Storm 250 (CN 250) HELP ASAP!! By catrell92 (Read 2,420 times)

[catrell92]

I'm really new to the whole scooter thing. My scoot is basically brand new and the owner sold it to me for a steaf of a price. I've made little enhancements such as changing the coil with a performance kind, changing fuel lines and the filter ect.I live in michigan so its getting pretty cold here and my scoot is getting any easier to start. I nearly have to crank it a lot before it even catches and that's if the battery doesn't go dead before it starts. For some reason weather has a big impact on this thing it starts pretty easy when warm but longer than it really should. The problem is that it takes ages to get it to start when its cold. It will start on the first try for about 3 secs then immediately die, then it'll be another 15minutes of cranking before she catches on a warm day btw, I've changed the sparkplug with an NGK brand, changed the coil, changed fuel lines with a new fuel filter. Cleaned battery terminals and starter motor terminals ect. Its the same annoying process everyday, I'm kinda surprised that my starter still works lol. I also trickle charge it everynight, someone had mentioned that the jeting in the carb may be clogged so I bought fuel injector\carb cleaner and insserted that in the tank. I really don't kniw where to go because once it starts up and the engine is warm it will keep firing up wuth no problem. I recently removed the auto choke which I believe is shot, I've been using my finger as choke while I'm waiting on my conversion kit to arrive. is this a sign of a bad cdi ? Someone also mentioned that my valves may need adjusting which I'm kind of believing but I'm not "mechanic savy" enough to perform a job like that and don't want to risk messing up anything. Help me outl.

[runningslow]

You mentioned a few things that may be contributing: battery, valves, jets and choke.

If you're still using the original chinese battery, then it may be time to replace it (or wait until spring, unless you plan to ride in the winter). But, keeping it trickle charged before each start should still give you enough to crank over IMHO.

Hard starting and poor idling are definitely symptoms of the valve needed to be adjusted. I've never done a 250, but the valves were pretty easy on my 150. I was intimidated to do it, but it went pretty smoothly.

You'll need to pull the carb and physically clean the jets if they're plugged. Run a small wire through them, like from a twisty tie. Fuel system cleaner in the gas tank won't do anything for you if you already have a problem. Their effectiveness can be debated to begin with, but for them to even work, the cleaner has to run through the system and if you can't get it running, then it won't be flowing in the system.

If you don't have a choke, trying to start on a cold Michigan morning could be very problematic. Enough said.

BTW, what part of the Wolverine State do you hale from? I've been living in Florida ever since I came down here for college, but I spent the first 18 years of my life in and around Ludington.

[catrell92]

Oak park, MI and since my auto choke was dead would it be a smart decision to order a manual choke conversion, I'm trying to eliminate all this computer controlled crap, and I did get the bike startd, 90% of the time I do, its just it takes A LOT longer than its supposed to, and do you have to be very skilled mechanically to perform an adjustment, I have pretty good hands, and I've watched my dad work on cars a lot so I know the basics and some, he said that I would need the torque specs in order to do it, and how long does it usually take to complete it?

[ce]

Try a squirt of starting fluid into the airbox before cranking. $2.17 at Walmart

Now everybody says,"oh, no, that shtuff will dissolve all the rubber in the whole system, right down to the tires, and then yer back to ridin' yer Reeboks, so don't get that stuff, you'll be sorry!"

Yeah, well, right now you're wearing the pizzle outta your starter and your battery, and all yer electrical, because it should only take a couple hits to fire your bad boy up, and until you get your valves adjusted and your idle mixture set, you're wearing all parts that weren't intended to be run that hard.

And put that autochoke back on til you get a new one, you're sucking air in there and that don't help, besides, there's nothing wrong with it in the first place.

A nice big squirt of starting fluid when it's cold, stick with it til it warms up, and run it til your cleaner has a chance to work on the passages in the carb.

Then see about the valves, and start staying up late reading the technical threads on 250's here.

[Cruiser]

I agree with the Dr. I would go with the auto enricher though. They are quite reliable and do a good job when everything else is right. It is very basic - no electronics or computers involved. Just a heating element which runs off the stator (2 wires). Some engines may do better with a manual choke, but the 244cc seems to do very well with an auto enricher.

[catrell92]

ok this is weird, I took the seperate needle that pushes down in the choke hole off and threw the electronic part to the side, inside the hole something is spring loaded because if I press down I can feel like either something is closing or opening in the carb, ( probably a fuel regulator) when I press the needle in choke hole while trying to start the bike, it starts a lot quicker, if I just put my finger over the hole it will take. Longer but not nearly as long when I had the whole enricher attached, seems like there's a fuel delivery problem (starvation or flooding) I'm not sure because when I push the choke needle in the hole I know there's either something closing (blocking gas ) or opening (allowing more gas) also the wires on the enricher were smashed down really hard because I'm guessing the old owner took it apart and screwed the trunk back in while the enricher wires were getting a really bad pinch in them from the trunk being tightened down on top of them, I striped the wires and rewired them. Also if I put he enricher on it makes my bike bog out a lot, I haven't experienced that problem with the auto enricher removed, so I believe that was the culprit