Having had no problems with starting for the first few months my 2004 TTR 250 is now a reluctant starter. If I start on choke then doesn't like to be left on it for anything more than a minute before cutting out. Today was made worse because I had flat battery and had to kick start it. After several attempts with choke on and a few brief bursts of life, I thought because it was fairly mild that 1/2 choke or no choke might be the trick but it was still a pain to start, ran for a few minutes on one occasion but then died. On Sunday I had to sit with it once it (eventually) started and keep the revs up until engine had warmed up.
Is there an art to starting the beast or do I need to start delving further? Even as I type this I'm thinking fuel issue but just seems odd how it will start then dies a death.
Open the drain screw at the bottom of the carb bowl and, with the petrol tap on, does petrol flow out the overflow freely? If yes, that isn't the problem but, if not, then there is a blocked filter somewhere in the fuel line - either in the tap or the one just above the float needle.
If petrol is flowing freely and you haven't adjusted the float recently then there is every likelihood you have a blocked pilot jet.
Jarrah has published a great guide on stripping the carb which will give you access to check and clean it.
Hmmm - maybe it's time to think about a new battery?
Failing that it could possibly be dysfunctional old petrol - especially if it's been saitting around in your tank unused for months.
The new "ethanol" additive seems to cause immense problems if it's left any lenght of time. Due to its ability to attract and absorb moisture (hygroscopic) it goes "off" relatively quickly.
Try new, fresh petrol before lashing out on a new battery. Good luck.
Will drain the carb and see what happens - always good to know that there is a drain screw at the bottom (this could be a steep learning curve!) Had some close encounters with large puddles on Sunday and bike spluttered a little after that so hopefully that may be the problem.
The errr....battery problem was a 'user' error i.e. don't park up the bike, walk off and leave the ignition on for 12 hours!
Will pop down to the White Horse later to say hello.
Will drain the carb and see what happens - always good to know that there is a drain screw at the bottom
If the drain screw hasn't been undone for a while be careful undoing it. They are prone to seizing in. Make sure you have a good fitting screwdriver and somehow support the rear of the carb so that you can put some pressure on the screwdriver as you undo it so that you don't strip out the cross head on the drain screw.