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I have a ninja ex500 2005 and a couple days ago I ran out of gas. There was some gas still in there so I tried multiple times to get it started, but the battery eventually died. Later that day I went and got gas from my house that was lying around that I was assured was regular gasoline. I put it in, popped the clutch to get it started, and rode home. I started charging the battery today and started my bike up. However, if I try to give it more than the tiniest bit of throttle the rpms drop and will cause the bike to die. Thus, it's unrideable. Does anyone know for what reason this might happen?

Thanks

What position is the choke in?

Do you give throttle with the choke on?

How's he idke rpms? In the correct range? Maybe also pull the plugs to see if they'll tell you a story.

Never trust any gasoline that's been laying around anyplace. Especially if it's in a plastic container.... like every jerry-can made in the last 50 years. The more volatile elements of the gasoline evaporate off and pass right through the plastic, leaving you with a lesser quality, varnishy version of gas. Not to mention any other debris that can make it's way into your average, garage-living jerry-can.

As well, any time you run a gas tank to near empty, all the crud and dirt that collects at the bottom of any tank is easily sucked up into the petcock... and then down to the carbs.

I would guess that you have some foreign matter suck in the main jets or the accelerator pump and it's not getting enough fuel when you open the throttle. Sounds like it's time to clean your carbs.

That's my best guess, anyway.

"I went and got gas from my house that was lying around "

This is not good. As Buzz said, old gas can turn to varnish. I once found a bike that had been sitting in a garage for a year and when I opened the gas cap and stuck my nose in, it smelled exactly like turpentine. It didn't even smell like it used to be gasoline. Needless to say, that bike got its entire fuel system overhauled.

Your problem indicates a limited amount of fuel getting into the engine. This could be a clog in the carb jets, which would have to be disassembled and cleaned. It could also be a clog in the petcock screen. If that's clogged, not enough gas will flow to the carbs to do much more than idle.

I think your bike has a vacuum operated fuel petcock so when you are totally out of gas, it takes awhile to get fuel back into the carbs. Turn the petcock to prime (PRI on the petcock), this gravity feeds the carbs and should make it easier to start and accept throttle with the float bowls full. That is if the fuel you put in the tank was not crap like mentioned above.

CORSCO wrote:I think your bike has a vacuum operated fuel petcock so when you are totally out of gas,

possible, but I'm willing to believe that you sucked some crap into your carbs. If that' s the case, when you clean them add an inline fuel filter between the tank and the carbs. Hell, add it anyway. Prevents that from happening.

I think so too - if the bike didn't start acting up until it got the old gas. Try the obvious and simple things first. Then move on.