Hi, been having a flick through as I'm a newbie, not only to this site but trials in general. I've been to see a few trials and joined the ACU as well as a local club.

I've got hold of a bike, a 1996 Gas Gas 250 Contact. It's rough around the edges but was blooming cheap! Only problem is, I can't get the bugger started!

I've started at the carb, cleaning all the gunk, sand and rubbish out. Checked there's a spark which there is. Cleaned all the rubbish and mud from all I can see wiring wise. But still can't even get a splutter. With the plug out I set the engine to bottom dead centre (screw driver down the barrel) and squirted in some easy start (straight into the barrel as well as the carb) but on replacing the spark plug there still wasn't so much as a cough.

Reading up on what I can find on the Internet I've even tried checking the spark with a second plug in the head to create compression - there is still a good spark.

I have no idea where to go from here, any help would be greatly appreciated! I've attached a photo of the bike.

Thanks.

I think you either have the bike flooded or you do not have any fuel going into the motor. If you stick your nose at the end of the silencer after you have kicked several times you should have a fuel smell.

Hi Reggie, many thanks for taking the time to reply. I would have thought it would at least cough with easy start. If it's flooded, how do I unflood it? I've kicked it over with the plug out a fair bit already.

If the petrol in the tank is old you'll need to empty it and use fresh. This can be a cause of mystifying non-starting.

Choke mechanism working OK? Did you remove the jets and ensure they were clear when mucking out the carb?

Tried bump starting as opposed to kicking?

Edited January 19, 201610 yr by cleanorbust

Hi, yes, we removed the jets and cleaned the whole thing through. Blew through the jets with compressed air too.

I've not had a go at bumping it at the moment but will try tomorrow. It's got to be worth a go changing the fuel too.

Thanks.

Fuel smell at end of silencer confirmed or not ?

Will have a look tomorrow- it's dark and cold now!

Thanks.

Woodruff key sheered ?

Thanks b40rt, I'll check that too.

Do you have compression ?

could be faulty kill switch, check with multi meter or just disconnect kill switch and try kick start again, if it starts just stall it to stop then you will know if you need a new kill switch

Brilliant, thanks people. Gives me a lot to look at tomorrow in the daylight.

There appears to be bags of compression so I'll go down the fuel route.

I thought the silver plastics were a bit strange as well.

 

There is no point in doing anything else until you have checked the woodruff key in flywheel (as already suggested by B40RT)

Easy start is worth a try - sometimes it gets a bike going that has stale fuel / oil in the crankcase. Better still, remove the carb and reed block and fill the crankcase with fresh fuel mix. Rock the crank back and forth then tip the bike upside down to drain it all out.

Many thanks for the great advice. I'll keep you all posted as to how I get on!

Does this photo help identifying the year/model?