For the love of God...

[Kris]

Got a few problems with the bike, thought I'd share them (just incase you can help)

Recently, the bike has been behaving itself and has been a real joy to ride. I'd changed the front calipers/pads/fluid and the brakes have improved considerably. Mucho happiness

I'd even stopped worrying about the bike drinking clutch fluid (will find the leak asap) the swingarm bearings, and the carb/valves running problem. Generally I was in a very good mood with the bike...

....so I washed it.......

Now, last time I washed the bike I made the mistake of pouring a bucket of water over it. Not something I will do again as it obviously put water everywhere and the bike misbehaved. The bike would backfire over 4K revs and "BLAM-BLAM-BLAM-BLAM-BLAM" down the motorway was not fun.

This time I was careful to use a wet cloth to rinse around the tank and upper fairing, and only used a bucket of water for the lower parts.

Now the bike started with one backfire...but seemed to be otherwise okay. Went for a ride around the block and the bike just died on me. Tried to start it for over ten minutes with no joy. Tried one last time and it fired as normal. This happened four times over the weekend and the last time it happened the bike would not restart. But - the bike was fine for ages inbetween dying. I could be on a long ride to the coast - get there okay and then the bike would not restart. Surely the water has disappeared by now

Now the bike is parked outside my g/f's and awaiting a bit of detective work.

Bikes - more trouble than they're worth!

/rant

[edit] thought I'd better add that the bike is trying to turn over (its a new starter motor btw) and the problem appears to be a weak spark.
____________________
NSR125RR - ZXR750H1 - ZX9R E1 - GSF600S - GSF600SK3 - VFR400-NC30 - SV1000N - ST1100-R - CBR900RR-R - GSF1200SK5 - GSF600SK1 - VFR1200FA - GSXR1000K2 - ZZR1400 D8F
www.prisonplanet.com

[Scooby]

My NSR did this once, and I think it was because some water got into the carb somehow (in the float or something), but not sure if this could be the case with your bike cos surely it would still fire on 3 cylinders?

I ain't got a scooby-doo mate, sorry
____________________
A big enough hammer fixes anything!

[Kris]

[Demonic69]

Try draining the carbs, turn the little screw underneath. Bikes tend not to suffer from water too much. If they did all the bikes at RnB woulda been fooked. if yours is having trouble with water then there's something not right, maybe a leak somewhere letting water in?
____________________
Back on a Blade. Just feels so right.

[Kris]

[Robby]

Some water might have got into your fuel tank - if the seal on the filler cap isn't any good water gets in. Being heavier than petrol it sinks to the bottom and sits there, also sits in the bottom of your carbs until you drain them.

[TiN]

Moral of the story - Don't wash your bike.
____________________
TiN
dotgems.net

[Phoenix]

It doesn't on the 400 but on the 750s do the air hoses actually go into the airbox? If so I gues water could be pouring into your airbox when you wash the tank/nose fairing.

[Scotty]

[Kris]

[Kickstart]

Hi

Suspect it is either water in the petrol as Robby suggested ( and Charlottes GPZ500 is a pain for this as it seems to get past the petrol cap quite easily, then causes a problem when you switch to reserve) or water near the plug caps, in which case use loads of WD40.

By the way methanol absorbs water so that it mixes with the fuel and is burnt OK. basically get a bottle of methylated spirits and put a cup full in the tank. Probably best not to thrash the bike too much on that tank of fuel though.

All the best

Keith
____________________
Traxpics, track day and racing photographs - Bimota Forum - Bike performance / thrust graphs for choosing gearing

[Kris]

Nice one Keith

The bike is actually on reserve.....so your theory could indeed be correct.

TBH I won't mess around with meths - I'll just drain the tank/carbs and put fresh jungle juice in I'll check the plugs as well....

Cheers
____________________
NSR125RR - ZXR750H1 - ZX9R E1 - GSF600S - GSF600SK3 - VFR400-NC30 - SV1000N - ST1100-R - CBR900RR-R - GSF1200SK5 - GSF600SK1 - VFR1200FA - GSXR1000K2 - ZZR1400 D8F
www.prisonplanet.com

[Kris]

*update*

okay, so yesterday with a few hours to kill before a barbeque and with a willing helper in the name of 'Neil' (and his toolkit ) I decided to have a go at draining the carbs (see attached pics).

Put fresh petrol in the tank, drained off the carbs and cleaned them through as well as we could with carb cleaner. Also charged the battery for good measure, oh and checked the plugs.

Carbs were a bit dirty, but not really *that* bad. Plugs were fine - battery charged. We did find that the electrical connection for the fuel pump ( a home made connector/elec tape affair from previous numptie owner) was shit and was very loose - so that got sorted. Oh and the fuel filter was checked...no probs.

Put her back together and this morning tried to start her.

The bike seems to want to start. If I put my hand over the exhaust and thumb the starter (long arms y'see )- I can feel the exhaust gas waves "Whum whum whuming" as it tries to turn over.

Any ideas? I've been trying for hours, so the fuel must be getting through by now

Any help/ideas much appreciated

Kristof
____________________
NSR125RR - ZXR750H1 - ZX9R E1 - GSF600S - GSF600SK3 - VFR400-NC30 - SV1000N - ST1100-R - CBR900RR-R - GSF1200SK5 - GSF600SK1 - VFR1200FA - GSXR1000K2 - ZZR1400 D8F
www.prisonplanet.com

[bonceunounce]

Keep trying mate, can take a while, have you tried using the choke?

Took about 10 minutes to get my NSR going.

Good Luck anyhow

[McJamweasel]

[TiN]

First off, get that dodgy lanky geezer away from the bike.

How did you "check" the fuel filter? Have you checked that the fuel tap works? Have you checked the fuel and vacuum hoses? Have you thought about getting a decent bike?
____________________
TiN
dotgems.net

[Kris]

McJam: Didn't have a spare plug laying around-so was unable to do a 'spark check' on the cylinder head So no, not positive about spark.
Fuel is definately getting through though. Bike now stinks of petrol where I've flooded it

Tin: Lanky geezer? That's Neil, and he's 5'8" on tip toes Spose that would be lanky to you though wouldn't it
Fuel filter is brand new and is not clogged. Fuel tap works. How do you check 'fuel and vaccum hoses'?

....and my bike is decent (doesn't look like a panda anyhow) so ner
____________________
NSR125RR - ZXR750H1 - ZX9R E1 - GSF600S - GSF600SK3 - VFR400-NC30 - SV1000N - ST1100-R - CBR900RR-R - GSF1200SK5 - GSF600SK1 - VFR1200FA - GSXR1000K2 - ZZR1400 D8F
www.prisonplanet.com

[TiN]

Damn, thought it was you.

As for the hoses - just make sure that they're all connected properly and not kinked, although you should know that anyway. Is the air filter/box blocked or anything?
____________________
TiN
dotgems.net

[JayZ]

Had a similar problem on my other ZXR a while back.
And it was all down to the battery.
Kept on turning over until i ran the battery flat.
Even though the battery seems good, ZXR's are a bit funny, if they don't get exactly 12v they just spin over like it all seems ok.
But it doesn't get enough power for that extra spark.
Try another one and see how you get on.
In the meantime i will have a think just incase it's something else.

[JayZ]

Also double check the spark plug caps for deterioration.
Buy or borrow a standard NGK plug cap and have a swap about.

[Kris]

[JayZ]

Let us know how you get on.

[Kris]

UPDATE:

well I finally got it started Here's how..

Bought a new battery, charged and fitted it. Still not turning over

Went through the Haynes manual step by step, trying to check each part of the ignition system as we go. Got to the igniter unit (CDI) and decided to have a swop around with a spare I had with the bike. Well instantly the bike was sounding healthier, and trying to turn over - so I took both ignitors to the local garage to get a continuity check. Turns out the spare I had is the only one working Cleaned all the contacts up and fitted the spare ignitor ... and after a while she turned over. Thank fook for that....a new ignitor is £400 new

After that we did a spark check on all the HT leads just to make sure it was all okay...and then we went for a test ride needless to say, very happy. No sign of it dying as yet [touch huge lump of wood] but am erring on the cautious side.

Many thanks to [JZ] who suggested the new battery- the old one is past it's best, so no doubt it helped. Thanks also to everyone else who suggested something... Cheers peeps.
____________________
NSR125RR - ZXR750H1 - ZX9R E1 - GSF600S - GSF600SK3 - VFR400-NC30 - SV1000N - ST1100-R - CBR900RR-R - GSF1200SK5 - GSF600SK1 - VFR1200FA - GSXR1000K2 - ZZR1400 D8F
www.prisonplanet.com

[TiN]

Glad to hear that it's sorted mate, and almost in time for the winter too.
____________________
TiN
dotgems.net

[Kris]