I bought a 2007 250r bout 3 months ago. it sat over winter and yesterday I bought a new battery and got the bike running. I ran it all day no problems and filled the tank. I got up early this morning to go to class and the bike would not start. it turned over and a couple times it tried to start but to weakly to actually run. while trying to start the bike it backfired twice. I hooked up my trickle charger to the battery while i went to class and two hours later came back and tried to start the bike. it has started to turn over stronger but not enough to run. please any help would be great. another side note, it was cold all night and not sure if that could cause anything. i do not understand how it started right up after sitting for 3 months and not even 12 hours later it wont turn over.

 

If you bought your battery yesterday and "got it running," I'm guessing you really didn't charge your battery the preferred way, even if you ran your bike all day. A new-in-the-box battery (where you add electrolite and then charge) should be on a 1-2amp charge for a good 10 hours at least. What kind of battery did you get? One of new-style dry cell jobs may have a different charge procedure.
Welcome to the forums, sae. No huge deal; I think we can get you going....
Welcome, again.

 

Sounds like the battery is flat to me as well. Ten hours on the charger should get it back up.

People that haven't dealt with automotive batteries before often think they're the same as buying a pack of Duracells, which isn't unreasonable as it's probably all they've every used before. Unfortunately they're quite different in that a new lead-acid battery only comes with just enough charge to kick you over once or twice and needs to be fully charged before you can trust it. They don't ship at 100% charge as the charge level is determined by how strong the acid (usually sulfuric acid, H2SO4) is and the acid in a fully charged battery is DAMN strong ... strong enough that there are restrictions on how it can be shipped because it's dangerous. Because of that they ship a weaker acid solution that will get you going but will become stronger when the battery is charged.
The math is actually pretty simple. A 1.6Ah (Amp hour) battery on a charger delivering 0.1A will take 16hours to fully charge from dead flat. Out in the real world the battery will take maybe four amps to start with when you first start riding or using a regular charger but as the battery charges up it will take less and less current. Put the battery on a bench and let it charge over night on your trickle charger and you should be good to go in the morning.

 

All I can say after these two post ****** hogged up all of the good info is, Welcome to KF and post up some pics of the new ride! I have an 07 ninja 250 as well, in Red!

 

Who are you calling a po ... yeah, ok. Fair enough.

 

Everyone here is missing one thing - it is a 2007 Ninja. Carubureted, not injected.

Did you drain the carburetor float bowls? There are two screws at the bottom of the float bowl. Crack them open to drain the carbs. If there are hoses running down from the bottom of the float bowls the gas will drain out under the bike. If not, stuff a rag or towel in under the carbs to soak up the gas.

Gas will lose potency over time, like a few months for sure. Most multis will fire up with gas a few weeks old, but my 550 Zephyr will struggle with gas more than about 3 weeks old, so I drain them. My KLX650 will not fire on week old gas! The stuff is junk. The gas in the tank should be okay, but always park it with a full tank so as to avoid that going bad over time.

You may also need to replace plugs, if they are fouled (wetted down) with bad gas. Try draining first.

If the bike will only run on choke after warmed up you will need the carbs torn down and cleaned. The residue from dried up gas will turn in to a gummy crud when new gas is introduced, clogging up the primary circuit. This usually only happens if the bike has sat for an extreme amount of time, like five months or so.

We used to see this all the time at the dealership when I sold bikes. We (sales staff) became "well versed" on draining gas before starting if the bike sat for a while on the floor (by the service department who were tired of pulling plugs and draining carbs). We also saw the carb rebuilding on a regular basis for those who parked the bike in Sept or Oct, then pulled it out in April. The gas totally dried up and the residue would turn to gum when fresh gas it it, then clog passages.

Drain your carbs and try again. If that doesn't quickly work (aka it spins and starts like normal), pull the plugs and replace them.

 

of course I totally agree klx678 on your post and it happens alot with my lil ninja's, I am still thinking that the original post was more of a battery issue.

 

Make sure you use Stabil in your fuel before winter... I have a 2007 Ninja and need to choke it some... Runs great once warmed up! Good luck!!!

 

You're right, I did a big "DUH" missing that he already had it running. Sometimes I'm a bit goofyassed... and will admit it.

You and others are right, it is very true that the batteries for bikes are only about 70% charged when the electrolyte is added, that they need a good several hours trickle charge to get them up to 100%. Very few bikes have adequate charging systems to bring the battery up to a full charge like cars do. In fact many bikes actually will drain the battery at idle and a bit above.

I learned that from working in a dealership. We always had to trickle charge all the batteries before installing them in the new bikes. Then Honda came up with some trick charger set up that would quick charge the batteries sensing proper charging level and all. Every battery we sold we either did the trickle charge or emphasized the point that it needed to be done at least overnight as soon as possible. The guy could buy and ride for the day, but should charge it up overnight that night.

I believe it also increases the battery life charging it up too, but can't say that as an absolute - I'm no electric/electronic expert by any means.

Definitely do the full charge with the proper charging level, probably a 1-2 amp charge.

My apologies for coming off as some know-it-all. But keep that information in mind if anyone is getting a bike out after winter storage. And the StaBil is also a good tip. Full tank w/StaBil should definitely keep the gas from breaking down. Float bowls will still need drained just because.

Only a couple months more until spring here in Ohio. Later...

 

Hey KLX, no biggie. I've done that before; read through the post and think "A-HA!! They missed something!!" and then post-up only to realize I was the one who "missed it." However, good info in your post.....it's ALL helpful.
I've found if I just ride my bike as much as possible during the winter, I don't need to do all the time-consuming preventive stuff. I like to keep the fluids moving....