Newly mine zs250gs

[darealestspigguh]

Hey guys, after waiting nearly a month, i am finally allowed to post.  I just got a used one of these for about 600 bucks with 4000 miles on it.  I drove it home on I95 and speedo said i was doin 100 (ha, i was gettin passed the whole time). It made it, but it leaked oil all over the place inluding my leg,and i got home to find the airbox was not completely on the carb .  so i figure i need to redo all the gaskets as well as change all the filters and oil. Do i need to drop the engine to change the head gaskets or could they just need to be tightened? (wishful thinking)  Also i plan to reroute the emission and hopefully remove the vaccum reed garbage that puts oil in the airbox so any info on that would help.  Also has anyone swaped the airbox out for a cone filter, what size? and what did you do to compensate is it the carb needle adjustment only or more tuning necessary?  I did a compression test dry and the meter reads almost exactly 60 psi, is this normal or low?  The old girl seemed to be firing ok, but im no mechanic.   I have been to zongshen america which is not that far from my house and it seems that finding parts wont be a problem for me everything i asked for, they had so if anyone has trouble finding parts, i can talk to them for you, in person. Well, i think thats enough for the first post hopefully some of you more experienced owners can help me pimp this bike out without destroying it, lol. Thanks in advance for any help or suggestions.
P.S. has anyone put a single cylinder MSD ignition on their bike? which pickup method did you use? which pickup method does the stock CDI use?

[darealestspigguh]

Well, i figured i'd update, i swapped out the oil with synthetic 10w-40, got a new spark plug, and i have a K&N cone filter on the way that should fit the end of the carb (listed by K&N as a breather, but specs should fit).  The bike runs strong without any filter at all, too bad i cant rock it like that.  I also put some seafoam in the tank for the first start.  All of the emissions are off, but i could use some ideas on what to do with that metal pipe sticking out of the engine. I put a breather on it, but since it blows, not sucks (grow up people), the air coming out was hitting the breather and making a precussive sound, now i have a rubber stoper on it and it seems to work fine, could this cause problems later on?  Cosmeticaly, i plan to paint with duplicor cans and finish with some spraymax, i dont want to pay the money for a professional job, might end up costing more than the bike.  I used some night shades spray paint to black out the headlight and tail light, but this proved to be a bad idea, even with only two coats, barely any light would shine through. I think i have to go buy a new head and tail light lens .  I also used some VHT paint to hit the header with a black coat.  I also wanted to debaffle which i assume means taking that rolled up piece of metal from the pipe.  I'm just gonna bang it out of there and see what happens.  Well just an update, pics will be comming soon, and if anyone has any helpful input, it is always appreciated.

[kristifer]

Hey darealestspigguh, when you switched over to the cone filter, did you rejet your carb? If so, which ones did you use and where did you get them?  If not, what did you do to readjust your carb?  Thanks.

[darealestspigguh]

I just put the last coat of clear on my tank, and i plan to put it all back on tommorow and maybe even get a test ride.  I also just got my filter in the mail and oiled that bad boy up, he fits great so i'll fire it up tommorow to see if i need to re-jet.  I'm planning on getting a jet kit anyway, but it should run without it. I'll let you know what happens.

[darealestspigguh]

Hey guys, i finaly got the sucker runnin, but i had to adjust the float level... like seven f'n times, but i finally got it, took it for a ride around the block and it rides nice, revs to about 8000 strong.  I dont have a tag yet so i didnt take it on the road, and i need to get some fasteners to put the fairings back on.  I got the bike used and while it was whole, there were deffinately some fasteners MIA.  But long story short, it looks like i got my baby runnin and with the K&N filter, it's called a breather and it says its for nascar, but its the only K&N i could find to fit the inlet 1.75",and it comes with oil.  I didnt have to adjust anything except the floats but i had just cleaned the carb.  As far as the needle, it's on the second clip from the top.  Is 8000 about where your bikes will rev to as well? i see that there is a jet hole in the carb blocked off by a rubber piece. I tried to get it out without breakin it and its stuck in there good.  i bet the bike would rev higher if there were a jet in ther instead( looks like another emission shortcut to get rid of), well actually im askin, does anyone know?

[leemoore01]

Do you have a part number for this filter ?

[darealestspigguh]

i used the breater cause it had some kind of brotection, but there are a few that will fit, look for 44 mm inlet diameter aka 1.75".  I think i used 62-1515.

[leemoore01]

Cheers

Where does the breathers connect to ?

Thanks Lee

[leemoore01]

http://shop.ebay.co.uk/i.html?_kw=crankcase&_kw=filter

Sorry didn't look at part first

I have quite a few to choose from once i get the bike going of the starter.

Thanks for the pointer

[darealestspigguh]

when i was purchasing the bike, the guy had to jump start it even though it seemed to have a charge, it would crank, but no turn over until he put jumper cables on.  Since our coil is so small and when I  do a spark test on an anything less than new plug the spark is super dim, i figure this has something to do with it, try a hotter plug.  If that doesnt work, i would look into running voltage tests on the ignition system.  Once you get it started by pushing, does it run? rev? idle?

[leemoore01]

Once it's started it will run all day.

I have tried voltage tests back to the coil when cranking over but can't see any 12 v output going to the coil from the CDI unit, but it's strange that the thing will start with a push. I did put a brand new battery on the bike also

 

[leemoore01]

Cheers

Where does the breathers connect to ?

Thanks Lee

Any pics of the aftermarket mods

cheers Lee

[darealestspigguh]

none yet, but ill post em when i get em. you wont get a 12 v current from  the cdi, the black and yellow wire should have a small current i think its like 3v and it charges that up in the coil, the other connection to the coil is a big ass ground.  but neway as long as you got a spark in the coil, and a spark at the plug, you can rule out spark as your starting problem and move on to compression and fuel which if it runs, probably not the issue.

[leemoore01]

Plenty of compression as it blew my finger of the spark plug hole.

Im going out today so will get some carb cleaner for the carburetor and strip it down as it takes fuel but does nothing with it until the bike is running. Maybe a blocked jet or something

[darealestspigguh]

good move, i hear alot of carb symptoms on this forum, just make sure u spray every hole and if you have a vernier caliper with depth guage, adjust your float height, if not, dont, cuz it took me seven adjustments(carb off carb on 7 times ) just to get it to run. If you want, try taking off the filter and creating a complete vacuum with your hand over the carb while you crank. This is what old school chokes used to do and it will tell you if any fuel is coming up from the bowl when you crank, since you'll see it on your hand when you pull it off.  If your problem is a lean mixture, it should start up using that trick as well, however be cautious because if you crank too much without turnover, this could flood your engine! (worst problem of all)