My ETZ250 keeps dying on me.

[Blurredman]

Well, I had the bike running perfectly a few months ago and was a very reliable bike after alot of messing with the carburettor (first it was running too rich for no reason, then wouldn't idle for no reason etc etc etc).

Now in that time I took the tank off to repaint it, and the bike has thus been standing maybe a little over 2-3 months while I prepped the tank and painted, and then waited 5 weeks for the lacquer to dry.

Now the bike runs okay on idle, but if I try and go anywhere, the bike dies if the road is long and steady. I can ride around town fine, but on a straight rode doing a constant speed it will gradually die.

I've adjusted the float height (a little bit low), and checked all cables, the tap seems fine enough (I spent all day today waiting to drain the tank then clean the tap).

The bike starts easily enough but it will need to have the choke ON for it to start. Once it does it runs fine enough until another half a mile down the road..

I am unsure quite what is the problem, I'm thinking fuel, but i've cleaned out the carburettor and tap and things look to be running freely. I have also made sure the petrol cap hole is breathable and it is.

One thing to note, I did give it some beans today, and got into top gear very quickly accelerating to 50mph, then all of a sudden the bike just cut out no signs that it would. Interestingly enough, the charge light come on when i come to a stop so I don't 'think' it's electrical..

I can keep the bike running on the straight roads by being in a higher gear but that obviously strains the engine and is powerless. I typically ride between 3-4k. Most of the time on 3.5 dead.

I'm running an NGK 7 Iridium plug too, and have been using said plug for about 1,000 before hand..

[Blurredman]

I beleive I have found my issue, and it was one that I did to myself.

The fuel cap I originally had on the bike had a blocked vent. I didn't realise this after adjusting the valves, but when I did adjust the valves I overlooked the fact that the valve the float operates needs to extend fully when at a rested state (no fuel).


I will try out tomorrow, and update

[DAVID THOMPSON]

i was going to suggest that the paint job plugged something up in the tank
or the cap got messed up in the layup time period ...

most peoples projects seem to resemble mine they take bloody forever
dave

[Blurredman]

I also thought it might have been the paint job David, but the tank doesn't have many paint cut offs at all in it. Certainly nothing that would restrict flow of fuel.

As it happens, I actually completed the tank months ago, but the lacquer did not cure, so for a time I just used it without care until the point came when I felt I really HAD to re-paint it as things like flies and mud was sticking to the sticky clearcoat. This time the lacquer has cured nicely thank God!



Today I went for an 80 mile run and all is well!! This just epitimises that you should check what you've Recently changed before modifying anything that was running fine before hand.