Cant get my honda crm to start. Help?

[Sean.S]

Thanks in advance for any help with this...

I have a honda crm250 which i bought last week. its been quite difficult to get started and today it wouldnt start at all. Ive kicked the kickstart about 30 times and it shows no sign of life. The lights and dash flash when the bike is kicked so i guess the battery is ok but the engine is not firing. I fear that ive now flooded the engine as well

Im no mechanic and have only a brief knowledge so please bear with me

Any help would be appreciated, cheers!

[Ariel Badger]

New plug will help.
____________________
Bikers make great organ donors, get 115 on your licence today.

[Sean.S]

i will start with a new plug tomorrow, maybe it has a poor compression as well

sean

[MCN]

Start

Fuel on
Choke on (Full)
'Crack' the throttle open about an 1/8 of a turn and hold it there.
Kick it over until it fires.
Don't let it scream it's head off when just fired up by rolling off the throttle a little. (without letting it die.)

If it doesn't start it may be flooded.

Choke off
Open throttle 100%
Crank it over several time to blow the excess fuel out.

Choke on and repeat.

If is still wont start try a little less choke. But normally a properly tuned engine needs max choke. But there are exceptions.

If all that fails then check for sparks at the plug tip.
No sparks then check electrics.

Good luck.

And wear strong boots. Trainers/Carpet Slipper will destroy the arch of your foot and fuck you chances in Strictly.
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Disclaimer: The comments above may be predicted text and not necessarily the opinion of MCN.

[Suntan Sid]

KILL SWITCH?
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"Everybody needs money, that's why they call it money!"

[G]

[Sean.S]

[G]

It's not unusual for trail bikes to work like that. I don't think my CRM125 did, but that had a NSR based engine.
Check your battery with a multimeter anyway - it may not even have one if you haven't looked in there!

An engine needs the correct fuel/air ratio, a spark and compression to fire.
Something has gone wrong there.

What I'd do:
Clean the carb out (dirt bikes often get blocked jets, so it's a good idea to do regularly anyway).
Check the spark plug, it may well be fowled from repeated starting. Consider replacing if you have one around. Also worth noting that on a KTM350EXC I had I thought it was changing the spark plug that made it work - I went over it after I sold it before delivering and found that the HT lead was faulty at the end and moving this was what made it work when doing the spark plug. Cut it down slightly and it fired second kick.
Check the battery etc.
Try a decent bump start.
Consider how the compression 'feels' and maybe borrow a compression tester.

[Sean.S]

@mcn: thanks for the tips but ive tried it this morning and the bike still wont start.

Next step is to take the spark plug out. Problem is i cant find it

Sean

[Sean.S]

[Raffles]

[RhynoCZ]

[G]

None of what I've described is particularly hard to do.
You shouldn't even need to take the carb off to clean out the jets (just loose the jubilee clips etc and spin it around).
Plenty of guides out there on the 'net.

[Sean.S]

Thanks for all the advice, im going to start with the spark plug and make sure its sparking and go from there. To get at it though i would need to take off the seat and fuel tank so this will probably be a job in itself

Sean

[G]

Most dirt bikes let you have access from the side of the bike.
When I was spectating at the Weston Supermare beach race a competitor leant his bike up against the railings by us, changed his plug and carried on mid-race.

[Sean.S]

Yeah the crf has access to the plug from the side but on my crm the plug is annoyingly tucked away under the petrol tank. Ive now taken the seat and petrol tank off the bike to get to it, the spark plug was black at the end and it was a bit wet on the threads (i guess that still means ive flooded the engine?)
Ive cleaned the plug with a wire brush put it back in the ht, put it to earth and kicked the kickstart. Good news is it sparks and ive changed the plug for good measure. i havent yet put the bike back together though, a mate told me i may have to drain the carb of fuel if the engine is flooded

Sean

[G]

Quick look at pics suggests you shouldn't need to do more than take the side panels off.

If the engine it's self is flooded, the carb being drained won't make much difference.

[Suntan Sid]

Make sure you haven't got an exhaust full of fuel, after repeated attemts to start it. Benn there, done that!
____________________
"Everybody needs money, that's why they call it money!"

[Sean.S]

[trevor saxe-coburg-gotha]

If I left my crm for a few weeks it was always difficult to start. What I did was point an electric convection heater in the general direction of the carb. Give it a few minutes of heat, then try kicking it w/ choke. Started easy that way. Of course, if you don't have a garage this isn't the best solution - but definitely worth a go if you have.
____________________
"Life is a sexually transmitted disease and the mortality rate is one hundred percent."

Mobylette Type 50 ---> Raleigh Grifter ---> Neval Minsk 125

[Sean.S]

[G]

I suspect warming the engine not just the carb up is what is more likely to be helping - so something with lots of heat in the general area of the bike .

[Sean.S]

[trevor saxe-coburg-gotha]

[Tristan.]

Clean the air filter (or just remove it to see if she fires up)

My crm becomes a bitch to start with a dirty filter. My xr becomes basically impossible.