Hi all,

I just bought a new-to-me 2009 KLX250S with 3k miles that's not starting up.
The prior owner had it sit over the winter without draining the fuel.
It would start with difficulty and inconsistently (as in, some times it would take a couple of minutes, sometimes close to ten).
We took the pilot jet out and cleaned it. The bike started a handful of times without issues, then, sat for about 6hrs, and wouldn't start, killed the battery trying, so bump-started it... it worked.

Replaced the battery, same behavior.
Tried jumping it from other bikes and a car (off), no changes.
Tried bump-starting it again, and that worked (again).

I guess the electric start has been used a lot during these attempts - could that be damaged?

Not sure of where to go next,

Any help will be appreciated. Thank you in advance,
a.

 

You need to take the carb off and clean it completely, reinstall correctly, get it started and run it quite a while. Or have a shop do it.

 

If the previous owner had the fuel shut off odds are the gas in the float bowl dried out and left a residue that flakes off or turns to gum with the contact of new gas when the petcock is turned on. That crud can clog the pilot (idle) circuit. Saw it all the time in the spring at the bike shop. At the shop they would pull the carbs, tear them down, wash in a carb washer for several hours to clean the passages, then reassemble and reinstall.

 

Thank you all for the prompt suggestions...
Quick follow up question.. why is it that the bike starts when bump-started?
Is it related? I was leaning to think it could be something electrical since the bump-start seems to work immediately (two out of two), or does the mechanical force of the bump start trumps carb starting issues? Of course, is worth nothing that the bump-starts occurred after exhausting the battery (not sure if it matters) ... anyhow, sorry for the ignorance and thank you again for the help,

 

Being far from an experienced guru, I would suggest confirming the bump start theory with more tests. If you have 10 out of 10 for instance, it would be hard to ignore.....

 

I might have a tip here. My KLX650 would absolutely not start, even warm using the starter. It would bump start. Solution - new spark plug. I would venture to say the electrode was rounded enough on the edges it would not fire with the power provided by the battery when electric starting, but would do the job when bumped off. The spark will arc easier from the sharper square edge with less voltage, rounded center electrodes will have high resistance, requiring more voltage. Other possibility with the plug could be if the plug got hot enough for the negative electrode to sag and the gap to open up. You can find this in the article here from Kevin Cameron in Cycle World.

Try it, a cheap fix if that's what it is.

 

BOS, ....So what happened and what did you do?

 

Has she killed 500,000 us citizens yet? I rest my case.
It's a HOAX, be down to zero in a month, going away in the summer, it's just the flu, it's my freedumb.

 

I think this belongs in the other "can't start" thread...