honda xl250 won't start question

[wayne mak]

I have 2 honda 250s one is an xr the other is a xl. I just came home with
another 250xl, it has good spark, seems to have good compression but will
not fire. I have tried starting fluid (hait the stuff) with no firing. The
spark will jump a long ark and is load pop with a blue/yellow look so it
should do. The dam starting fluid will fire in almost any condition, if I
spray it down the plug hole put hte plug in and kick no go, pull the plug it
will be a bit wet with fluid???? any help would be great.

[oldfart]

Did you put any gas in the bike? I helped push a friend around on a big
bore BSA once for about a half an hour before he figured out that he
had forgotten to put gas into the tank. OF

[wayne mak]

I put clean gas and had cleaned the carb.
"oldfart" <alan.we...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1164507604.9...@j72g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...

[scrape]

On Sat, 25 Nov 2006 23:11:18 -0500, "wayne mak"
<wayneRE...@makowicki.com> wrote:

>I put clean gas and had cleaned the carb.

You need air, fuel, compression and exhaust. Figure out which one
you're missing.

[CrashTestDummy]

Sounds like the timing may be off. (Since you say it has clean gas,
clean carb, good compression and spark). So it's gotta be either an
incorrect air/fuel mixture, or bad ignition timing. I guess. I mean,
all the starting fluid in the world isn't gonna do much good if the
spark comes on the exhaust stroke, for example. Of course this assumes
you're getting a good flow of gas to the carb, the carb is set up
correctly for your altitude and functioning well, and the air filter
is clean and flowing properly. What year is this XL?

Fred Bradford - CrashTestDummy
f.j.bradf...@verizon.net

[Dean H.]

>>I put clean gas and had cleaned the carb.
>
> You need air, fuel, compression and exhaust. Figure out which one
> you're missing.

Fuel, compression, and SPARK.

Everybody has exhaust.
Who cut the cheese?

[scrape]

On Sun, 26 Nov 2006 06:10:19 -0500, "Dean H." <mo...@groove.calm>
wrote:

It was a quiz.
You get an A.

Ooops.

[wayne mak]

I agree I have worked on hundreds of motors, It has compression (my gauge
won't fit but I can feel a big difference with/without the plug) its got
fuel (starting fluid and the carb is filled with gas) and it has strong
spark. Its possible its out of timing.
"scrape" <scrapeN...@nc.rr.com> wrote in message
news:8ouim2lusig5jktde...@4ax.com...

[wayne mak]

The XL is a 1982 but I think the motor is 1979, its a 5 speed not six. I
swapped the coil, control box and plug, still no sound of it firing. The
starting fluid should at least fire once or twice. I will have to see about
getting a manual from the library to look into the timing.
"CrashTestDummy" <f.j.bradf...@verizon.net> wrote in message
news:lmfim29bfre5rsm1o...@4ax.com...

[scrape]

On Sun, 26 Nov 2006 07:30:07 -0500, "wayne mak"
<wayneRE...@makowicki.com> wrote:

>I agree I have worked on hundreds of motors, It has compression (my gauge
>won't fit but I can feel a big difference with/without the plug) its got
>fuel (starting fluid and the carb is filled with gas) and it has strong
>spark. Its possible its out of timing.

It does need exhaust too though. Ever tried starting a bike without
removing the exhaust plug? But, yeah, the timing thing.

[vaughn...@gmail.com]

How about this I have a 1982 xL250r one day I was getting spark now nothing I even took the plug out and connected it to the spark plug wire and touched it to the outside of the head to check for spark like I always do to check for spark and got nothing what could be the problem

[vaughn...@gmail.com]

[Mike S.]

<vaughn...@gmail.com> queried:

Clean your points. If you have some contact cleaner and a real points file,
that will do the best job. If you don't, drag clean white business card
through
it. Do it again in a new place on the business card. Continue until
absolutely
nothing comes off on the card.

Waitaminute - 1982. Sorry, good thing I re-read that. You don't have
points.

Disconnect the kill switch, then check for spark.

If no spark, put a brand new plug in, then check again.

If no spark, check the plug cap. Remove it and check for continuity with
an ohmeter if you know how. If not, just make sure it's fully screwed on.

Still no spark? Next, check all the connections from the motor to the coil,
clean them and make sure they are tight. Same with connections to the
regulator and the CDI box.

Hopefully now you have spark because the next steps cost money and
need some expertise to diagnose.


Go fast. Take chances.
Mike S.