tank, carb, etc.) until you've managed to get one full new tank of gas through the thing. Often that's all that's needed. Good luck.

[mrlmd1]

There are two straws, the Run is taller than the Reserve. The gas outlet is not flat to the bottom if the tank. Here's a pic.
http://s3.postimage.org/2f7kkdjb8/GZ_fuel_petcock.jpg (http://postimage.org/image/2f7kkdjb8/)

[savrip]

There are two straws, the Run is taller than the Reserve. The gas outlet is not flat to the bottom if the tank. Here's a pic.
http://s3.postimage.org/2f7kkdjb8/GZ_fuel_petcock.jpg (http://postimage.org/image/2f7kkdjb8/)
There's a good troubleshooter. Start with the simplest and go from there.

[Rubioj02]

I guess that means that I am going to have to drain the tank first.

[blaine]

I guess that means that I am going to have to drain the tank first.
Yes.Not hard,just pull the fuel line at the carb,and put the petcock on "pri" and let it drain.Even if everything looks clean,your getting rid of the old fuel.Start with fresh fuel and Sea Foam.
:cool: :)

[Rubioj02]

I also found that the bolts to the muffler clamps were missing; could this be a problem associated or different problem all together.

[alanmcorcoran]

If your exhaust doesn't have integrity it could definitely create carburation problems. Is it loose? Does it get "louder" as you get under way? I was thinking maybe it heats up, gets a gap or something and that's why it craps out at 1/4 mile. Just a guess though. Sounds to me like someone that did not know what they were doing crapped around a bit with the bike before they fubar'd it. Unless you want to get deep into the carb and re-jetting etc. you'd be well served to get a OEM pipe off a parts bike and put things back they way they came from the factory. The only exhaust modifications that have worked out happily on here are ones done by experienced mechanics who were well versed in carb modifications. No one has really ever reported any significant power improvements (doing anything) but, several have been successful in making the bike louder (the debate over the value of which, I shall leave to others.) If you hit the search button for Parts, there are usually a few bikes being parted out - sometime it's best to PM or e-mail the posters as they might not be regular visitors.

[Downgrade]

Do you use the Choke to start the bike (sorry if this comes off as a retarded question)

Mine does the same thing, but, I dont have a choke, what Ive been doing in the meantime is setting the idle pretty high, ride about 5-6 miles with an average speed of say, 45-50. Then when I get to a stop sign, I turn it back down, works after that.

[alanmcorcoran]

It's damn hard to start a GZ without the choke, but I suppose it's possible. Downgrade - do you have a GZ? WTH happened to your choke?

[alantf]

It's damn hard to start a GZ without the choke, but I suppose it's possible.

Crazy American bikes!!!!! I never (well, virtually never) need to use the choke . :roll:

[Downgrade]

I bought it with the choke cable not functioning, the guy said Id probably have to lube it up to loosen it, turns out its crimped in a few places, just haven't gotten around to replacing it. During the afternoon I normally never have a problem, but early am/late night I normally do, alittle bit anyways before I started doing what I said in the previous post.

[grego]

downgrade

my choke wasn't working either. i found a crimp in the cable. i used a pair of pliers and carefully rounded out the crimp to where it was free. and then lubricated the cable. i took the cable off to do this so i could go around the cable. you can give that a try. if its broke you can't break it, but if your lucky you can get it to work until you can get a replacement.



safe biking

grego

[Downgrade]

downgrade

my choke wasn't working either. i found a crimp in the cable. i used a pair of pliers and carefully rounded out the crimp to where it was free. and then lubricated the cable. i took the cable off to do this so i could go around the cable. you can give that a try. if its broke you can't break it, but if your lucky you can get it to work until you can get a replacement.



safe biking

grego

I've tried that :/

[Rubioj02]

OK I got the bike working now so it doesn't die. I have one bolt in each of the muffler pipes until I can get the parts in and i took off the gas tank and cleaned the pet cock out. It ran really good for a while but after I parked it, i let it idle to try and use some gas and it started smelling like something was burning under the bike. I haven't got a chance to look at anything but the smell seems to be coming from the right side of the bike. Some gas was spilled during the removal of the tank but I hosed down the bike after installation and think maybe all the gas didn't come off and something got caught burning.

[blaine]

It ran really good for a while but after I parked it, i let it idle to try and use some gas and it started smelling like something was burning under the bike. I haven't got a chance to look at anything but the smell seems to be coming from the right side of the bike. Some gas was spilled during the removal of the tank but I hosed down the bike after installation and think maybe all the gas didn't come off and something got caught burning.
Bad idea to leave the bike sitting idling,as the engine will over heat.The bike needs to be moving so the air keeps the engine cool.This maybe what you were smelling,an over heated engine.
:) :cool:

[alanmcorcoran]

Look for anything touching the pipe - plastic, leather, zip ties, saddlebags, whatev - especially the last two thirds of it. It's an "air" cooled bike, which means, basically, it'll get hotter than hell unless you are going somewhere (sometimes even then!)

Don't investigate by touching anything. You can get a disfiguring scar quite easily off certain sections of the pipe - instantly.

If you leave the bike running like that, never leave it unattended. Bikes attract little kids and they are right at the wrong level to avoid touching that shiny pipe.

Does your bike leak oil? You might have been burning that off. Or maybe it's part of your exhaust that never got heated up enough before (cause it was stalling out?)

[Rookie Rider]

My bike stalled today 5 times on a 2 mile ride, i dont have a choke either, :cry:

[blaine]

My bike stalled today 5 times on a 2 mile ride, i dont have a choke either, :cry:
You need the choke ,before the bike can operate properly when cold.
:cool: :)

[Rookie Rider]

I was hoping you wouldnt say that. lol

[geezer]

blain is right but....with this weather we have, you shouldnt even need the chock period. at least i dont. my bike is running uber rich though but still you shouldnt need it. im curios whats going on down at the carb end of where the chock cable goes on your bike. is there a plug in there or what? oh and i have a feeling your idle is set to low seeing as you have to mess with your idle all the time :lol:

[Rookie Rider]

By ear i set it high and lower it as it idles faster bout 5 minutes for warm up. Then as im riding i try to leave it to where i think is a slight fast idle now because of the stalling.

[geezer]

so ever sence you got it it has been running graet now all the sudden stallin?

[Rookie Rider]

Id say yes, but i did have barely any fuel in thank so i put it on reserve it stalled once on reserve. I filled the tank and poured quarter bottle of sea foam in it. I'll ride in a couple of days next. (unfortunately)

[blaine]

Id say yes, but i did have barely any fuel in thank so i put it on reserve it stalled once on reserve. I filled the tank and poured quarter bottle of sea foam in it. I'll ride in a couple of days next. (unfortunately)
When you run that low on fuel,you run the risk of picking up dirt from the bottom of the tank.
:cry: :)

[geezer]

also no offence but considering your super uber noobness, would it be hard to belive you just ran it out of gas on then flipped it over to reserve? sometimes its hard to tell your running out of gas to switch it over before it stalls. like today on the freeway i was hauling ass then got off and it stlled out. so i switched over and rode away.

[Rookie Rider]

Nah, i did see gas at the bottom of the tank but put it on reserve anyway just in case..... Super Uber Noobness hahaha thats great.

[mrlmd1]

If you overdose a lot on Seafoam or Berrymans or the like, over the 1 (2 at most) oz/gal of fuel recommendation, your bike may run like crap 'till you burn all that up in the tank. Use the regular dose and don't overdo it. More is not always better.

[geezer]

that stuff also burns white, so dont freak out if yousee white exhaust

[Rookie Rider]

OK, I rode it for 20 miles on Saturday morning, i put the sea foam in on Friday. I stalled once on saturday.

[Rookie Rider]

And i noticed i have a small hole in the bottom of the muffler, bout 1/8 round hole.

[geezer]

the drain hole? i think thats what your talking about. you might need to adjust your mixture screw

[mrlmd1]

That little hole belongs there, it was made like that to drain water out of it.

[jonathan180iq]

If your bike is a 2000, and you ran it almost all the way to bone dry, I'll bet you've just sucked some nasty old bits into the carb. Next time you take it out, ride it about as far as you go in one direction for 30 minutes and then turn around. (Stay close to civilization just in case) If it was a bit of nasty, the seafoam or Berryman's will clear it up.

[Rookie Rider]

COOL, Thank you, i hope so.

[Rubioj02]

OK the bike is running good now but after I took off the gas tank and reinstalled it, some gas leaked onto the motor housing and I thought I washed it all off but now my housing has a gold tint to it because I guess some gas didn't get all the way cleaned and it burnt up on the housing. How do I get that stuff off and my bike shiny again.

[blaine]

OK the bike is running good now but after I took off the gas tank and reinstalled it, some gas leaked onto the motor housing and I thought I washed it all off but now my housing has a gold tint to it because I guess some gas didn't get all the way cleaned and it burnt up on the housing. How do I get that stuff off and my bike shiny again.
Mothers® Mag & Aluminum Polish,the stuff works wonders!
:) :cool: