Motorcycle Safety & Driveability: Kawasaki KX 125 Starting problems, kawasaki kx 125, stator

Question
I recently purchased a used 1993 KX 125 for my son.  While looking at the bike before it was paid for, the owner started it with no problems. a few months went by before my son finished paying for the bike.  We took it home and tried to start it.  No dice.  I have changed the plug and began to worry about the stator wich I replaced.  Now I have spark, I can smell the gas but no fire, What else could it be  

Answer
Hi James,

Sounds to me like you need to have the carburetor taken apart and either cleaned or rebuilt. If no one has started the bike or drained the carb of gas since you last saw it, those "few months" that went by allowed the gas in the carb to evaporate, leaving behind a gummy varnish that has blocked up the very tiny passages in the jets of the carb, rendering them useless.

Dead cold, the engine cannot start with the amount of gas flowing through it (probably too little), so the bike won't start even though you can smell the fuel.

If you've got good spark, good compression and the engine is turning correctly (sounds like it is), that only leaves one thing: the fuel system.

Time for a carb rebuild with new jets and such; get ahold of the local Kawi dealer and see if they have a kit, or they are widely available online, and they are not expensive.

If you have not rebuilt a carb before tourself, you might want to have a dealer do it.

Best of luck, and I hope your son enjoys the bike.

Bill Roberson