hello, im new to the forum and atv's in general. i just bought a 1985 suzuki lt250r that started a bunch when i picked it up. now it wont kickstart, it just pushstarts. what can cause this. are there any easy troubleshooting things i can do? is this thing going to fall apart? lol....also, it was idling the other day and all of a sudden, the thing just goes wide open for no reason. what the heck is that about? any replies are greatly appreciated. thanks!

 

You have a rich running 2-stroke. It probably needs to be correctly jetted. It could also be one of about 5 other things also.

the sitting and ideling to wide open was a lean out. What happened was that either your float got stuck shut or you ran out of fuel and the motor started using up all the fuel available in the float bowel. As it used up all the feul it started getting leaner and leaner (= less fuel more air) so it reved out of control.

Did it shut off after it reved out of control?

If it didn't the float stuck shut, if it did you ran it out of fuel or had the petcock turned off.

to jet it properly you need to do alot of reading or take it to a shop and have it done.

 

no it didnt shut off....i turned off the gas and it didnt do anything! also the killswitch didnt turn it off either! (it works every other time). so i just held both brakes and killed it. so do you think i should take the carb out and clean it? i have done that a few times on an old dirtbike, although i dont know anything about jetting.

 

It could be a burr on the fuel stop inside the float bowel.

It could be a leak(crack) in the intake boot.

It could be a loose bolt or a bad gasket on the intake where it bolts to the cylinder.

The throttle cable could have gotten stuck for a second.

The throttle slide could have gotten a little stuck.

You could try just taking the carb off the spraying it real good with carb cleaner then putting it back on carefully.

If you need some lite reading on jetting, spark plug reading and general 2-stroke tuning send me your email address and I will email you alot of infomation along with a suzuki lt 250 r shop manual if your email will handle it (it's a real big *.pdf file.)

Jim Boston

 

yea actually i have a clymer repair manual, i just didnt know if there was anything easy i could do before taking it all apart.....i just want to ride this thing. where exactly is the throttle slide and intake boot?

 

the throttle slide is inside the top of the carb. After you remove the screws the cap will come off and you will pull out the throttle slide/needle valve assembly. The intake boot is fastened to the cylinder between your carb and the cylinder, it holds the reed valve in place.

This would be much easier if you had a diagram of the carb.

Jim

 

so just to clarify.....what exactly makes it pushstart but not kickstart? sorry for the stupidity!

 

You are cranking the motor over about 5 times as fast while push starting it. When you kick it you get about 1 revolution and 1 spark. While pusing it you gets a spark every time the piston comes back to the top. About 5 strokes per revolution of the tire in first gear.

 

so do you think that checking the plug and all that may help? or is it mainly carb issues?

 

I think if you put a new plug in the motor, it will run until the plug becomes fouled again. Then you will have the same issue.

Like I said before, if you would like to try to solve the problem yourself and learn a thing or 2 about 2-strokes. Send me a message with your email address and I will send you a ton of information of 2-stroke tuning.

Jim