Kawasaki Sportsbike Riders Club - Australia - Online Forum

hello all, this is my first post, i have been browsing for some time but havent really had anything to contribute but im going to ask for help anyway

i bought an 03 zzr250 a few weeks ago and have booked my L's test for the 15th and 16th. my mate test rode it for me, all was sweet but when he went to ride it home it had troubles starting, we push started it and it was sweet.
so its been sitting in my garage for a couple of weeks, i tried to start it a while ago with no luck so today i pulled the tank off and changed the plugs, checked the fuel line, charged the battery and put it all back together and still no start. my dad roll started it down the hill and it fires over so it has spark but doesnt really run well. it starts but idles low and dies when you give it throttle.

SO i gues im asking if anyone has any ideas as to my problems? my dad suggests it has bad fuel (i didnt notice a fuel filter, is this right?) so tomorrow im going to empty the entire tank and fill up with some BP98. any other suggestions? oh and how do you get the air box out? what a pain

sorry for the really long post.

It has an inline fuel filter between the tank and carby ... might be a bit hard to spot but it should be there!

So it's just being a bastard to start is it ? or does it refuse to run altogether ?

u post on toymods too right ?

yup im a member of toymods

inline filter aye? im pretty sure on mine there is just a hose going straight from the tank to the carby, could have been removed? also, when the tank is off no fuel runs out of the tap, should there be? its gravity feed isnt it?

well it doesnt really run, i mean my mate rode it home for me a few weeks ago fine but since then i havent been able to start it. it will just keep winding over without even the slightest indication it wants to fire. but then you push it down the hill and it almost starts.

Firstly, drain those carbies dry!!

Then just use straight 91 with 1/4 a bottle of carby cleaner for the next tank so that you can clean the innards right out. the 98 that was in it may have gone "off". The main reason i'd run it on 91 first is to see how it goes. After you that that then have a shot at running 98ron.

It's just that i know it is 100% going to work ok with 91, but 98 may just be too heavy & you'd need to experiment to find out..

when 98ron goes off, doesnt it just lose its octane rating? i dont even know if thats whats in it now, its still got the half tank it had when i bought it 3-4 weeks ago.

draining the carbies... is there a way to do that with them still attatched? they look really awkward to remove especially since i couldnt remove the air box. i was going to give them a bit of a clean with carby cleaner while i was doing the plugs etc but could get good access to them.

btw i just removed the tank again, doesnt look like there is a fuel filter at all, and no fuel runs from the tank when its off which i find odd.

ok i just looked throught the zzr250 supplement manual, havent been able to find the base manual.

in the manual it says to drain the tank you put it to the PRI setting on the fuel tap, so maybe fuel isnt supposed to come out on the other settings?
theres no mention of the fuel filter or removing the carbs in the supplement manual, only mention of the coolant filter which goes to the carb.
so maybe im not even on the right track with the fuel?

yer there should be fuel able to come out of the tank when it's off if you turn the tap 'on' (or whatever)

Firstly if draining crap fuel out, do the tank first. this entails taking a hose from the outlet and putting it into a suitable container, turn it to pri (prime) and then pick up a magazine and keep an eye on it so that it doesnt over fill the container (it can take a while to drain).

Once that is done it's time to drain the carbies. If there's no tube attached to the bottom of them, find one and attach it to them and lead it to a bottle. Then use a LONG screwdriver and turn the brass drain screw 2 turns counter clockwise. about 30-60ml of petrol will come out. then do it back up. do the same on the other carb. doing it this way will ensure all the crap fuel is drained out of the carbies and that there isn't any residual left in there to contaminate the next batch.

Oh and r.e. 98ron, theres all kindsa of other chemicals in there as well as pure petrol, so who knows how they'd adversely affect your bikes performance, once it gets to that point it's only useful for putting together with premix for a lawnmower or to use as an effective weedkiller (just add matches).

Also if you've left the bike for 3-6 weeks, it's approaching the end of its shelf life, that is if it was taken reasonably quickly from the refinery to the service station.

Remember with petrol, if in doubt, throw it out.

You have to look carefully at the carby bowl screws as mine are hex screws. Also make sure that you have a rag underneath them to collect all the petrol. (Kawasaki cost cut and no longer have run off tubes connected to the bowl drains like my 83 gpz does)

In regard to the fuel tap, PRI is the only setting that will allow fuel to come out when the engine is not running as the other settings ON and RES use a vacuum operated valve which comes from the carbys so 2 hoses should connect to the tap, try running it on PRI.
There is also a small mesh filter that is accessed by removing the fuel tap assembly from the tank.

I left my zzr unused with an empty tank for 7 weeks (had to wait for it to be shipped interstate) and it started first go when it arrived with only the fuel that had remained in the carbys.

mike-s wrote:Oh and r.e. 98ron, theres all kindsa of other chemicals in there as well as pure petrol, so who knows how they'd adversely affect your bikes performance, once it gets to that point it's only useful for putting together with premix for a lawnmower or to use as an effective weedkiller (just add matches).

Also if you've left the bike for 3-6 weeks, it's approaching the end of its shelf life, that is if it was taken reasonably quickly from the refinery to the service station.

Remember with petrol, if in doubt, throw it out.

ummm ... yer that's a pretty big load of speculation right there there's tonnes of additives in 91octane petrol as well and no one ever complains about it losing it RON/MON (which it does). Yes 98 will drop some octane rating, as well as some other properties might change (flash point etc) and that *might* make it more difficult to start, or might make you lose a tiny percentage of your overal performance but i really wouldn't advise chucking petrol out after 3-6 weeks ..... unless it's time to do the weeding

Having said that, i guess if you are having trouble with the bike it's probably best to eliminate all possible variables.

yes, some speculation there, but i've just heard some things about short 98 ron shelf life. oh and i have no doubt about the additives in 98ron, but im reasonably sure there's just more of them too

With regards tpo the manual, get the manual for the GPX 250, same motor, zzr 250 came as a supplement to that mnaual.

HTH

im pretty sure we have an online manual here which u can download & print out....

after that little bit abt the fuel tap, are u making sure the fuel is in the ON position?? silly question i kno, but when i got my 250 i had drama for abt a week cos i couldnt figure out which was res/on/off .....sumtimes simplest things...

The same thing happened to my old 2fiddy, and it turned out to be a very simple fix...... Check that you haven't crimped the fuel line when you put the tank back on. Very easy to do and it will let the bike idle but dies when you rev it.......

Oh and welcome ...