[Leebster]

So I had quite a fun experience riding my bike home from the dealership I bought it from. All of the times I stopped by to test ride the bike, they already had the thing ready to go, meaning they had the petcock turned to the "ON" position already. Can you see where this is going?

Anyways, I went today to finally bring it home, and I noticed it had some trouble starting. After getting it going, the throttle seemed kind of off, and I stalled whenever I went back down to 1st gear to make a turn around in the tiny parking lot. So my dad and I decide to head out, as he was following me as a car guardian on my first ride on a real road. After the first stop light, the bike stalls on a green light, pissing off a lot of car drivers. I get it going the next time around and it happens again a little while down the road. I am starting to get annoyed, thinking that I got ripped off and bought a piece of crap. Then as I am on more residential streets near my home, the bike starts randomly dying after 30 seconds. I push it off the road, which was slightly embarassing, and before I lose my temper, I decide to check...yes! The petcock! Only to find it in the "OFF" position. :twofinger

I corrected this and man did it come to life when I started it again. Was pretty nice to twist the throttle and have it respond accordingly I can honestly say that is one noob mistake I will never make again.


Also...for a new rider on a 250, it was awesome to find the range where the engine really kicks in...9k RPMs + :banana

 

[FZR6Raven]

haha, love these stories- we all make such dumb mistakes when starting out! My personal favorite (Im guilty of it) is the whole "stalling while the kickstand is down". DOH

Glad you're liking the 250

 

[binx_19]

haha your petcock was off.

 

[Stick N Move]

You will do more embarassing things.

 

[Saml01]

fine-c

 

[78chevyNOVA]

petcock? what the hell is that? im guessing the fuel

 

[RayOSV]

Yes, the petcock is the fuel valve. If manual like on a 250, they usually have OFF, ON, and REServe positions. The bike doesn't run too well with the fuel turned off, but you want to leave it OFF when the bike will sit for a while.

The interesting thing about all this is that we (usually) make any given mistake only once. fine-c will become an automatic sequence that you won't have to think about. Just remember that most reasonably bright people learn from their own mistakes. The smarter ones can learn from the mistakes of others. Doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results is one definition of insanity.

 

[jcris]

haha .. a similar thing happened to me when I bought my bike.

my dad came along with me when i went to buy my bike and just as your dad he was the "guardian car" on my first trip. it was the first time i had been on a bike since the msf course (and the msf course was my first experience on a bike in the first place). so i got on my bike trying to be super tough and show my dad how i could handle a motorcycle no trouble...we start to leave the parking lot of the dealership, not even 10 feet from where i turned the key, and the bike dies. i thought i had just let the clutch out to quickly and restarted the engine to head out once again. 6 feet and blah, the bike dies again. at this point i'm kicking myself, cursing myself in my head, epic fail on showing my dad i can ride a motorcycle.

so this process of start and die, start and die goes on a couple times, until one of the mechanics from the dealership (who must have been on a smoke break getting a good laugh at this know-nothing newb) came over and helped me out. i guess in the time papers were signed and what not the engine had cooled down and the carbs needed a little warm-up before taking off.

so after a couple minute warm-up for the bike and a couple minute cool-down for my nerves, my dad and i took off for home with no more hiccups....

so dont feel too embarrassed, i know exactly how you feel!

 

[Stick N Move]

haha .. a similar thing happened to me when I bought my bike.

my dad came along with me when i went to buy my bike and just as your dad he was the "guardian car" on my first trip. it was the first time i had been on a bike since the msf course (and the msf course was my first experience on a bike in the first place). so i got on my bike trying to be super tough and show my dad how i could handle a motorcycle no trouble...we start to leave the parking lot of the dealership, not even 10 feet from where i turned the key, and the bike dies. i thought i had just let the clutch out to quickly and restarted the engine to head out once again. 6 feet and blah, the bike dies again. at this point i'm kicking myself, cursing myself in my head, epic fail on showing my dad i can ride a motorcycle.

so this process of start and die, start and die goes on a couple times, until one of the mechanics from the dealership (who must have been on a smoke break getting a good laugh at this know-nothing newb) came over and helped me out. i guess in the time papers were signed and what not the engine had cooled down and the carbs needed a little warm-up before taking off.

so after a couple minute warm-up for the bike and a couple minute cool-down for my nerves, my dad and i took off for home with no more hiccups....

so dont feel too embarrassed, i know exactly how you feel!

You are just full of similar things

 

[univurs]

Ahaha noob mistakes are the best to hear about lol

Don't worry you have to learn and sometimes it will cuase your temper to x'plode just trouble shoot the problem and get ready to kick yourself in the ass lol

 

[Squid Killer]

I pulled over the other day to help a guy stalled on the side of the road. He has a 250 and the first thing I looked at was the fuel valve. That fixed it. He didnt even know what it was.