BIKE FELL = STALLING ENGINE

[fa11enzer0]

Thanks to my bike cover acting as a parachute, during a wind storm my '07 GZ250 fell onto it's right side. First it took forever to get it running, but now it will start, but it won't keep running. I took it around the block a couple of times, but when i slowed to take turns, it would cut off.
I noticed that somehow my petcock got moved from 'on' to 'pri' which i know was not a good thing, but so far we have tried:
-unhooking the fuel tank all together and burning off the gas in the carb
-unhooking the vacum and fuel line and letting them air out over night
-checked spark plug (though it was a little black on the end, it doesn't seem to be the issue)
-and of course, putting the petcock back to the 'on' posisiton

I'm sure it is an issue with the float, but i'm worried about messing up the bike. I haven't had it for a year yet and i'm wondering if i should just take it to the shop to see if the warranty will cover any issue it might be. Also, at this point, it would be a month or so for service and I would like to ride this spring...so maybe it wouldn't be bad doing it myself.

Any advice here would be great. I don't know what else may create this issue after falling over.

[Easy Rider]

Originally Posted by fa11enzer0

I took it around the block a couple of times, but when i slowed to take turns, it would cut off.

I'm sure it is an issue with the float, but i'm worried about messing up the bike.

Those two statements are not consistent; that is, a float problem usually shows up at speed, not at idle.

It sounds like the engine simply won't idle properly. That could be due to a vacume leak, loose/broken air cleaner, loose boot on either front or back of carb., binding choke cable, bent or otherwise damaged idle adjustment stop, loose airbox drain hose or missing cap on the end.

Does it idle OK before you actually ride it?
Does the choke seem to be working right?

Bottom line is: unless you find something obvioius, you should take it to the dealer if still under warranty and ***DO NOT*** mention that this happened after it fell over !!!

[dannylightning]

yes check and make sure one of you vacuum hoses did not come off. that is the first thing i look for on a vehicle that starts stalling out or idling funny.

did your petcock some how get turned to the prime position when it fell over.. not likley but you never know. dumping to much gas in to the carb would probably make it run crappy..

[fa11enzer0]

When I get it started it idles pretty high, but when i turn the adj knob just slightly to get it back where it should be, it cuts off when it slows down.

[dannylightning]

did you check your choke and make sure the lever did not get moved... do you know how to use a choke.. on my bike if i have the choke set at acertin spot it will want to stall out but if i move it just a bit in either direction it runs fine..

you want to keep your idle adjuster knob set and not mess with it unless needed.. and you use the choke to warm up the bike and make it idle faster or slower as needed until the bike is warmed up.. not the adjuster knob.. when the bike is warmed up set the adjuster knob to the correct idle and never touch it again unless you halve to..


the bike should idle a little high due to a cingle cylinder. i think the manual suggest it should idle around 1200 rpm (you should download the service manuals off of this site if you havent already). we had a discussion about the idle and it can damage your engine if you are running at a low idle on a single cylinder bike due to strain on the motor..

when the bike is first started you want to use the choke to warm it up, after it is wormed up turn the choke off. i don't take my bike out till it is warmed up.. if your choke lever is in the wrong spot the bike will want to stall... at least on mine..

[fa11enzer0]

Thanks for the low down on all that...but I'm pretty comfortable with using my choke control. The only reason I even touched the idle control was b/c that was one of the only obvious items that could have been jarred when it fell over.
I dunnoo....I stopped by the dealership and the tech there suggested I replace the spark plug and check my oil for gas. I just hope my carborator isn't all muffed up, I don't have money to put it in the shop for that.

[GZ250]

sorry to hear that, but it is a good thing to remove the cover when it is really windy as the GZs side stand is a crappy design and it can fall even without wind if someone is not careful with it. the stand should have more angle so that the bike should tilt more and the feet should be more flat. don't know if someone ever tried to modify that. i don't have a metal cutter otherwise i think of chipping away a small piece so that the stand can slide a bit forward.

[Dupo]

same thing happened to my shadow. i put the kick down and it slid on me and the bike went down. picked it back up and it ran like total ass. popping, backfiring, rough idle. drove me nuts what happened. tried running it a little bit and didnt see any improvement. next day went to fire it up again .... poof ... it was fine.

whatever happened ... fixed itself overnight lol.

[dannylightning]

check your air filter, i have heard of peoples air filter getting soaked with gas. it could be soaked.. do you ever empty the drain tube for the air box.. it could have been full of excess fluid witch got all over the filter and soaked it when the bike tipped over.. when i emptied mine the little bit of stuff that was in there shot out like a rocket and got all over my hands.. no big deal just like yuck when it happend. that is the last thing i can think of..

im was not sure how long you have had a bike or how much you know about them and you have a newbie tag on this site. when i see your adjust the idol knob i was thinking maybe you didnt know there was a choke.. so scratch that.. check the airfilter and if that's not he case i dont think i have any more ideas.. and hope it gets worked out and no big deal.. not sure if a bike falling over could flood out the spark plug or not.. had a car that happend to (minus the falling over part) after it set for about 24 hours it ran fine again or if i took out the plugs and cleaned them.

[dannylightning]

check your air filter, i have heard of peoples air filter getting soaked with gas. it could be soaked.. do you ever empty the drain tube for the air box.. it could have been full of excess fluid witch got all over the filter and soaked it when the bike tipped over.. when i emptied mine the little bit of stuff that was in there shot out like a rocket and got all over my hands.. no big deal just like yuck when it happend. that is the last thing i can think of..

im was not sure how long you have had a bike or how much you know about them and you have a newbie tag on this site. when i see your adjust the idol knob i was thinking maybe you didnt know there was a choke.. so scratch that.. check the airfilter and if that's not he case i dont think i have any more ideas.. and hope it gets worked out and no big deal.. not sure if a bike falling over could flood out the spark plug or not.. had a car that happend to (minus the falling over part) after it set for about 24 hours it ran fine again or if i took out the plugs and cleaned them.