Motorcycle stalls at idle

Daedalus · July 2010

Hey, I just got my first motorcycle, a used 2002 Kawasaki Ninja 250R. It runs fine at speed but it'll stall if it idles for more than a second or two if I don't give it a little throttle. (It also won't start unless I give it some throttle even if the choke is all the way in).

Do you think the carburetors are clogged or something? I'm pretty mechanically inclined when it comes to cars but carburetors are still a mystery to me; every car I've worked on has been fuel-injected. What do I do to clean these things?

VeritasVR · July 2010

It's not just you, it's well documented.

Moudis · July 2010

http://faq.ninja250.org/wiki/Main_Page will give you more information than you probably ever wanted to know. Most of it is centered around the 198x-2007 model, as well.

To answer your question more directly, your carbs could be clogged, and the above site deals with how to tear those down if you're mechanically inclined. Also, the idle could simply not be set correctly. There's a little screw on the left side (has a black plastic end on it, shouldn't be hard to find) that will allow you to adjust it a fair amount. If you can ride it around enough to get the engine warm, try to adjust that until your idle is around 1.3k-1.5k or so. Counter-clockwise will lower the idle, clockwise will raise it.

If the previous owner(s) didn't keep up on maintenance, you'll want to have it looked at anyway for valve adjustment (can affect idle if they've not been checked), carbs, etc.

Congrats on the new bike, too =D. Got a 250R myself some time ago, it's an excellent bike to learn on.

Edit: VeritasVR is fast.

VeritasVR · July 2010

My bike is the same way as the OP. In order to avoid random stalling, I give keep it at full choke until I'm on a highway or road I know I won't have to come to a stop. If I do need to stop before then, I always give it some throttle (blip) during the downshift and KEEP the blip while you pull in the clutch. You want the engine to keep in the 3-4k RPMs or else you risk it dying suddenly. When you accelerate from a stop, make sure you don't stall while you slowly release the clutch; you might have to give it much more throttle or feather the clutch until you can start accelerating.

It's annoying, but stalling in the middle of a traffic intersection is deadly.

Edit: Once the bike warms up for a good while, you can ride it normally with no choke.

adytum · July 2010

I have that problem with my bike in winter (imagine!) and what Veritas said is accurate.

Alternatively, you might need to adjust the choke; I had to, because even at full choke the engine was stalling at idle. Just had to open it up some.

VeritasVR · July 2010

adytum wrote: »

I have that problem with my bike in winter (imagine!) and what Veritas said is accurate.

Alternatively, you might need to adjust the choke; I had to, because even at full choke the engine was stalling at idle. Just had to open it up some.

I need some throttle to get it going, but when you first start the bike it will likely jump up to 5k RPM with full choke. So you lower it a bit until it idles normally. Unfortunately, once you ride off it can stall when you stop. It's very misleading.

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Motorcycle stalls at idle

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