GN250 choke lever. How do I use it?

[mcsilvio]

Hi guys,
I'm a newbie with a chinese gn250 (great). the bike is an 07 but looks like a poorly maintained 1954. but it runs well enough and i got it cheap enough and its a great starter bike. so much fun.

but about the choke lever. i see it on the left side. but i dont know what it does or when to use it. i know one position is on, one is off, and one is reserve. maybe this isnt the choke. but thats what the guy at the riding school taught us (he taught us fine and was a great instructor, its just me forgetting).

do you know what this lever does and which position is which? i know up is labelled R but i cant see the other two. even if i knew i wouldnt know how to properly use it.

cheers,
marco.

[FJRider]

I think you are looking at the fuel tap ...

[mcsilvio]

right! is this important? where is the choke? is it the choke screw?

[scumdog]

right! is this important? where is the choke? is it the choke screw?

Bloody oath it's important.

Turn it to off and you won't get far.

Forget to turn it onto reserve after you run out of gas and again you won't get far.

The choke? Never had a GN so can't help.

[hayd3n]

the choke is on the carburetor its a push pull jobby on the left hand side, push in (off) pull out on)

[davereid]

Yep, sounds like you are looking at the fuel tap. It will have 3 positions - ON/OFF/RESERVE. From memory, you will find with the lever pointed at the ground the fuel is ON. Pointed sideways it is OFF and pointed UP it is on Reserve, which gives you another 50km or so to find a gas station.

Of course, if you put it on reserve, remember to put it back to ON after you fill up with gas. Otherwise next time you run out of gas, you have already used your reserve, and will have to walk.

Its good practice to turn the fuel tap to OFF when you park. This is because the bike is often on an angle when parked, and very rarely the carb float may not close off the fuel properly. Gas may dribble on the ground, and could be accidentally ignited.

If you haven't found the choke by now, you may not ever need it !

Its a small black circular "button" on the side of the carb. Pulling it out reduces engine airflow, and helps the bike start on cold days, and it shold be pushed in as soon as the bike can run without it.

It may be that if your bike has never been properly serviced that the air filter needs replacing. After this is done, you may get more power and better economy, but need to use the choke on colder starts.

I find it handy to set the trip meter after I fill the bike. After a while you get to "know" within a few km, when you will need reserve. So you don't find yourself running out of fuel and having to switch to reserve unexpectedly while passing a B-train ! or running out of gas miles from a gas station.

[Cayman911]

or running out of gas miles from a gas station.

haha the first time ever i needed to fill up when i got my bike was the first time i ran outa gas. which happened to be right in front of a gas station. now that was lucky.

But even without looking at the K's you'll feel when you're about to hit reserve. after 1 or 2 times you'll know by the 3rd time.
On my bike, i'll know about 30 seconds before it dies off and ill need to change it to reserve because the response time of the throttle gets very low. e.g. I turn the throttle now.......................responses now.

so now i just switch it to reserve while on the move. You'll get the hang of it.

[CookMySock]

You are probably better served to use your trip meter to monitor your fuel endurance. It's good practice to be aware of your range at any time, but more so in the last half of your tank.

Steve

[scooute]

I also have a Gn fortunatly a jap built! whilst 3 years older was well built and serviced, The funny thing is when I bought the bike the guy had it on reserve and told me that he had marked the ON with pink grrr as soon as I got home I had a look and realised he had been running the bike off reserve tank the whole time hahahaha. As Davereid metioned always turn the tap to off when parked to avoid flooding carb, last thing you want is a stray ember lighting your bike on fire (one way to warm it up, unless your ghost rider hard to ride after that) I have never needed the choke though as I keep her garaged and always fires first time. let her warm up to get oil all over important parts before riding and you will be fine... enjoy the bike and Ride safe

[p.dath]

I have a different bike, but I always use the choke for about 1 minute while the bike warms up. Rightly or wrongly, I have the impression the increased revs the choke provides will lead to a higher oil pressure, which will lead to oil being forced everywhere faster.

For me the choke is compulsory on a cold morning. I have my idle set so that the bike will run fine at idle once the bike is warm.

[scooute]

I have a different bike, but I always use the choke for about 1 minute while the bike warms up. Rightly or wrongly, I have the impression the increased revs the choke provides will lead to a higher oil pressure, which will lead to oil being forced everywhere faster.

For me the choke is compulsory on a cold morning. I have my idle set so that the bike will run fine at idle once the bike is warm.

I guess I just do it manually with the throttle to get her revs up for a few seconds before she starts chugging along happily... Choke never seems to help her?

[mcsilvio]

thanks for the great replies guys!

[Rogue Rider]

lol, this is all good. I had an 84 gn250, it was a work horse. It made a good cross country bike too, I did the back trail ride from Pelorus bridge to Nelson on it. The mountain range was fun, but she made it..... They just keep goin and goin and goin...... Shame about the new models, the quality is crap and they corrode faster than a tin can in the sea.