We ended up with a 95 ex-250 ninja, pretty much for free, and I'm trying to get the thing running. Apparently, its sat outside under a tarp for a year and some change. It has a pretty healthy coating of dirt and grime on it.

Anyhow, I got a new battery, changed the oil and filter, put in new spark plugs, pulled the carbs and cleaned those out. Tried to start it, and it turned over fine, even got going a little bit before dying. I adjusted the idle; it was backed all the way out. Tried starting it again, and cranked for a while, only to smell gas, and discover a small puddle forming by my left foot.

I figured I had a leak in the carbs somewhere, so I hopped off, and discovered that, no, in fact the fuel was coming from the atmospheric vent hose. Is this working as intended, or is this a symptom of something wrong somewhere? Thanks for your help.

Oni

 

You need to do a thorough carb cleaning, float height checks and synch. Most likely you have some more contaminants in the fuel system. Unless the seats and needles are bad in the float chamber.

Congrats on the ride and welcome to KF.

 

+1^ on Dragone. The fact that it ran a few seconds is a good sign. Now, just get all the gunk out of the fuel pathway and it should be fine.
Covering a bike with a tarp and leaving it outside is the best way to ruin it. Glad to hear its new owner (you) are getting it back in service.
Welcome to the forums. Gear up; stay safe.

 

-Thorough- carb cleaning. Got it. I emptied the tank today, and holy nettin yahoo, gas that i put in the day before came out looking red-brown. I'm thinking the inside of that tank is all rust. Anything I can do about that, or do I need to scour ebay for a new tank? I did some track and race riding with a 96 f3 and a 2003 zx6r a while back. None of my bikes ever got to this state of neglect. Just to confirm, the fuel is just overflow from the carbs flooding?

Oh, and I certainly appreciate your comment about gearing up. The bike is actually for my wife, and we got her a full alpinestars 2pc suit, fieldsheer jacket, kevlar lined jeans, Dot/snell helmet, good gloves, the whole nine yards.

Thanks!

Oni

 

generally, yes

I think that the 250 and the 500 tanks rusted up fairly easily from my reads, so good luck. sounds like you know what is happening.