Please look up the starting technique for these bikes. Everyone seems to hate on the Yamaha's but i find them great. You only need to blip the throttle twice before starting. as the carburetor will spit fuel into the engine with every blip... so you giving it a million twists before starting it will 100% cause it not to fire..
I might also add that a common problem on these is the diaphragm that creates the pressure to squirt the fuel from the carb into the engine which is located in the accelerator pump, gets hard and perishes. remove carb and make sure that it is indeed working. my bet is that's your issue. un bury the bike and it should be a simple fix. If its hard to start it would be from A. Restricted/Nil fuel coming from the accelerator pump as it is not engaging when you blip the throttle on pre start-up. B. When it was running it was running terrible because when the engine is under load and your turning the throttle back and increasing speed, again... the throttle pump is not squirting that extra amount of fuel in that it needs. Also, backfiring is an indication that it is running lean and by the sounds of it, it was running lean on acceleration which again points towards an accelerator pump issue. I have multiple Yamaha 4 - strokes of this general era. Wr400 1998, Wr250 2001, Wr426 2001 & a Yz426 2001. Each one will have a 15 step starting procedure but each will start first kick. (They just need a lil lovin). What I can tell you is even the 250 will not start even on a steep hill on a gravel driveway such as yours. The compression is simply too high.
yeah but its mentally exhausting, me and a friend bought a yfz450 quad to fix up its horrible when u dont know what people done to it... problems keep coming up and it makes u go insane.. i get joe he wants this thing gone and dont wanna touch it ever again
Watching you flood it and not being there to tell you was hard to do. We used to just bump start them after they were flooded because otherwise you're waiting forever. Also bump starting on pavement is way better than gravel. The tire just slides on gravel and doesn't bite
Ik this is an old video but another thing that helps if there isn’t the best traction is getting the bike just over the compression stroke with your kick starter and assisting the bump start with your starter. This helps so much when trying to bump start.
Ive noticed a common theme with bikes that take a long time to kick over, you twist the throttle like a million times, these bikes have accelerator pumps that squirt fuel directly in the cylinder with each turn. Proper cold starts only require 2 turns of the throttle then you add your choke, and maybe raise the idle. But dont go kicking it with the throttle open
I noticed that he has a really bad habit of twisting the throttle every single time that he tries to kick something. That is a really bad habit and only makes everything harder to start.
Ive noticed that after 200 kicks - he goes full ham on the kickstarter and snaps the shaft.......I would have stopped after 15 to 20 and then looked further into the problem.
Hats off to you Joe, your persistance and patience is a big part of your success. Next video "How long does it take to burn a 2003 Yamaha YZ250F to the ground".
Everyone with a older Yamaha like myself was definitely yelling at you everytime you blipped the throttle a thousand times. 😂😂 great work and love your content man!
We've all been in a similar headspace when dealing with anything used. I think I'd part it out, rather than burying it. But, I certainly understand the emotion.
The secret to stopping the kick start from breaking is to cushion the kick by installing a piece of stiff rubber (car suspension rubber bush) as a bump stop where the kick start contacts the footrest, also it is much less pain for your foot/leg/knee.
Every issue you named I've encountered with my 2003 yz250f....replaced everything broken got it running 100%(was ALWAYS a pain to kick but once it's warm 1st kick every time) and then swapped for 2010 raptor. I have to admit they are easy to work on until you get coolant leaking into motor when seals and o rings go bad and you have to find out which one is the culprit. Once you fix something another thing breaks. I told the guy who wanted to swap that he HAS to maintain and check everything on this bike after EVERY ride even if it's 10 minutes of riding lol.
I literally have an 04 that I bought running the exact same way till I took out the hot cams someone put in there and put stock cams off e bay and re shimmed it and it runs like a dream to this day. I did this 3 years ago. Was quite upset to see him give up and bury it so quick
My brother had the YZ400F and those older bike have a starting procedure. If you follow it they fire right up. 1. No throttle none 2. Choke on 3. Slowly kick the bike till you reach TDC then go just past TDC. 4. Kick it normal. 5. If it fails to start repeat 1-4. When it's warm you just pull the hot start and do steps 3 & 4. Since these bikes have a pumper carb you will flood them with just one or two turns of the throttle. I hope that helps someone with these bikes.
Bro, long time watcher here. I give you major props for no cuss words on this beotch and to keep kicking. I was feeling sorry for you there at one point
Hello, I like your vids. Just an observation about bump starting that I learned long ago. Push bike up to speed in neutral then get on the bike while rolling and jump down HARD on the seat while clicking into 1st gear. The jump on the seat is the key to a successful bump start. Give it a try and you will never forget it.
@@quietbrianquiet i was gonna add this as well. if it's got a ton of compression use a higher gear and slam your butt on the seat exactly when you let out the clutch.
These bikes are one of the best and most reliable 250 f's ever built! The problem is with people not doing proper maintenance for 20 years. That kick starter probably broke because its been kicked a million times and most of those with loose valves boosting compression.
@@jessefinneman7680 incorrect, 4 strokes indeed are reliable as long as you know how to own one and have the money to properly maintain one. 4 strokes are high maintenance and a pain in the ass
even then they have problems but thats anything. ive never rode or owned a two stroke but heard they tourqy asf never heard much bad abt em other then how noisy they are
2 strokes are night and day easier to rebuild. This bike had carb issues and potentially needed a valve adjustment. Timing might have been one tooth off too. He didn’t mention replacing the pilot jet,, having it only start on choke is big sign that it was dirty.
I got to old for this crap. Electric start and fuel injection for me. Knee hurt just watching you go at it. Had to go out and fire mine up and run a few lapse to vent my frustration empathy. Mine is 2020 Kawasaki klx 230r, of course it has its own quirks but never fails to fire right up. You are truly a machine and I don't know if I ever worked as hard as you do. Keep up the videos!
Check the cam timing gear! Looks just like one I was working on. The cam had been tightened down too tight causing the timing gear to grab and turn slightly taking the timing out with it. The timing gear is pressed onto the cam with no bolts or pins to keep it in place and can be turned to mess up the valve timing. Looking at your vid bought up memories of my battle with the 250F I was working on. I even started changing out electrical components until I gave up and took it to my mechanic. I still have the offending cam in my office as a trophy/reminder!
The bike is great , I own one (exact year and bike) and yes they can be a pain however with enough research and knowledge you can find answers to every problem . Perhaps instead of kicking it to death , try more troubleshooting , I suggest checking the needle to make sure it’s the correct one as well as both jets sizes . Checking the starter jet and leak jet won’t hurt either, you can also try clearing the accelerator pump passage , the throttle slide gasket etc. the bike will start first kick no matter what 0:45 once it’s tuned properly and you don’t flood it by giving it too much gas on startup. Flick the throttle open twice, find TDC (top dead center) and it will start first kick.
I would not have given up. It would bug the heck out of me to give up on it. You have to be close, I mean you got it to run. Sometimes you just have to step back. Come back to it in a couple weeks when you're not so annoyed.
Try spraying starting fluid directly into the cylinder via the park plug hole. Also if it's flooded try to hold the throttle all the way open so it gets plenty of air.
My total sympathies. I know exactly how that feels when an engine just won't start. Your patience & endurance amazes me. I would have sledge hammered the damn thing down to a pulp first, before burying it.
Have a 06 yz450f and i just replaced all the transmission gears 5th was slipping but all of them had been abused. Did a full carb rebuild and it starts first time cold or hot i love it
I to believe that there will be part 2 RISEN FROM THE DEAD EPISOLD! You are to good to let this whip you...of coarse I would have torched the s.o.b.!!!!
2 vintage one of my top 5 fav channels it’s always trial and error and I love that Make a roller starter so when you have to deal with bikes as hard as this just sit the back wheel on the roller and it will bump it for you.
Sometimes stuff like this happens, seems like Yamaha has a lot of issues with their bikes. They were like that many years ago(back to early '70's) and it evidently hasn't changed. A shame, because some of their bikes were pretty fast. You should look into investing in a motor-driven set of rollers to start the bike in, road race bikes use them in the pits to light off the bike. Beats heck out of kicking it until the kick shaft breaks off or you puke...... Gimme a 2-stroke dirt bike any day over a 4-stroke throwaway MX bike. Thanks for a great video, Joe!
@@theyzoomers yup... me and a friend wanted to restore a yamaha 450 yfz quad horrible.... 1000€ god damn fragile piece of poop.. had to change head cams with every thing with it... cause cams were eating the head... drove 7h up and 7h down to buy one somewhere with bent vavles but good cams and head... of a yzf bike. then we toke apart the carb but all the way we never should have... horrible carbs... i hate the quad its a 2004 ish i think. love my banshee and my raptor 350 im not sure i just fixed it so it gotta prove it self...
@@reggiexp69 ya sometimes things are to far gone an sometimes it’s just the fact that you don’t know what your doing! You can’t blame the bikes it’s not there fault someone used an abused them an didn’t keep up on maintenance
@@theyzoomers yeah that is also the problem... we bought it not running and the guy couldnt tell us anything about it.. so we toke the head off (but did get it to start but we fuked it up more) the main jet was just in the carb boil... (so they had removed the airbox lit and put a bmc air filter in it i guess) so we fixed that and got it running and messed it up more, then toke of the head, and 2 cam screws were lose, and piston and cylinder fresh like piston clean AF like it might have ran 5h cylinder walls still had the brush marks, and the rod was a hot rod, so that means it was all rebuild at somepoint but by who and when we dont know.. that is the thing with old 450 or any fragile bike/quad u dont know whatr happend with it or who touched it
It is very easy to flood these things. I've found if you just leave the choke on and hold the throttle wide open after it's flooded it will usually fire up fifth our six kick. But I feel your pain brother, Keep up the good work.
Thank you for another teaching moment. We enjoy your successes as well as your failures. It takes integrity to admit when you've made a mistake. "Compost? Yamaha's do not make good compost, old Harley's do." I was thinking ad for $ for parts, or a Yamaha shop that could use or give away to an unsuspecting victim.
You say it's a bad bike, but maybe a previous owner didn't look after and service it properly. These bikes require a crazy amount of maintenance and are solid bikes (YZ and WR)if maintained.
It’s the hot cams joe.. I have the exact same bike well an 04 but it had hot cams and ran the same way till I put the stock cams back in and re shimed the valves to the right clearance and to this day it runs like a dream. I did this repair 3 years ago and I still gap a 30ft table top every weekend.
Research the starting procedure for those bikes, i was in the same boat as you ready to roll mine over a cliff, kicking and kicking and kicking. Once you figure out the starting procedure itll start 1st-2nd kick every time. After of course getting everything tuned correctly lol. Dont blame you for being frustrated. Cracked me up burying it 😂. You are the man.
I was feeling your frustration. I bought my son a Yamaha PW80 and can't get it to run except at half throttle. New carb, crank seals, reeds, stator. AHHH! Glad to see you keep your cool on this one.
Hey Joe, if it were my bike, I'd bring that replacement cover to someone who could tig weld reinforce it. It'd be a shame to do all that work and have the weak design create further problems.
Had the same problem with a 2004 YZF250 about 2 years,It had a rebuilt top and bottom and finely got it going after a few weeks of kicking. Turned out the carby was flogged out and we put another carby on and it fired right up. The carby is 20 years old and flogged out, put another carby on it Joe
I believe your kick starter most likely broke because your not properly using the manual decompression lever. I've had one since 02 and haven't had any problems with it, but anyone who doesn't know how to use the lever WILL NOT crank it which is like an anti theft mechanism in my opinion lol. Any way good luck and absolutely love your videos
@@2vintage hey man that carb is garbage by the sounds of it not wanting to take throttle and idling to high plus the no start put a better carb on it and should start easier
It's easier to turn the engine over in a high gear when push starting next time try 4th or 5th to overcome the compression. Also I'm wondering if all the accelerator pumping flooded it out.
Joe, Please reconsider your actions, un-bury the bike, and part it out so that others may benefit from the good parts it contains and you may benefit from the $ the parted out parts bring in. This may be considered a set-back, but by no means does it need to be considered a total loss since there are still good parts that can be used by others to bring their bikes back to life.
Im behind the times here, but dont touch the throttle at all till it starts. That's what l was taught and it worked like a charm!! Also sounds like the hot start was stuck open in the carb.
I had an 02 wr400f it would start first kick if you followed the procedure but if you cranked the throttle have fun kicking. If it was hot and you cracked the throttle just let it be this was with the valves adjusted to spec. Had a love hate relationship with that bike . Ran great when it ran .
@@eL_GangNup yep Same hear just like you see him rebuild all these bikes, and do all this work for these bikes, but you never actually see him riding the bikes, or testing them out more then 5 minutes after their: “faxed”
I was thinking the bike is flooded. Definitely dig it back up, work on it in the background here and there and someday do a follow up as to what fixed it. I did not see you try it without loading the chamber up with fuel by pumping it. Also sometimes they don't even need to be choked. If that does not do it my guess is its that aftermarket carb..... Love your videos!
Whenever you bump started try in second or third gear all you’re trying to do is turn the motor over. Will make your life much easier. Love the videos, CHRIS Australia
all of the early to mid 2000's 4 stroke bikes were a PITA to kick start cold. I had a brand new 2008 CRF250 that just did not want to start. Friend had a 2005 KX250F same issue.
@riccochet704 I don't have nearly the problems this guys having with my wr 426 though the previous owner gave up on starting it cause he would use choke and give throttle on hot summer days so I got it cheap, has oem parts and qaulity aftermarket parts where oem isn't available
Sweet! Ihad an 1979 RM400 I wanted to bury when I was a kid but my dad would have come unglued! FYI theres a starting procedure for most 4 strokes. On my 2001 YZF 426 cold start if I blipped the throttle more than 1 time it would not start! I would hold on to the cross bar pad to ensure it didn't get any more gas cause it wanted the perfect fuel to air ratio to start hot or cold! Anyway i loved seeing you settle your frustrations by burying it! LOL
@@calenpage7730 I’m assuming you’re young or just new to motocross bikes, but it’s common knowledge that the early yz250f were one of the most reliable bike ever made. It’s cool that this guy fixes shit, but just because he can’t fix this one doesn’t mean 2nd gen yz250f are junk. Chances are you guys were in diapers when this bike came out, while I was reviewing these bikes for motocross action 👍
Got the 2o19 yz 45of which I is one of the best bikes I have ever had love it its so smooth and nice and a couple of yz 25o strokes which are so nice you have to get yourself yz 45of mate love your videos from the UK 🇬🇧
I admire your persistence determination and commitment..its a real inspiration it gives fellas like myself hope..thank you..watching from Queensland Australia
Don't be soo hasty! There is a Husaburg in your future! You know you dug it right back up for parts! I once had a baja bug that I sunk a lot of time and money into tricking out, and on its first voyage the motor locked up. I was soo mad at it I filled it with pallets and took it to the hills and set her a blaze... Then a friend told me it was probably due to hydro-lock from too much oil because of me adding an oil cooler and too much oil. Better to be able to dig it up, bacause you can't un-burn something!
That bike did not backfire, cough, sneeze or belch at all. Even when you gave it gas directly into the chamber. And when you got it started, it was bogging and sounding like the engine was coming in and out but still no misfiring. This one bike may not affect you financially but , if you dig deep and fix it, you will feel a lot better than having the memory of one that got away. Maybe when youhave a little time to burn, you could come back to it and start fresh as if you had never even heard of YZ250F before.
If it were a 2stroke I would say check the crank seals, you dont normally give up on a bike even if it is a pita and a money pit. Leave it a week or so and give it another go you know you dont want it to beat you, you can do it keep the faith. If all else fails ship it to me in the UK 🇬🇧 and I will scratch my head pull my hair out and hopefully get it going, I like a challenge . Dont give up go dig it up and give it a good talking to you will have it sorted in no time 😁👍
i bought a 75 XLCH harley in 75 new. first year AMF and they moved the shifter to the left using a jackshaft and some crazy foot long shifter levers. that was bad enough, but they made all the clutch and shifter brake levers from cast aluminum. in one tip over my clutch lever and my shifter lever just flat out broke like a cookie. and later my rear muffler support busted in two from vibration of a v twin hammer. i could braze the tubular bracket back, but the others had to be OEM. those were some black days. of course i had an enduro 360 at the same time and that thing ate headlights.
TLDR; Dig up mower, check that you are not getting too much gas or too little gas. You need three things to start a motor of course. Spark, compression, and gas. I am saying that sometimes it is easy to forget those things and how to logically figure out which one(s) is not right. Spark at the right time, I think you fixed this. Compression and exhaust all at the right time. Your aftermarket cam chain and sprockets may be an issue, after all someone else did that work and they could have screwed it up and you have not fixed the issue yet. Maybe go stock and see what happens? My money is on the gas. It does start every 500 or so kicks right? When it does start it runs like crap but it does run right? Is this the bike that came with an extra carb? All that kicking and you broke metal stuff. If it doesn't start in 5 - 10 kicks it is time to try something else. It doesn't seem to be trying to start; no sounds to suggest that the fuel if there is any is trying to burn. Take the plug out and let the bike sit. Clean the plug. Reinstall and get an owners manual and follow the starting procedure. You say it squirts gas for starting the engine when you use throttle. Cars used to do that and you pushed the accelerator to the floor ONE time. If you did it multiple times you would flood the engine and have a no start. Follow that start procedure with a fresh/clean plug and kick it 5/10 times and if it does not start pull the plug and see if it is wet and getting gas. If the plug is dry find out why. There is a gas carb tank or some other issue with the gas. If plug is to wet it is fowled and shorting out due to too much gas. Find out why. Do you smell raw gas in your garage? Is your gas fresh, old gas does not burn well. It should smell like gas and cool your finger when you wet it and it evaporates. Dig that bitch up and try again or give it to a kid that wants to try fixing it but make him give it back if he gives up and find another kid. Or you could take it to a shop and let them turn the secret screw 1/2 turn and fix it. I worked in a mower shop to pay for school. We once had a brand new mower that broke belts in 5 minutes. No one could fix it. Hundreds of hours were spent on that mower by everyone but the old guy. Finally after 2 weeks the 20th belt was put on. He saw the guy about to test it and he took a screw driver and adjusted the high speed limiter on the carb assembly and told the belt changer to try it now while he walked out of the shop for his afternoon break. The mower was running to slow and the belts grabbed in the pulleys and broke rather than slipping till they got up to speed like they should have. We all ignored the simple stuff. I bet that putting that bike in the ground felt good. I would want to do that myself if I had had to go through all the stuff you did. I have broken several keyboards over my knee like Bo Jackson would break a bat.
By all these comments about giving it gas everytime you kick it. I always did the same thing. Now I learn something from fellow watchers of your work. Great job and we all keep learning and enjoying riding. Stay safe little brother
When you bump start it you have to hop on it as you clip it into gear that’s why it just skids, it’s so painful watching people fail doing the easiest thing possible reminds me that common sense isn’t so common anymore keep up the good work tho
Sometimes things are not worth the stress, good move. If I was to guess, I would say four strokes will never produces the power of two strokes so in turn they are already too pumped up from the factory. so those aftermarket parts pushed it too far. To start and run reliable. Air quality control caused the problem. Where are the two stroke street bikes, where are the two stroke outboards? In Calif. you can't even license your two-stroke dirt bike bought new for off roading. you can only use it on an enclosed course for racing. Thats why you have a good program you have many things before the regulations got too crazy! keep up the good work.
Key things about the this bike, hot cams have different spec to factory cams so the manual isn't accurate. Secondly and the most stand out part for me is that carb is a heap of junk and has no place on a bike like that. 👍Gutted to see it never got completed, was doing good on fews, i think you should dig it up. Cheers
I take the plug out and check for spark (which you did) but while I have the plug out squrt a little gas in the cylinder put the plug in. If there's spark and gas it should run for a couple seconds. Repeat if necessary
You can't give up on that bike, not after all you've given... its not about the bike anymore, its about you now. So please, dig the bike up, she'll be worth it! I'm learning a lot, thanks!
ye ive got thee bike its also a 2003 yz 250f and mine is the later 2003 model. never had any issues with my bike, its bad maintenance which causes a lot of problems with these bikes, as one person mentioned in a comment i read. you suppose to use hot start to be able to kick start this bike, which is a small lever on left handle bar attached near clutch lever. try that before kick starting it will help with easier starting.
I'm surprised how much trouble you have has with the yz. I had a 2001 yz426 and it would always start on the 2nd kick no matter the outside temp was. But mine was basically stock other than a hinson basket, boysen pump in the carb as it has slight volume increase per squirt, fmf titanium exuast. Stock cams with the factory manual decompression valve. Always kept the bucket shims in proper adjustment and rode it for hundreds of hours before selling. It's the only 4 stroke motocrosser I've owned as I like the big bore 2 strokes. Have fun be safe:) Edit: stick with factory cams unless you are truly racing as the timing of hot cams is very precise. I had people bring their bike to me with after market race cams and the power went down because the engine wasn't set up properly for them, ie: compression, carb,ignition timing, To may people just throw a hi po part on and think it will work without any other mods. If you ain't racing keep it stock it will last a hell of a long time. Racing motors are rebuilt every 5 to 7 races. The auto decompression on the hot cams is not working properly toss em for stock. If it's got a china carb on it you will never be able to dial it in. Get a mikuni on it. Or just bury it I guess, white flag has risen. :[
Please look up the starting technique for these bikes. Everyone seems to hate on the Yamaha's but i find them great. You only need to blip the throttle twice before starting. as the carburetor will spit fuel into the engine with every blip... so you giving it a million twists before starting it will 100% cause it not to fire..
I might also add that a common problem on these is the diaphragm that creates the pressure to squirt the fuel from the carb into the engine which is located in the accelerator pump, gets hard and perishes. remove carb and make sure that it is indeed working. my bet is that's your issue. un bury the bike and it should be a simple fix.
If its hard to start it would be from
A. Restricted/Nil fuel coming from the accelerator pump as it is not engaging when you blip the throttle on pre start-up.
B. When it was running it was running terrible because when the engine is under load and your turning the throttle back and increasing speed, again... the throttle pump is not squirting that extra amount of fuel in that it needs.
Also, backfiring is an indication that it is running lean and by the sounds of it, it was running lean on acceleration which again points towards an accelerator pump issue.
I have multiple Yamaha 4 - strokes of this general era. Wr400 1998, Wr250 2001, Wr426 2001 & a Yz426 2001. Each one will have a 15 step starting procedure but each will start first kick. (They just need a lil lovin). What I can tell you is even the 250 will not start even on a steep hill on a gravel driveway such as yours. The compression is simply too high.
Yup. And the fact it's probably not even jetted correctly. But the FCR accel pump diaphragms also decide to disintegrate often
The bike is worth your time by making videos until its fixed. Your videos help others learn and help them with their projects.
yeah but its mentally exhausting, me and a friend bought a yfz450 quad to fix up its horrible when u dont know what people done to it... problems keep coming up and it makes u go insane.. i get joe he wants this thing gone and dont wanna touch it ever again
🎉😊
The money he will make off the video will help compensate for the headaches at the very least, lol.
It’s more yamAjunk
Watching you flood it and not being there to tell you was hard to do. We used to just bump start them after they were flooded because otherwise you're waiting forever. Also bump starting on pavement is way better than gravel. The tire just slides on gravel and doesn't bite
Ik this is an old video but another thing that helps if there isn’t the best traction is getting the bike just over the compression stroke with your kick starter and assisting the bump start with your starter. This helps so much when trying to bump start.
Right!
Ive noticed a common theme with bikes that take a long time to kick over, you twist the throttle like a million times, these bikes have accelerator pumps that squirt fuel directly in the cylinder with each turn. Proper cold starts only require 2 turns of the throttle then you add your choke, and maybe raise the idle. But dont go kicking it with the throttle open
I noticed that he has a really bad habit of twisting the throttle every single time that he tries to kick something. That is a really bad habit and only makes everything harder to start.
The guy makes too much work for himself. Bikes that don't start in 10 kicks, you taxi it to the longest hill in your neighborhood
Ive seen videos of starter devices that spin the wheel, why not use one of these??
@jojocall cuz you don't need that lol, if it's not starting it 1 or 2 kicks, you're doing something wrong or the bike isn't tuned properly
Ive noticed that after 200 kicks - he goes full ham on the kickstarter and snaps the shaft.......I would have stopped after 15 to 20 and then looked further into the problem.
Hats off to you Joe, your persistance and patience is a big part of your success. Next video "How long does it take to burn a 2003 Yamaha YZ250F to the ground".
2003*
Thanks
@@GH-wt7ww 👍
haha yup
😂😂😂😂
Everyone with a older Yamaha like myself was definitely yelling at you everytime you blipped the throttle a thousand times. 😂😂 great work and love your content man!
Oh, come on!! Joe has restless wrist syndrome!!
We've all been in a similar headspace when dealing with anything used. I think I'd part it out, rather than burying it. But, I certainly understand the emotion.
The secret to stopping the kick start from breaking is to cushion the kick by installing a piece of stiff rubber (car suspension rubber bush) as a bump stop where the kick start contacts the footrest, also it is much less pain for your foot/leg/knee.
Also, not kicking 600 times helps.
Dont give it gas! On the older 4 strokes they flood easy. every time you twist the throttle you squirt gas in. Follow the starting procedure.
It can be like that.
First thing I thought was pull the plug (wet.)😮
He does it on every video. he does it for the comments 😂
Believe it, WebJunkie is telling the truth. Every other bike might like a little throttle to start but NOT this bike!
My 99 blaster. If you choked it. It was never starting. So I learned quick , no choke.
Every issue you named I've encountered with my 2003 yz250f....replaced everything broken got it running 100%(was ALWAYS a pain to kick but once it's warm 1st kick every time) and then swapped for 2010 raptor. I have to admit they are easy to work on until you get coolant leaking into motor when seals and o rings go bad and you have to find out which one is the culprit. Once you fix something another thing breaks. I told the guy who wanted to swap that he HAS to maintain and check everything on this bike after EVERY ride even if it's 10 minutes of riding lol.
I would consider purchasing the factory intake cam to put back in it and re-checking valve clearances after install.
Exactly what I was thinking!
💯👌
Tight or bent valves
Any maybe buying a oem carb rather than using that Chinese carb and wondering why he’s having so many issues !!
I literally have an 04 that I bought running the exact same way till I took out the hot cams someone put in there and put stock cams off e bay and re shimmed it and it runs like a dream to this day. I did this 3 years ago. Was quite upset to see him give up and bury it so quick
My brother had the YZ400F and those older bike have a starting procedure. If you follow it they fire right up.
1. No throttle none
2. Choke on
3. Slowly kick the bike till you reach TDC then go just past TDC.
4. Kick it normal.
5. If it fails to start repeat 1-4.
When it's warm you just pull the hot start and do steps 3 & 4.
Since these bikes have a pumper carb you will flood them with just one or two turns of the throttle. I hope that helps someone with these bikes.
Bro, long time watcher here. I give you major props for no cuss words on this beotch and to keep kicking. I was feeling sorry for you there at one point
just stop saying interesting every 2 mins ......... makes you sound like a moron
No joke, unfortunately I would be cussing like a psycho. Haha... I was also thinking to put the cam back to where it was when he got it.
Instead of ruining the bike by burying it, he should had made a series until fixed. I really enjoy his videos.
The best tool of all is patience...
Hello, I like your vids. Just an observation about bump starting that I learned long ago. Push bike up to speed in neutral then get on the bike while rolling and jump down HARD on the seat while clicking into 1st gear. The jump on the seat is the key to a successful bump start. Give it a try and you will never forget it.
Yup gotta but weight to the rear end to put traction on the rear wheel. And it helps when doing it on concrete or pavement.
It is a gravel driveway with insane compression, if that were me pushing it up and down I would try to bump start it in 2nd for sure.
I always put my motorcycles in 2nd in jump on the seat and let the clutch out works every time
I think you will dig that thing up and get it going soon! Isn't this the first one you couldn't master? I think you can do it!
@@quietbrianquiet i was gonna add this as well. if it's got a ton of compression use a higher gear and slam your butt on the seat exactly when you let out the clutch.
These bikes are one of the best and most reliable 250 f's ever built! The problem is with people not doing proper maintenance for 20 years. That kick starter probably broke because its been kicked a million times and most of those with loose valves boosting compression.
Kick start axle is hollow and four strokes are not reliable at all.
Maintenance is key regular valve clearance check is a must especially on these 250f machines !
@@jessefinneman7680 incorrect, 4 strokes indeed are reliable as long as you know how to own one and have the money to properly maintain one. 4 strokes are high maintenance and a pain in the ass
@@wyaspence dude this model came out in 98 and changed like 4 times before 03.
Loose valves boosting compression?!? 🤣🤣🤣
Dumbest crap iv ever heard!
I would have probably stuck that one deep in the corner by now. That’s why I like my 2 strokes.
Can never go wrong with the ol 2 smokers easy to work on fun to ride and never have issues and when they do it’s cheep and easy.
even then they have problems but thats anything. ive never rode or owned a two stroke but heard they tourqy asf never heard much bad abt em other then how noisy they are
@Jake Demuss a two stroke car?? you mean golf cart? two strocks got fuel econemy
2 strokes are night and day easier to rebuild. This bike had carb issues and potentially needed a valve adjustment. Timing might have been one tooth off too. He didn’t mention replacing the pilot jet,, having it only start on choke is big sign that it was dirty.
I got to old for this crap. Electric start and fuel injection for me. Knee hurt just watching you go at it. Had to go out and fire mine up and run a few lapse to vent my frustration empathy. Mine is 2020 Kawasaki klx 230r, of course it has its own quirks but never fails to fire right up. You are truly a machine and I don't know if I ever worked as hard as you do. Keep up the videos!
Check the cam timing gear!
Looks just like one I was working on. The cam had been tightened down too tight causing the timing gear to grab and turn slightly taking the timing out with it. The timing gear is pressed onto the cam with no bolts or pins to keep it in place and can be turned to mess up the valve timing.
Looking at your vid bought up memories of my battle with the 250F I was working on.
I even started changing out electrical components until I gave up and took it to my mechanic. I still have the offending cam in my office as a trophy/reminder!
I had the exact same bike. I fixed it up and it ran awesome. Yamaha makes a great product. I will continue to run Yamaha. Great video.
Just a little bit of advice please invest in a paddock starter it will help you a lot in starting bikes
Joe i have seen you work miracles, it has to be something so obvious you can't even think of a problem . You are the man brother!!!
The bike is great , I own one (exact year and bike) and yes they can be a pain however with enough research and knowledge you can find answers to every problem . Perhaps instead of kicking it to death , try more troubleshooting , I suggest checking the needle to make sure it’s the correct one as well as both jets sizes . Checking the starter jet and leak jet won’t hurt either, you can also try clearing the accelerator pump passage , the throttle slide gasket etc. the bike will start first kick no matter what 0:45 once it’s tuned properly and you don’t flood it by giving it too much gas on startup. Flick the throttle open twice, find TDC (top dead center) and it will start first kick.
I would not have given up. It would bug the heck out of me to give up on it. You have to be close, I mean you got it to run. Sometimes you just have to step back. Come back to it in a couple weeks when you're not so annoyed.
"Whoever wants it for free come unbury it from my backyard"😂😂😂
Not very many bikes he didn't get running. In my opinion he came a long way as a bike mechanic
It buried under sand for a reason it is just a point like a saying and this is for show it is not still there.
I'll take it😂😂 where are you located?😂
Did you check Valve clearance?
That sucks man .
Maybe it would start if you would stop twisting the throttle 500 times and flooding it
Do not touch the throttle when kicking over. I own a 2001 yzf250 bought brand new, changed to hot cam in 2005 and the bike is still running strong🤟
Try spraying starting fluid directly into the cylinder via the park plug hole. Also if it's flooded try to hold the throttle all the way open so it gets plenty of air.
My total sympathies. I know exactly how that feels when an engine just won't start. Your patience & endurance amazes me. I would have sledge hammered the damn thing down to a pulp first, before burying it.
Kick number 30+: get out the angle grinder and cut it into small pieces...
I may have to think if u put the stock cam shafts back in.. it might run the way it should
I have an 04 yz250f and its always been a great machine! Depends on who has taken care of em.
Have a 06 yz450f and i just replaced all the transmission gears 5th was slipping but all of them had been abused. Did a full carb rebuild and it starts first time cold or hot i love it
I to believe that there will be part 2 RISEN FROM THE DEAD EPISOLD! You are to good to let this whip you...of coarse I would have torched the s.o.b.!!!!
TDC, no throttle and they usually start pretty easily.
2 vintage one of my top 5 fav channels it’s always trial and error and I love that Make a roller starter so when you have to deal with bikes as hard as this just sit the back wheel on the roller and it will bump it for you.
Sometimes stuff like this happens, seems like Yamaha has a lot of issues with their bikes. They were like that many years ago(back to early '70's) and it evidently hasn't changed. A shame, because some of their bikes were pretty fast.
You should look into investing in a motor-driven set of rollers to start the bike in, road race bikes use them in the pits to light off the bike. Beats heck out of kicking it until the kick shaft breaks off or you puke......
Gimme a 2-stroke dirt bike any day over a 4-stroke throwaway MX bike. Thanks for a great video, Joe!
It’s not the brand it’s the ppl that think they know how to fix them how many bikes dose this guy fix an you actually see bring riddin n not sold
@@theyzoomers yup...
me and a friend wanted to restore a yamaha 450 yfz quad horrible.... 1000€ god damn fragile piece of poop.. had to change head cams with every thing with it... cause cams were eating the head... drove 7h up and 7h down to buy one somewhere with bent vavles but good cams and head... of a yzf bike.
then we toke apart the carb but all the way we never should have... horrible carbs... i hate the quad its a 2004 ish i think. love my banshee and my raptor 350 im not sure i just fixed it so it gotta prove it self...
@@reggiexp69 ya sometimes things are to far gone an sometimes it’s just the fact that you don’t know what your doing! You can’t blame the bikes it’s not there fault someone used an abused them an didn’t keep up on maintenance
@@reggiexp69 ANY condition carb can be cleaned
@@theyzoomers yeah that is also the problem... we bought it not running and the guy couldnt tell us anything about it..
so we toke the head off (but did get it to start but we fuked it up more) the main jet was just in the carb boil... (so they had removed the airbox lit and put a bmc air filter in it i guess) so we fixed that and got it running and messed it up more, then toke of the head, and 2 cam screws were lose, and piston and cylinder fresh like piston clean AF like it might have ran 5h cylinder walls still had the brush marks, and the rod was a hot rod, so that means it was all rebuild at somepoint but by who and when we dont know.. that is the thing with old 450 or any fragile bike/quad u dont know whatr happend with it or who touched it
It is very easy to flood these things. I've found if you just leave the choke on and hold the throttle wide open after it's flooded it will usually fire up fifth our six kick. But I feel your pain brother, Keep up the good work.
Thank you for another teaching moment. We enjoy your successes as well as your failures. It takes integrity to admit when you've made a mistake. "Compost? Yamaha's do not make good compost, old Harley's do." I was thinking ad for $ for parts, or a Yamaha shop that could use or give away to an unsuspecting victim.
Known a handful of people with these , good bikes all in all , had one myself that probably had close to 300 hrs and zero issues
Lol guys don't worry his gonna retrieve it notice he didn't touch it once with the tractor. Next title the revival of the undead yzf250 dirt bike 😂.
That was bs im unsubbed hes got a ebay carb cheapo cam and twist the throttle 100 times then wonders why it wont start the accel pump is flooding it
And he never made another video on it
And he corked the exhaust. He is going to try again after sleeping on it a few times. Great ideas come from restful sleep.
You say it's a bad bike, but maybe a previous owner didn't look after and service it properly. These bikes require a crazy amount of maintenance and are solid bikes (YZ and WR)if maintained.
Dig it up and start over!! Think my friend, and may the force be with you 😂
It’s the hot cams joe.. I have the exact same bike well an 04 but it had hot cams and ran the same way till I put the stock cams back in and re shimed the valves to the right clearance and to this day it runs like a dream. I did this repair 3 years ago and I still gap a 30ft table top every weekend.
Research the starting procedure for those bikes, i was in the same boat as you ready to roll mine over a cliff, kicking and kicking and kicking. Once you figure out the starting procedure itll start 1st-2nd kick every time. After of course getting everything tuned correctly lol. Dont blame you for being frustrated. Cracked me up burying it 😂. You are the man.
It’s the carb. I would replace the carb and put the OEM jet size just to try it.
I was feeling your frustration. I bought my son a Yamaha PW80 and can't get it to run except at half throttle. New carb, crank seals, reeds, stator. AHHH! Glad to see you keep your cool on this one.
Hey Joe, if it were my bike, I'd bring that replacement cover to someone who could tig weld reinforce it. It'd be a shame to do all that work and have the weak design create further problems.
Had the same problem with a 2004 YZF250 about 2 years,It had a rebuilt top and bottom and finely got it going after a few weeks of kicking. Turned out the carby was flogged out and we put another carby on and it fired right up. The carby is 20 years old and flogged out, put another carby on it Joe
Hearing the way it sounded I’m still leaning towards timing
Me to. It looked the the one gear was off to me when he said it was right on the mark but it’s hard to say in a video. Plus I say carb needs work to.
Don’t give up, brother!!! You’ve never quit!
If I throttle my yz250f on a cold start like that it will never start. If I leave it alone and just pop the choke it starts on the first kick
Fair enough! Some things just aren’t worth the aggravation. Love your work!
The condition of the frame alone is a clue. I think you need to go fishing in your boat and use this as an anchor. Hope your right leg recovers soon.
Very common flaw on those bikes, hell on kickstarters. See them once in a while, severity varys.
I believe your kick starter most likely broke because your not properly using the manual decompression lever. I've had one since 02 and haven't had any problems with it, but anyone who doesn't know how to use the lever WILL NOT crank it which is like an anti theft mechanism in my opinion lol. Any way good luck and absolutely love your videos
It has a hotcams with an automatic decompression. The manual one was taken off because you don't need it with a hotcams.
@@2vintage hey man that carb is garbage by the sounds of it not wanting to take throttle and idling to high plus the no start put a better carb on it and should start easier
It's easier to turn the engine over in a high gear when push starting next time try 4th or 5th to overcome the compression. Also I'm wondering if all the accelerator pumping flooded it out.
Joe, Please reconsider your actions, un-bury the bike, and part it out so that others may benefit from the good parts it contains and you may benefit from the $ the parted out parts bring in. This may be considered a set-back, but by no means does it need to be considered a total loss since there are still good parts that can be used by others to bring their bikes back to life.
Im behind the times here, but dont touch the throttle at all till it starts. That's what l was taught and it worked like a charm!! Also sounds like the hot start was stuck open in the carb.
I just watched a guy do starting procedure.
He can't stress enough do not touch the throttle when starting the bike.
Choke only
I had an 02 wr400f it would start first kick if you followed the procedure but if you cranked the throttle have fun kicking. If it was hot and you cracked the throttle just let it be this was with the valves adjusted to spec. Had a love hate relationship with that bike . Ran great when it ran .
Yamaha should have done a major recall
Happy Memorial day Joe and family! Vinny! Good morning. Damn Joe,you weren't kidding 😂
Is it the bike or the one working on it tho
@@theyzoomers right lol all I ride is Yamaha and I never have any problems with my bikes
@@theyzoomers and if I’m being honest I own a 2008 yz450 a 2016(favorite year) yz450 and a 2021 yz450f and my 2008 has been the best too me
@@eL_GangNup yep Same hear just like you see him rebuild all these bikes, and do all this work for these bikes, but you never actually see him riding the bikes, or testing them out more then 5 minutes after their: “faxed”
Dude has to be in pretty good shape kicking it that long.
Motivated
I was thinking the bike is flooded. Definitely dig it back up, work on it in the background here and there and someday do a follow up as to what fixed it. I did not see you try it without loading the chamber up with fuel by pumping it. Also sometimes they don't even need to be choked. If that does not do it my guess is its that aftermarket carb..... Love your videos!
You should also check the fuel lines from the tank to see if you are getting good fuel flow and check the exhaust to see if it's not clogged
LOL, i think he probably started there not finished there.
it was squirting gas in the carb so i think thats a pretty good sign, and when it started it ran good so that shows that the exhaust isnt clogged
Whenever you bump started try in second or third gear all you’re trying to do is turn the motor over. Will make your life much easier. Love the videos, CHRIS Australia
Having to kick it like that is why they break. Tune them right, and you don't have to kick them 50 plus times to start them.
all of the early to mid 2000's 4 stroke bikes were a PITA to kick start cold. I had a brand new 2008 CRF250 that just did not want to start. Friend had a 2005 KX250F same issue.
@@riccochet704 I never had a problem tuning them. Idk 🤷♂️
@riccochet704 I don't have nearly the problems this guys having with my wr 426 though the previous owner gave up on starting it cause he would use choke and give throttle on hot summer days so I got it cheap, has oem parts and qaulity aftermarket parts where oem isn't available
Sweet! Ihad an 1979 RM400 I wanted to bury when I was a kid but my dad would have come unglued! FYI theres a starting procedure for most 4 strokes. On my 2001 YZF 426 cold start if I blipped the throttle more than 1 time it would not start! I would hold on to the cross bar pad to ensure it didn't get any more gas cause it wanted the perfect fuel to air ratio to start hot or cold! Anyway i loved seeing you settle your frustrations by burying it! LOL
You doing it wrong you dont need to raise the gas while you kickstarting it i used to have the same bike when i was younger
My 2012 yz250f made that same noise under acceleration with a eBay carb. Cleaned up and put the stock one on, runs perfect now
Man please don’t give up on it, its the principle now. I feel like you’re a carb or cdi away from victory
He would of known that there just junk bikes
@@calenpage7730 he ain't gonna buy another one that's for sure
@@calenpage7730 I’m assuming you’re young or just new to motocross bikes, but it’s common knowledge that the early yz250f were one of the most reliable bike ever made. It’s cool that this guy fixes shit, but just because he can’t fix this one doesn’t mean 2nd gen yz250f are junk. Chances are you guys were in diapers when this bike came out, while I was reviewing these bikes for motocross action 👍
@@dezrtrat702 raced half my life and there junk and owned a shop for years I know bikes
Dig it back up and try this starting procedure. Fuel on,enrichner out,Don’t touch the gas,get to top dead center with kicker,DON’T touch the gas,kick.
lay off the gas when starting
Flooded the snot out of it before you even started kickin like a mad man. The old thumpers flood so essily!
You are flooding every time, d
Got the 2o19 yz 45of which I is one of the best bikes I have ever had love it its so smooth and nice and a couple of yz 25o strokes which are so nice you have to get yourself yz 45of mate love your videos from the UK 🇬🇧
Joe i feel your pain. Only bike i ever lost money on. Pos. 😊
I admire your persistence determination and commitment..its a real inspiration it gives fellas like myself hope..thank you..watching from Queensland Australia
I use to have a 02 yz 250f. It was a POS...same as that bike..sold it & never looked back...great video 😁👍
Don't be soo hasty! There is a Husaburg in your future! You know you dug it right back up for parts! I once had a baja bug that I sunk a lot of time and money into tricking out, and on its first voyage the motor locked up. I was soo mad at it I filled it with pallets and took it to the hills and set her a blaze... Then a friend told me it was probably due to hydro-lock from too much oil because of me adding an oil cooler and too much oil. Better to be able to dig it up, bacause you can't un-burn something!
You are the most patient man I've ever seen on the internet 😂😂😂
Never seen you whipped yet Joe!! Don’t start now my brother 🇺🇸👍🏻⭐️💫
That bike did not backfire, cough, sneeze or belch at all. Even when you gave it gas directly into the chamber. And when you got it started, it was bogging and sounding like the engine was coming in and out but still no misfiring. This one bike may not affect you financially but , if you dig deep and fix it, you will feel a lot better than having the memory of one that got away. Maybe when youhave a little time to burn, you could come back to it and start fresh as if you had never even heard of YZ250F before.
If it were a 2stroke I would say check the crank seals, you dont normally give up on a bike even if it is a pita and a money pit.
Leave it a week or so and give it another go you know you dont want it to beat you, you can do it keep the faith.
If all else fails ship it to me in the UK 🇬🇧 and I will scratch my head pull my hair out and hopefully get it going, I like a challenge .
Dont give up go dig it up and give it a good talking to you will have it sorted in no time 😁👍
i bought a 75 XLCH harley in 75 new. first year AMF and they moved the shifter to the left using a jackshaft and some crazy foot long shifter levers. that was bad enough, but they made all the clutch and shifter brake levers from cast aluminum. in one tip over my clutch lever and my shifter lever just flat out broke like a cookie. and later my rear muffler support busted in two from vibration of a v twin hammer. i could braze the tubular bracket back, but the others had to be OEM. those were some black days. of course i had an enduro 360 at the same time and that thing ate headlights.
2001 YAMAHA YZ250F JETTING
Main: 175
Pilot: 42
Needle: OBELP
Clip position: 4th from top
Fuel screw: 2 turns (1-1/2 stock)
Leak jet: 95 (105 stock)
You are the calmest person I have ever seen!
TLDR; Dig up mower, check that you are not getting too much gas or too little gas.
You need three things to start a motor of course. Spark, compression, and gas. I am saying that sometimes it is easy to forget those things and how to logically figure out which one(s) is not right.
Spark at the right time, I think you fixed this.
Compression and exhaust all at the right time. Your aftermarket cam chain and sprockets may be an issue, after all someone else did that work and they could have screwed it up and you have not fixed the issue yet. Maybe go stock and see what happens?
My money is on the gas. It does start every 500 or so kicks right? When it does start it runs like crap but it does run right? Is this the bike that came with an extra carb? All that kicking and you broke metal stuff. If it doesn't start in 5 - 10 kicks it is time to try something else. It doesn't seem to be trying to start; no sounds to suggest that the fuel if there is any is trying to burn. Take the plug out and let the bike sit. Clean the plug. Reinstall and get an owners manual and follow the starting procedure. You say it squirts gas for starting the engine when you use throttle. Cars used to do that and you pushed the accelerator to the floor ONE time. If you did it multiple times you would flood the engine and have a no start. Follow that start procedure with a fresh/clean plug and kick it 5/10 times and if it does not start pull the plug and see if it is wet and getting gas. If the plug is dry find out why. There is a gas carb tank or some other issue with the gas. If plug is to wet it is fowled and shorting out due to too much gas. Find out why. Do you smell raw gas in your garage? Is your gas fresh, old gas does not burn well. It should smell like gas and cool your finger when you wet it and it evaporates.
Dig that bitch up and try again or give it to a kid that wants to try fixing it but make him give it back if he gives up and find another kid. Or you could take it to a shop and let them turn the secret screw 1/2 turn and fix it. I worked in a mower shop to pay for school. We once had a brand new mower that broke belts in 5 minutes. No one could fix it. Hundreds of hours were spent on that mower by everyone but the old guy. Finally after 2 weeks the 20th belt was put on. He saw the guy about to test it and he took a screw driver and adjusted the high speed limiter on the carb assembly and told the belt changer to try it now while he walked out of the shop for his afternoon break. The mower was running to slow and the belts grabbed in the pulleys and broke rather than slipping till they got up to speed like they should have. We all ignored the simple stuff.
I bet that putting that bike in the ground felt good. I would want to do that myself if I had had to go through all the stuff you did. I have broken several keyboards over my knee like Bo Jackson would break a bat.
By all these comments about giving it gas everytime you kick it. I always did the same thing. Now I learn something from fellow watchers of your work. Great job and we all keep learning and enjoying riding.
Stay safe little brother
That's one way to do it. We can all learn from this. Sometimes, it's just not worth it. Thanks, Joe.
New OE cam and your problem is fixed. Not sure if it affects Yamahas but I know Kawi cams can spin on the gear which will throw timing off.
Man. This guy can kick over a motorcycle kickstarter. Just keeps on going.
When you bump start it you have to hop on it as you clip it into gear that’s why it just skids, it’s so painful watching people fail doing the easiest thing possible reminds me that common sense isn’t so common anymore keep up the good work tho
Sometimes things are not worth the stress, good move. If I was to guess, I would say four strokes will never produces the power of two strokes so in turn they are already too pumped up from the factory. so those aftermarket parts pushed it too far. To start and run reliable. Air quality control caused the problem. Where are the two stroke street bikes, where are the two stroke outboards? In Calif. you can't even license your two-stroke dirt bike bought new for off roading. you can only use it on an enclosed course for racing. Thats why you have a good program you have many things before the regulations got too crazy! keep up the good work.
Key things about the this bike, hot cams have different spec to factory cams so the manual isn't accurate. Secondly and the most stand out part for me is that carb is a heap of junk and has no place on a bike like that. 👍Gutted to see it never got completed, was doing good on fews, i think you should dig it up. Cheers
I take the plug out and check for spark (which you did) but while I have the plug out squrt a little gas in the cylinder put the plug in. If there's spark and gas it should run for a couple seconds. Repeat if necessary
Hated my 01 but loved my 03 YZF 250. Never had any problems.🤗
You can't give up on that bike, not after all you've given... its not about the bike anymore, its about you now. So please, dig the bike up, she'll be worth it! I'm learning a lot, thanks!
Just to let you know is that I enjoyed your videos on Small engine repair .
Crazy you say they suck I got a 07 250f and it’s the best bike I’ve ever touched
ye ive got thee bike its also a 2003 yz 250f and mine is the later 2003 model. never had any issues with my bike, its bad maintenance which causes a lot of problems with these bikes, as one person mentioned in a comment i read. you suppose to use hot start to be able to kick start this bike, which is a small lever on left handle bar attached near clutch lever. try that before kick starting it will help with easier starting.
I'm surprised how much trouble you have has with the yz. I had a 2001 yz426 and it would always start on the 2nd kick no matter the outside temp was. But mine was basically stock other than a hinson basket, boysen pump in the carb as it has slight volume increase per squirt, fmf titanium exuast. Stock cams with the factory manual decompression valve. Always kept the bucket shims in proper adjustment and rode it for hundreds of hours before selling. It's the only 4 stroke motocrosser I've owned as I like the big bore 2 strokes. Have fun be safe:)
Edit: stick with factory cams unless you are truly racing as the timing of hot cams is very precise. I had people bring their bike to me with after market race cams and the power went down because the engine wasn't set up properly for them, ie: compression, carb,ignition timing, To may people just throw a hi po part on and think it will work without any other mods. If you ain't racing keep it stock it will last a hell of a long time. Racing motors are rebuilt every 5 to 7 races.
The auto decompression on the hot cams is not working properly toss em for stock.
If it's got a china carb on it you will never be able to dial it in. Get a mikuni on it. Or just bury it I guess, white flag has risen. :[