THE PROBLEM:
Bike will start fine, then after warming up (usually 3-5 minutes or so), it starts to drop in idle speed, and will eventually die. Once it dies, it will not restart right away unless I open the throttle quite a bit. Best results are had by just waiting a few minutes, and then trying it again.
DONE, ACCORDING TO PREVIOUS OWNER:
- new battery
- new ignition coil
- new spark plug wire and cap
(these all seem to be legit new)
WHAT I'VE DONE:
- replaced head gasket
- replaced air filter
- rebuilt fuel tap
- installed inline fuel filter (fuel shows to be clear as white wine)
- installed correct spark plug (PO had the wrong one in) (looks like it's running a bit rich)
- verified no air leaks on either end of carb (rubber mounts)
- verified that choke is working properly
- tried adjusting idle speed screw
- tried adjusting pilot screw
- tried with fuel tank cap both sealed and open
- adjusted valve clearance (to nearer the top end of spec)
- fresh gas with Seafoam measured in
- oil level is normal (filter is on order so I can change oil/filter to fresh)
KEEP IN MIND:
- this model (near as I can tell) has no fuel pump
=====
I've seen DOZENS of threads about this same problem all over the internet, but most of them end up unsolved (or just were never updated with the solution), so I'm not sure WTF to do. It SEEMS to me that the bike is warming up, and that heat is causing something to fail. I can't imagine that the carb would be affected by being at 'warmed up' temperature, so I've been putting off looking at the carb other than to make sure that it seems to be working (by what you can tell from outside it). One thread advised tapping it in the float area to make sure the float isn't stuck - did that, didn't change anything.
The bike is a 1982 KZ250, but from searching online, this is pretty common no matter the year/manufacturer.
I'm seriously stuck on what to do - thoughts??
Bike will start fine, then after warming up (usually 3-5 minutes or so), it starts to drop in idle speed, and will eventually die. Once it dies, it will not restart right away unless I open the throttle quite a bit. Best results are had by just waiting a few minutes, and then trying it again.
DONE, ACCORDING TO PREVIOUS OWNER:
- new battery
- new ignition coil
- new spark plug wire and cap
(these all seem to be legit new)
WHAT I'VE DONE:
- replaced head gasket
- replaced air filter
- rebuilt fuel tap
- installed inline fuel filter (fuel shows to be clear as white wine)
- installed correct spark plug (PO had the wrong one in) (looks like it's running a bit rich)
- verified no air leaks on either end of carb (rubber mounts)
- verified that choke is working properly
- tried adjusting idle speed screw
- tried adjusting pilot screw
- tried with fuel tank cap both sealed and open
- adjusted valve clearance (to nearer the top end of spec)
- fresh gas with Seafoam measured in
- oil level is normal (filter is on order so I can change oil/filter to fresh)
KEEP IN MIND:
- this model (near as I can tell) has no fuel pump
=====
I've seen DOZENS of threads about this same problem all over the internet, but most of them end up unsolved (or just were never updated with the solution), so I'm not sure WTF to do. It SEEMS to me that the bike is warming up, and that heat is causing something to fail. I can't imagine that the carb would be affected by being at 'warmed up' temperature, so I've been putting off looking at the carb other than to make sure that it seems to be working (by what you can tell from outside it). One thread advised tapping it in the float area to make sure the float isn't stuck - did that, didn't change anything.
The bike is a 1982 KZ250, but from searching online, this is pretty common no matter the year/manufacturer.
I'm seriously stuck on what to do - thoughts??