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.

[savrip]

Originally Posted by 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.

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]

Originally Posted by Rubioj02

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.