Advice wanted: Kawasaki ZR250 cutting out

[Slyer]

I think if he knows how to check oil level he knows how to check fuel level...

It's possible he may be running out of fuel, not because the tank is empty but the fuel tap is gummed with rust or other crap.
Fuel tank, fuel tap and fuel lines are the first things to check.

[Devil]

So next time you have the problem, open the fuel cap and see if there's a vacuum there.
Something else to consider (mentioned above) is that it could be starving of fuel which could mean the float level in the carb is incorrectly set. I may have had that issue with that bike before (cant remember). A good way to test this is find a really long piece of uphill road (so you're on an open throttle for longer). If it starts to feel like its running out of gas towards the top then this could be your issue.

[JR1]

yeah id have to agree with prior posts in regards to fuel line or tap issues, the problems your bike had are similar to when your running out of fuel at motorway speeds (yes iv done that - no fucking fuel gauge...).

[Vinz0r]

Ok, turns out the problem was fuel related (surprise surprise), I got a pm from a previous owner of the bike and he threw some light on the situation for me. It turns out that after not being used for a little while the aftermarket inline fuel filter empties out and doesn't refill itself completely, so under heavy load it just doesn't pass through enough fuel. Fixed this by removing the filter, refilling it and connecting it back up. Has stayed full over the past couple of days, went for an hours hard riding out in the country with plenty of heavy acceleration and didn't have any trouble at all. Checked the filter afterwards and it was full.
Now I just have to find out what causes the thing to drain and not refill in the first place..

(Also, I checked whether there was a vacuum in the tank after a bit of riding but there wasn't so I don't think it's a breather problem, unless it's only partially blocked and that may be what causes the filter to have trouble refilling)

Thanks for all the help guys, that's what i love about KB, everyones keen to lend a hand!

And Grasshopperus, in regards toy our offer, I may just take you up on that next time I'm going to get her serviced Cheers!

[Vinz0r]

Tencharacters!

[Devil]

Good to hear its (sort of) sorted. I was the first NZ owner of that bike, it didn't have that fuel filter in it when I had it.

[Vinz0r]

Devil, do you know where I could pick up a cheap replacement speedometer for the Balius? I managed to snap mine off the internal mount (don't ask how) and while it is glued back on now, it's only a matter of time before it breaks again. I had a new one priced at around $390 which I thought was a bit steep! Or do you know if any other models would go on easily?

[Devil]

Pass. Not sure if you can go digital with it (trailtech or something).
Might just have to go OEM.

[Slyer]

Might just have to ask around at wreckers, otherwise look at fixing it yourself it paying someone to.

[Vinz0r]

Yeah it is fixed at the moment, and working fine. but it is a bit old anyhow, the faceplate on it is a tad faded and it doesn't look very nice. Just looking for an excuse to get a new one really, and if I could get a nicer looking assembly to replace it with that'd be super. I wonder if it'd be possible to replace it with a digital one.. Any suggestions on where I'd go looking for one at a decent price? (Would help if it included revs also.)

[Devil]

Bling it, yo!
http://www.bits4bikes.co.nz/accessor...ries/1183.aspx
Universal kit.

[Vinz0r]

Soooo.. an update on this situation, it has still been having this issue whenever I go for long rides, I replaced the fuel filter which did nothing to rectify this issue, and was about to take it into the shop a couple of days ago to have it looked at when I decided to try one last thing.

I drained the tank, whipped the fuel tap off and opened her up to have a look inside.

I think the picture speaks for itself..



So after cleaning it all out (found a piece of red plastic lodged in there as well), I'm hoping she'll be running fine. Will have to go for a longish ride to test it so will probably head out to raglan later in the week.

[Slyer]

So the tube for your main fuel setting is snapped off? Would have been fine running on reserve then heh. You're running an inline fuel filter right?

[Vinz0r]

So the tube for your main fuel setting is snapped off? Would have been fine running on reserve then heh. You're running an inline fuel filter right?

That little thing poking out is a small filter, the main fuel line doesnt have one though, which might be why one of the previous owners added the inline fuel filter (I guess they didn't think that the tap would become clogged up with rust and whatnot). The one with the filter on it is for 'prime' setting.

Yeah there's an inline fuel filter so I am not too worried about putting a new filter on the tap inlet. If it becomes blocked again I will put one on, but hopefully that shouldn't happen in a hurry.

(Also, the reserve doesn't work, apparently it had been disconnected by a previous owner as well!)

EDIT: Is there supposed to be a tube running up from the main fuel line inlet so that it doesn't use all the gas and leaves some for reserve? And does the reserve line run off the same one as the prime? If so it makes sense why the reserve function doesn't work.. maybe I'll have to find a tube to pop in there to fix it, would stop a lot of the rust and crap getting in there too.

[Slyer]

No no, it should have two connectors like this.
http://akhara.com/nc30/fueltapmod/images/0.jpg
The longer tube sucks from higher up and thus cannot touch the "reserve" fuel that the shorter tube filter can.