Let's Fix It! 2021 Kawasaki KX250F Dirt Bike Stalls at Idle. The Cause is Surprising!

[@Jack-by2hg]

I’ve had idle issues with mine as well not the same, I just adjust mine. I’ll probably end up doing the same job. But I will probably see if it’s possible to tack the cam. Don’t want to rip it out again.

[@snirokbi2420]

What great video I wish it’s was 2018 I try to find out the clearance for 2018 you think is the same

[@ThomasBrock74]

She certainly sounded fixed to me.Good call on the cams.Good fix way to go man....

[@ssleob]

Awesome video man thank you for sharing! I will have some questions soon, my 23’KX250F is doing the same thing exactly like your saying…Can this cam problem also happen to the 23’s with all the updates that were made for this year? FYI I just ordered a 25’KX250X that will be here in a couple weeks. Should I get my deposit back? Lol! Kinda having second thoughts on Kawasaki’s again, and maybe sticking with the Austrian brands again. Thanks in advance!

[@gohobby9934]

I suppose it can happen to any dirt bike that has press-fit cams gears, which is probably many dirt bikes. It would be hard to look up whether a bike has press fit cam gears or not. Probably only a very experienced mechanic or Kawasaki engineer would have that information for a specific bike.

[@Fixin2Ride-Official-]

Bro!? Nice work! That is absolutely CRAZY that the exhaust cam came out of timing!? smh. But good catch. Technically speaking, you could have just measured the amount of radial rotation of the exhaust lob (when compared to the good bikes cams) and then rotated the EX cam to the correct degree and that would have fixed it... I've seen people also tig weld the cam in 2 spots (for balance) 180 degrees from each other to lock that cam in place for good! I got a guy on telegraph that does all of my tig welding )aluminum cases to SS parts) that could do it for you. Might be a good bit of insurance to avoid this again. I guarantee he'd only charge you like $20 for both of your cams. LMK and I can give you his contact info. Killer repair though! And .031" to .035" for plug gap? nice! ;) Super glad you found it! You should be very proud of yourself! Bright side of the story, levelled up your knowledge AND you got an extra timing chain! 🤣

[@gohobby9934]

Thanks for checking out my video AC! So, off camera I did reinstall the bad cam rotated about 1 tooth to compensate for the slipped gear. Bike fired right up and ran great. However, my feeling is that if the cam gear slipped once, it will likely slip again and if it did, the valves could impact the piston and destroy the top end. Didn't want to risk that. So, I decided to go with new cams and wanted to demonstrate the safer fix, even though it's more costly than just turning the cam. Also, I considered getting the cam welded. Even spoke to a welder about it. I'm in the process of researching that option. A few people in forums have warned me not to do it, but then didn't back up their claim with any useful information so I'm trying to figure it out. I'm trying to figure out if the pro race teams do this.

[@Fixin2Ride-Official-]

​@gohobby9934 My pleasure! I have a buddy tat O can ask. He races all kinds of bikes and is our age and not some keyboard warrior. So he's got the wisdom. He's just very busy. But I'll see what he says to. It's a pretty common action to take for any parts that can come out of timing and the welds are really just tiny less than pea sized spot welds. So as long as there's two made 180° opposite of each other it will keep the cam as balanced as possible. Not sure with the lobes how balanced they are to begin with though. I know in the snowmobile community, triple cylinder big bore Thundercat crankshaft are regularly welded as the cranks will often twist and lose their 120° x 3 setup of the connecting rod journals. I would 100% do it if it was my bike. P.S. hoe that stick get into the stator housing? 🤣🤣🤣

[@gohobby9934]

@@Fixin2Ride-Official- Thanks AC! Let me know what your buddy says. That stick was not inside the stator cover, but it was wedged near the case. Sometimes, just for fun, I'll climb trees with my bikes...see how many branches high I can get before I come crashing back down. Maybe that's how the stick got in there!

[@Vqchance]

My bikes stock this could still be the issue ? Why were the teeth off ?

[@gohobby9934]

The bike in the video is stock too and was not being ridden hard. Mostly trail. In my case, I think it was just slipping ever so slowly every time I rode it until it was far enough out of whack that the bike stalled out. Pop the valve cover off your bike, set it to TDC, and see if your cams look like the “good” picture in the video.

[@ThomasBrock74]

Dude its called a stator and is pronounced (stay-tor) not (stat- err)....Look it up if you dont believe it. It comes from stationary as in ( doesnt move) because the stator windings are always stationary thwy called it a stater....I used to pronounce it (stat tur) too and frankly I like how that sounds better but its wrong.

[@Ashrs]

No one cares

[@ssleob]

Who cares! Keep your stupid thoughts to yourself!

[@Jack-by2hg]

Potato potato