Having trouble starting a 1986 kx 250

[superrman77]

I bought this bike and the owner said it was running hot. He claimed it is the water pump. I have been kicking the heck out of it trying to get it to start. I pulled the plug and it is firing. Anyone have any tips on starting these old beast.
Thanks

[Rehab486]

First check the gas flow into the carb by laying the bike on its side and see if gas flows out of the overflow lines.  If their is gas in the carb and it still don't start, pull the air filter make sure nothing is blocking airflow, open the throttle wide open and squirt some brake cleaner in and try to start it. If it fires up then you need to clean the carb and possible new gas. If it doesn't you might have a sheared flywheel key, broken reed, piston.  Do a compression check.

[n2682]

 ive owned alot of bikes that wouldnt start by kickin them over try pushing it down a hill and pop starting it in like 2nd compression is the cause of this ive had bikes that were fast and seemed to have tons of power but wont start when u kick them ive even seen as lil as 10 psi make a difference if u tried all that the other guy said to try and cant seem to find the problem try this methoid my 93 kx 250 started doing this halfway threw summer and i slapped a new ring in there and checked the cylinder for out of round fired up first kick just a helpful tip might not help ya but worth a try. nick from michigan

[MadKaw]

also check for faulty kill switch. I actually use carb. cleaner at the shop, the brake cleaner I've bought is water based. and the carb cleaner has some lubricants in it.

[Kawasakinut]

well thanks bdi now i feel like a dummie. i always used to push start my bikes when i was younger.try to push start it  wont start clean the plug wont kick push it wont start clean the plug ugh. they were all junk and i was young so i  guess i have an excuse haha. i had no mechanics skills at the time whatsoever, 27 years later i have a tiny bit.

[n2682]

so i thought this website was to help people and make friends of same interest didnt know it was a bash on people i suggested trying  to pop start it to see if it ran at all not to do this forever who would want to deal with that everyday but thanks BDI i am a red neck and im very proud of it.

[bigbellybob]

so i thought this website was to help people and make friends of same interest didnt know it was a bash on people i suggested trying  to pop start it to see if it ran at all not to do this forever who would want to deal with that everyday but thanks BDI i am a red neck and im very proud of it.

sometimes helping people isn't the best way to make friends. exspeshaly when there is two different views. im a big time hillbilly red neck. and have bump started several bikes sometimes just because im to lazy to kick it. there is nothing bad about red necks or bump starts look at GP. the problem is that it will not help you find out why the bike don't want to start in the first place. and if something is plugged or out of time it isn't going to start anyway and it will be a big wast of time.

superrman77 that bike is 22 years old, you could have a lot of work ahead of you.

[kaw rider]

bdi
pm your email address. we can exchange some billet pictures.

[gowen]

Wow, lots of people around here getting their feelings hurt lately.

My first guess would be compression. Due to the fact it overheated could have sealed or siezed the rings into the piston causing it to lose enough compression to not fire. Very easy to test, so I would do that first.

But, when I get a used bike, first I do is take it apart, clean it the body, clean the carb (including check the reeds), check the ignition, pull the flywheel, clean around it, check that the timing is on, check for crank seal leak behind the flywheel, and then after that is all said and done, give it a fire.

I've spent too much time trying to start vehicles off the bat and waste my time my feet and I do agree, if you have to pushstart a vehicle, there is something wrong. I don't recommend it, but if you got the energy of youth, go for it.

[n2682]

yeah i agree with you bdi u didnt hurt my feelings at all i joined this site to find more power outta my bike and so far have learned alot i got to thinking of  how disasterous it could be to tell someone to push there bike a broken ring could ruin a cylinder if it did fire or among other things and hate to know it was my fault for typing it on the screen and the guy ruined his motor. yeah and honestly it dont help a darn thing cause if it does run its still broken so sorry super man ill try to give helpful advice next time

[MadKaw]

go with Gowen here, you need to do some heavy duty checking out of your ride. check radiator (if it has one){ to see if there is any oil iu there. if it was getting hot, you could have some crackedwater jackets or head gasket. COMPRESSION!!!!! have you checked it? start simple and work your way up from there. clean out tank and carb. the gas thats in it is probably half water by now. or at least half gum. one step at a time grass hopper. for one thing if it was getting hot on the previous owner, something was already wrong with it and you need to find out what that was.

MK