Kawasaki Sportsbike Riders Club - Australia - Online Forum

Walked out into the freezing cold this morning to warm up the 250 to ride to work.
"Won't start??" "hmmm i'll give it another try"

BANG!!!!!

loudest farkin backfire i ever heard in my life. i'm now deaf in one ear.
Wouldn't start after that, only tried the once in case i made things worse. What could i possibly have done??
what should i check out before attempting to start again.

Wear earplugs ?

I reckon check the ignition, coils, and plugs. Maybe just replace them (the plugs) while you're at it.

it could just be flooded

Did you give the bike a lot of throttle when trying to turn her over? if so that's your cause. It's a similar result to if you are cruising along at 100, hit the kill switch, give the throttle a good twist for a second, clutch in, turn kill switch back, slip clutch and start bike again your going to get a hige backfire due to the extra fuel dumped in the pipes burning.

Will that hurt the bike mike? I like loud noises

Yep, you probably flooded it and the excess fuel ignited when you tried to restart it. Shouldn't have caused any problems and should start ok next time you go to crank it over.

It will hurt your Can\Muffler. If you have a normal (non glass pack) baffled muffler it can blow the baffles out.

Bionic wrote: it can blow the baffles out.

Nothing wrong with that.

OK so it should kick over when i get home.
and it'll sound better

I had a wonderful problem similar to that once...

shall have to take you back with me a long way in time... It was my thirteenth year as I walked through the enchanted forest… oh wait, that’s something else…

I had an old Yamahaha RS125, with points instead of these new fangles magneto set-ups. Long story short, on end of crankshaft is the flywheel and there is a small metal insert called a woodruft key (spelt summat like that anyway). I had managed to sheer this said key and the flywheel spun aimlessly on the end of the crankshaft, firing when and where it felt like it causing the occasional explosion from the unbaffled pipe. I had no clue of such an annoyance at the time and finally sent the bike to a shop to get fixed. The repair bill came to thirty pound and forty pence. Thirty pounds labour and forty pence parts!

mike-s wrote:Did you give the bike a lot of throttle when trying to turn her over? if so that's your cause. It's a similar result to if you are cruising along at 100, hit the kill switch, give the throttle a good twist for a second, clutch in, turn kill switch back, slip clutch and start bike again your going to get a hige backfire due to the extra fuel dumped in the pipes burning.

Aaahhh, the classic "key banger". It can do more than blow baffles out. I was once driving a work van around, key banging it for all it was worth until BANG.... clang... brrrrrrrrr. I blew the muffler clean off the exhaust. That was the last time I ever did that

diesel wrote:OK so it should kick over when i get home.
and it'll sound better

hopefully mate.

if not, try kicking it. it works sometimes

mrmina wrote:

diesel wrote:OK so it should kick over when i get home.
and it'll sound better

hopefully mate.

if not, try kicking it. it works sometimes

hey mina, u went to the same mechanic school as me??
i even jumped on my old pc wen it wouldnt work (no jase,thats not true, that huge dent in the side is from ummm...heat expansion??)

Mate,

if you're still on the 250 it was probably flooded. They have a fair name for weak as shit needles and seats.

Hope all goes well tonight.

cheers

PC

Years ago in my mates brothers xb coupe we were doing key-bangers to scare pushies until the muffler came flying off and almost hit the poor bastard on the bike.
Good fun tho...