Newbie... posted same question in "Introduce Yourself"

[apaz]

Since my introduction also had a question in there I thought I would put it in here also:

"Hi there everyone, pretty excited to see this forum for the GZ250. I just got my hands on a 2005 and have been loving moving around town (Seattle) on it.
I used to have a Honda 500 a couple years back and while I miss the power, it's kind of nice just having a cool easy little bike.

I took my machine on a trip tot he Olympic National Forest and it did pretty well.
Although, on the second to last leg, she did break down. I'm actually on my way out the door to go get her and bring her home.
I thought I would post to see if anyone might have some ideas about what might have happened to her. I'm not a mechanic, but I'm in it to get my hands dirty.
I've turned quite a few wrenches in my day, so I'm no stranger around dirty hands and tools.

Here's the scenario:

Cruising along at around 60 and she is sounding just fine.
Then she just shut down. No warning. Nothing.
The wheels didn't lock up, I pulled the clutch and coasted to the shoulder.
Did not notice anything that looked out of the ordinary. When I tried starting her back up, nothing.
Had all the switches in the right places, kickstand up, clutch pulled in (as I have started her quite a few times), went through the routine to make sure I wasn't missing anything and when I go to push the starter, nothing.

I'm out the door, like I mentioned, to go bring her home, but if anyone has any advice on what to check or look for to help me solve the problem that would be awesome.

Thanks so much.

Armando"

[alantf]

Sounds like one of the fuses may have blown. It's happened before. Check the main fuse. Remove the seat, then the tool bucket, and the fuses are there. The main fuse should be 20A. This happened to one of our other members a coupla months back. The previous owner had replaced what should be a 20A fuse with a 10A, and it had blown.

[jonathan180iq]

ditto

[twelveport]

If it is in gear and the kickstand is down it will not start. Find nuetral, clutch in, key on, kill switch in the run position = start or if in gear, kickstand up, key on & kill switch in run position. I'm sure you know that???

[isaac]

Really easy way to rule out spark is to pull the plug, attach the wire, and rest the plug against the engine while cranking. If you see spark, you have spark.

After that you're dealing with fuel only, unless you had a serious mechanical failure where it happened quietly.

[apaz]

alantf - I did check the fuses right next to the battery. They are good. I did not check the ones under the tool bucket, I will do that.
jonathan180iq - uh...ditto. :)
twelveport - yup. not really THAT new. I used to ride a Honda 500 a while back. Got all the down, but yeah fair enough to mention, it could always be the really small, dumbest things.
Isaac - I didn't have the tools to try that out on the road, but I just got her home, and going to find some time this week to give that a shot.

UPDATE: Picked her up and brought her home in on a trailer. I did on a chance try to crank her up, and she started up. This was in neutral. Then I tried putting it in gear and it shut down again. Would only turn on in neutral, once I try to put it in gear, nothing. Thinking it might be something to do with the clutch, but I'm not sure.

Thanks so much for replying, any help would be great. Now that I have her at home with all my tools, I can get in there and see what's up.

[blaine]

UPDATE: Picked her up and brought her home in on a trailer. I did on a chance try to crank her up, and she started up. This was in neutral. Then I tried putting it in gear and it shut down again. Would only turn on in neutral, once I try to put it in gear, nothing. Thinking it might be something to do with the clutch, but I'm not sure.

Thanks so much for replying, any help would be great. Now that I have her at home with all my tools, I can get in there and see what's up.

As stated,if the kickstand is down,that is exactly what is supposed to happen.

;) :)

[alantf]

Yes, if the stand is down, and you put it in gear, the engine shuts down. It's a safety switch to stop you riding away with the stand down.

[jonathan180iq]

And these safety switches have been known to fail, causing a false "kickstand down scenario"

You can find several threads on here where people have either repaired their kickstand switch or simply bypassed it.
We recommend repairing the problem, as it only takes one time riding off with the stand down to understand why that system exists in the first place.

The switch is easy enough to find, right above the kickstand. Wiggle, jostle, and clean it and I would bet you'll be good to go.

[apaz]

Yes. Got it. The kickstand. The kickstand is up the whole time. No kickstand down.
Kill switch off.
Kickstand up.
Clutch pulled in (habit).
Hand brake engaged.
Bike in neutral.
Press start switch.
Bike running.
Clutch engaged.
Switch to first gear.
Engine shuts off.
Kickstand is still up.

The info about false kickstand down is awesome information and I will check that also.

[Water Warrior 2]

You can get a good view of the side stand from the right side of the bike. Just hunker down and take a peek.

[alantf]

Try the easy way first. Get a spray can of contact cleaner. Spray it into the side stand switch. Work the switch with your hand. Repeat the above, 2 or 3 times, and see what happens.

[Water Warrior 2]

Try the easy way first. Get a spray can of contact cleaner. Spray it into the side stand switch. Work the switch with your hand. Repeat the above, 2 or 3 times, and see what happens.
That is something I did with every oil change. It only takes a minute.

[apaz]

Alright. Nothing like a one bolt fix.
So finally had a chance to get under and take a peek around.
Checked all the stuff you guys mentioned and it all checked out.
Got underneath and bam, there it was.

Looks like a bolt wiggled out and moved the safety switch up a bit so when the kickstand was up it wasn't engaged, which shut her down when put in gear.

Lucky this is an easy one.

Thanks again for everyone's comments, advice, information, and help.

Armando

[Water Warrior 2]

Good for you and the easy fix. Also we have 2 good pics for future reference.

[jonathan180iq]

Good for you and the easy fix. Also we have 2 good pics for future reference.

Hell yes we do, which after ALL of the safety switch issues, we still someone managed to not generate...

Gracias, Armando.

[apaz]

Sweet. Yup, feel free to use those pics for whatever.
Thanks again for all the help. Hope the more I get into it and learn as I go, I can help others out also.
Till then, I'll have to mooch off others knowledge. :)