I bought a 89 gsxr 250 which I road about 300km home from where I bought it and its turned into a bit of a basket case. It is a bitsa underneath. It has died on me about 6 times since just before Christmas. The flywheel was never bolted on (snapped off bolt in the crank), has cracked magnets, missing hoses off of the carbies, a spark plug cable just broke about 10 mins ago And of course I haven't been able to start it for about 2 weeks. First time it died was when the flywheel came loose as it wasn't bolted on and the battery went flat, sorted that and it ran for about 2 days. Next must have been that it wouldn't idle and it would seem to get stuck at idle no matter where you had the throttle, choke didn't help and it took me like 3 mins of trying to get it past idle for it to burst into life and then idle fast at maybe 2500rpm. It would run fine like this but every now and then it would go back into this limp mode like idle but I could catch it about to do it and just blip the throttle repeatedly at intersections so it wouldn't die. Now it won't start at all. Seems to have spark but perhaps not under pressure. New plugs maybe 3 weeks ago got it going again before this happened. Previous owner didn't seem to know much but said that the owner before him had it jetted bigger so he then re jetted it to stock which I am wondering if he ****** something up. Previous owner also said he had to start it with start ya bastard in the mornings and kindly supplied a can when I mistakenly bought it. I am thinking new coils with ht leads then if that doesn't fix then opening up the mikunis (have a reasonable mechanical background). Does anyone know where I could source coils in New Zealand or world wide if needed. Thanks and Hello
Cant help with your problem but, Im trying to repair pretty much same bike and need a flywheel,,, very hard to find in uk if you come across a spare one on your travels please let me know
Emulsion tubes/needles for the 'limp mode' (look at FZR 250 carb issues on here as there the same carb pretty much), gsxr 400 coils are the same (Gk73a) or a dynatec ignition (gsxr 400)will go straight in if you fabricate a backing plate, start ya bastard means carbs are set up wrong or low compression - get them out and look up Litetek, choke plungers don't seal properly and mess up the idle - when you pull the carbs check the merge chamber - it'll be full of crap and is sometimes overlooked. I'd go back to it ran fine when you bought it - do the usual with the ht leads and either replace or cut off the ends and reattach - new plugs, Litetek carb kit is the best value for money going, check /recheck the flywheel if its come loose and re torque the bolt, check the battery charge voltage as that will tell you if the magnets are ok and supplying current to the battery via the reg/rect..weak battery = hard start. Hope this helps a bit, cheers si
yeah, carb needs complete disassembly and restoration. Not a cursory spritz with non-effective carb "cleaner" spray. Need to replace all rubber parts: fuel-rail O-rings, float bowl seals, float valves. You can try little fixes here and there. But in end, you'll end up with full carb refurb. Can do it in 10 stages after each break down ~100hrs. Or just do complete job in one operation.
I'll ask again. Where in NZ are you. I've been around the trade for decades and may well be able to point you at someone local who could help.
Sorry all, @gregt I logged off and gave up for a while I am in Blenheim - Marlborough So havent made any progress really, tried new coils - didnt help I read that article about the fzr 250 idle and I think that may have been what was happening to me WHEN it was running last, it sounds very similar. Sounds rather expensive to overhaul completely but I would get to doing that if I could get it to fire even once, seems like the compression could be low or the timing is somehow out. How can I test the timing on this bike? I saw a whole lot of videos online but they were all testing timing with a bike with points so im not sure about with this bike. Sorry for my lack of knowledge for names of parts, but what is the thing called on the rh side of the motor? It is a wheel with notches cut out and i guess is to do with timing. Is there a way I can line up a marking on that with a cylinder being at tdc or something which doesnt require 'specialist' tooling? Sorry My flywheel is also cracked so even if I scrapped it, it would be just as bad as yours @CobraBaz Thanks for the link to the seals @DannoXYZ
Oh yea...I ordered one of those Royal Enfield Continental gt 650s this week as I sold my car but I am still interested in getting this screamer going
Have you thought of how on earth the flywheel bolt has sheared? I would have thought this may have happened because something stopped the engine really quick, the inertia in the flywheel causes it to keep spinning. Is there a keyway on the flywheel and is it also partially sheared which will throw the timing out until the flywheel is relocated with a new key? I had this happen on a VW once. It turned out to be a snapped valve embedded in the piston. This kind of thing happens on mowers with fixed blades when they hit immovable objects.
