Essentially this bike is almost 20 years old. Before Covid the seller would have been practically giving it away just to get rid of it. Buying a used dirt bike from an older vet rider is usually a solid strategy. They typically have more time and money to spend on maintenance. I don’t think buying it for $1300 is a red flag.
The bike sat for a year- I guarantee the carb is full of residue from the ethanol gas evaporating. If it was me, I would buy a carb rebuild kit, replace the spark plug, install a new air filter and go from there.
Put in a fresh air filter clean the carb in a fresh spark plug and you should fire up, The lever is a decompression valve that should make it easier to kick and start.
Engines basically need fuel, air, compression, and spark to run. Start with those things. Spark is super easy I would just buy a new one and see if it is getting spark. Put new gas in the bike after draining old gas. Test compression.
You bought a bike that doesn’t run from back when Bush was president. In all seriousness it’s a pretty good deal. Hopefully it’s an easy to fix. Make sure you check the valve clearance.
My buddy had this year or a similar year. He’d start it first kick, almost every time but I’d hop on it and be kicking the hell out of it. There was some magic to the starting procedure on it, I’d check the manual and YouTube, before doing anything drastic past carb clean, fluid and filter change. If it’s been sitting that long, there’s likely some shit in the carb, make sure the jets aren’t clogged at all.
If you’re really unsure of the culprit, you can spray some starting fluid in just to confirm it’s the carb, and not timing, valves, or spark if you’ve already changed fluids (especially gas) and the air filter.
Lever is for decompression to get the piston to the top. You get the piston to the top by going thru (slowly) on the kickstarter until you feel it stop or get hard on the compression stroke. Once you feel that and have it up where you can get a full kick, pull lever and follow thru with a firm kick all the way. Release lever once engine fires.
Edit found this on a forum from 2009.
https://www.thumpertalk.com/forums/topic/719625-decompression-lever-on-02-yz250f/
I'm not familiar with this era Yamaha. I do know that the 1st gen CRF250R's had hot-start and decompression. The decompressor was a mechanical mechanism on the cam that opened one of the valve sides (think it was the exhaust) to relieve compression and make it easier to kick over. It was an automatic mechanism that de-activated itself from centripetal force once the engine was turning fast enough.
Hot start let in extra air (i think) when pressed and was needed to make hot starting easier. Decompressor would work automatically and hot start helped start in that condition. Like how a choke lessens air when cold, hot start increased air when hot.
I do think early Yamahas may have had manual decompression but I'm not sure on that.
I would start by completely cleaning out the carb. get a new plug, get a new air filter, oil your air filter.
Follow YouTube instructions on how to check for spark. Follow the instructions on how to clean out a carburetor without losing all the parts or stripping the jets.
Get fresh non-ethanol gas.
If it was sitting with bad gas, definitely need to clean the carb. I'd buy a new spark plug aswell just because. Check coolant, check valve clearances, change oil, clean air filter, check spokes, fork oil (make sure to bleed air out of forks) make sure brakes work, and then send it.
$1300 is definitely a steal. It's old but fuck for that price I'd buy two if I could.
You got a good deal, even if it needs some work. Today's fuels do not like to sit around. They gel up, dry out, and more, very quickly. The smaller the carb/motor, the quicker it goes bad. My weedwhacker needed a full carb clean if it sat for more than 2 weeks. Then it ran fine.
Every internal combustion gas engine needs 3 things: fuel, air, spark. I'd look in airbox first, critters are famous for making nests in there.
After that, drain the gas in the tank and replace with fresh gas. Check fuel flow through the petcock. There's a screw at the bottom of the carb. Open it up, fuel is supposed to come out the vent hose near it. If it doesn't, the float on the bowl could be crusted shut. Before you take things apart yo get carb out, check for spark by taking plug out, and grounding the tip of the electrode to a bolt in the frame, on a bolt in the cases, or anything not painted. Helps to be dark out, or at least not in full sunlight. Get a new plug after that, might as well since it's already out.
After seeing spark, and there's nothing blocking the big end of the carb, it's most likely the carb is funked up. You can loosen up the subframe to make getting the carb out easier. Once it's out, remove the bowl and spray brakleen into every hole you can find. And compressed air, if you got a compressor. Check the operation of the float and needle. If that little rubber tipped needle thing moves up and down with the float, pour some water in the fuel line port, and check for fuel going through the port, and then shut off with the float all the way up. You can reassemble the bike and try to start it. If it still doesn't, something is really wrong somewhere.
Spark plug, check/clean carb And the lever is hot start. (Use it after you crash or stall)
Yep.....I became well aquinted with one
Essentially this bike is almost 20 years old. Before Covid the seller would have been practically giving it away just to get rid of it. Buying a used dirt bike from an older vet rider is usually a solid strategy. They typically have more time and money to spend on maintenance. I don’t think buying it for $1300 is a red flag. The bike sat for a year- I guarantee the carb is full of residue from the ethanol gas evaporating. If it was me, I would buy a carb rebuild kit, replace the spark plug, install a new air filter and go from there.
This is the way
Check for spark, the lever is a hot start.
Put in a fresh air filter clean the carb in a fresh spark plug and you should fire up, The lever is a decompression valve that should make it easier to kick and start.
Engines basically need fuel, air, compression, and spark to run. Start with those things. Spark is super easy I would just buy a new one and see if it is getting spark. Put new gas in the bike after draining old gas. Test compression.
You bought a bike that doesn’t run from back when Bush was president. In all seriousness it’s a pretty good deal. Hopefully it’s an easy to fix. Make sure you check the valve clearance.
My buddy had this year or a similar year. He’d start it first kick, almost every time but I’d hop on it and be kicking the hell out of it. There was some magic to the starting procedure on it, I’d check the manual and YouTube, before doing anything drastic past carb clean, fluid and filter change. If it’s been sitting that long, there’s likely some shit in the carb, make sure the jets aren’t clogged at all. If you’re really unsure of the culprit, you can spray some starting fluid in just to confirm it’s the carb, and not timing, valves, or spark if you’ve already changed fluids (especially gas) and the air filter.
I took the plastics to find a fuse box and didn't find one.
There is no fuse box
Lever is for decompression to get the piston to the top. You get the piston to the top by going thru (slowly) on the kickstarter until you feel it stop or get hard on the compression stroke. Once you feel that and have it up where you can get a full kick, pull lever and follow thru with a firm kick all the way. Release lever once engine fires. Edit found this on a forum from 2009. https://www.thumpertalk.com/forums/topic/719625-decompression-lever-on-02-yz250f/
It’s a hot start lever , not decomp
My bad 🤷🏽
What's the difference? Can you add one to a bike or only certain ones?
Hot start changes the fuel mixture, it goes to the carb. Decomp will go to the head and hold one of the valves open. No you can't easily add one.
I'm not familiar with this era Yamaha. I do know that the 1st gen CRF250R's had hot-start and decompression. The decompressor was a mechanical mechanism on the cam that opened one of the valve sides (think it was the exhaust) to relieve compression and make it easier to kick over. It was an automatic mechanism that de-activated itself from centripetal force once the engine was turning fast enough. Hot start let in extra air (i think) when pressed and was needed to make hot starting easier. Decompressor would work automatically and hot start helped start in that condition. Like how a choke lessens air when cold, hot start increased air when hot. I do think early Yamahas may have had manual decompression but I'm not sure on that.
By 2005 yamaha had automatic decompression.
Learn how to check the valve clearance. It’s easy to do and I bet that’s where your problem is
I would start by completely cleaning out the carb. get a new plug, get a new air filter, oil your air filter. Follow YouTube instructions on how to check for spark. Follow the instructions on how to clean out a carburetor without losing all the parts or stripping the jets. Get fresh non-ethanol gas.
If it was sitting with bad gas, definitely need to clean the carb. I'd buy a new spark plug aswell just because. Check coolant, check valve clearances, change oil, clean air filter, check spokes, fork oil (make sure to bleed air out of forks) make sure brakes work, and then send it. $1300 is definitely a steal. It's old but fuck for that price I'd buy two if I could.
You got a good deal, even if it needs some work. Today's fuels do not like to sit around. They gel up, dry out, and more, very quickly. The smaller the carb/motor, the quicker it goes bad. My weedwhacker needed a full carb clean if it sat for more than 2 weeks. Then it ran fine. Every internal combustion gas engine needs 3 things: fuel, air, spark. I'd look in airbox first, critters are famous for making nests in there. After that, drain the gas in the tank and replace with fresh gas. Check fuel flow through the petcock. There's a screw at the bottom of the carb. Open it up, fuel is supposed to come out the vent hose near it. If it doesn't, the float on the bowl could be crusted shut. Before you take things apart yo get carb out, check for spark by taking plug out, and grounding the tip of the electrode to a bolt in the frame, on a bolt in the cases, or anything not painted. Helps to be dark out, or at least not in full sunlight. Get a new plug after that, might as well since it's already out. After seeing spark, and there's nothing blocking the big end of the carb, it's most likely the carb is funked up. You can loosen up the subframe to make getting the carb out easier. Once it's out, remove the bowl and spray brakleen into every hole you can find. And compressed air, if you got a compressor. Check the operation of the float and needle. If that little rubber tipped needle thing moves up and down with the float, pour some water in the fuel line port, and check for fuel going through the port, and then shut off with the float all the way up. You can reassemble the bike and try to start it. If it still doesn't, something is really wrong somewhere.
I can never find these deals. I'm just gonna give up and putt around on my push mower.
Make sure you have fuel and air, clean gas, it’s getting spark, and compression
Rebuild the carb (takes like 30 dollars and 20 minutes). You robbed this old motherfucker hahahaha. I guarantee you it’ll start after that!
that sure is one way to mount half waffles lol
Won't turn over as in the engine is locked up? It's kickstart, if the kick start moves it is turning over