Yamaha SR 125 stuck in garage! Give up on it or not?

[kinolove]

Short version: So I bought a 2002 Yamaha SR125 a few months ago as a commuter/bike to learn on before direct access . It had 10 months on it's MOT and I checked that the bike was in good nick before buying. I had a small issue with the choke and took it to a garage and they sorted it out as well as giving it a quick check over and it seemed fine. I even went on a 500 mile round trip, it didn't miss a beat.

A few weeks ago it cut out in heavy rain. No problem, it started after a few attempts but then broke down 2 miles down the road. ADAC/AA picked it up and took it to the nearest garage. The garage had an absolute nightmare trying to fix it and replaced the carb intake rubber I think as well as the float valve as well as cleaning the carb multiple times.- still no joy. The engine simply won't start.

They gave up on it today since it had already cost £150 and they recommended that I buy a replacement carb for it if I wanted to take it further. The chap seemed to think that somehow some of the inside of it had worn away.

I told a friend of mine this and he called BS, he was kind enought to take a look at it in the street for two hours, we took the carb off (it was squeaky clean), checked the spark (lovely!), checked all the valves were not blocked etc. One thing he noticed was that the bottom of the plug still seemed bone dry, so no fuel seems to be passing throught the carb. My friend is also mystified since the carb has no blockages etc. It sounds as though it might *almost start* but never does.

I don't really want to give up on the bike, my friend suggested getting this other "motorcyle wizard" that he says has never failed him to take a look first but I would have to pay to move it halfway across the city + there is a chance that even he might not know what the issue is and cost me another 150 squid...

Any advise would be welcome!! What to do what to do...

[Frost]

A non running 125 is worth piss all as no teenager has the inclination to pay for a non runner.
Sounds like water in the fuel tank to me. For the effort of draining the tank and the cost of a tank of fuel it's got to be worth a shot. Drain the carb after draining the tank. Check it's actually getting fuel by draining the carb again after you've filled the tank up. Checking the float height would also be worth trying.

If it were an electrical problem then the plug would be wet after lots of attempts to start it.

Incase it's flooded / floods when you try to get it going you can un-flood it by taking the spark plug out and turning the engine over for a second.

[sidewinder]

IS there fuel getting through the fuel tap.Maybe a blocked filter.when you /they removed tank did any pipes get kinked?
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[kinolove]

Yeah, the fuel gets past the fuel cock since it will come out of the bottom of the bowl if the bottom screw is loosened.

I will try draining the fuel from the tank and re-adding. I did top up th tank initially. The garage did say that they got it started a couple of times only but the top end didn't sound right and the engine sounded clunky. I don't know how cos it sounded fine before? it all must be related somehow...not sure how though. Though I do believe the garage must have tested for all this since the two people I spoke to seemed trustworthy enough/

[Polarbear]

My daughter had an SR125 until it was stolen and torched (another story). I found it a reliable and easy bike to work on.

Do everything logically, one step at a time and do the obvious things first.

You have checked for spark
Check your air filter (certainly not likely, but just check it's clean and in one piece anyway)
Check for fuel.
Check compression.

That's all you need in, of course in the right quantities.

Even if the engine is 'clunky' unless you have no compression it will fire.

Get a manual and don't give up until you find what's wrong. It will, if nothing else, make you much happier doing maintenance on any other bike you get.

Oh, and where are you, there may be someone close by who knows their onions and is willing to have a look.
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[kinolove]

Thanks for the advice. I do need to take the time to get stuck in and learn more about how everything comes together. I ended up getting another garage to pick up the bike and take a look and give a third(!) opinion with the requirement that the time spent on it does not go over £150 since I need a form of transport ASAP!

I've ordered tools in the meantime, if the garage can't fix it I will be off work for a month or so from next week and I'll give it a go myself, I'm sure if I take it slow I can work it out.

Cheers.

[bikenut]

:D hi dude, does your bike have a cdi ign system and may be ( long shot ) the flywheel key has shearded??

also you say top end clattery, cam chain loose and valve timing all over the place??

broke down in heavy rain so water related, none in tank etc.........air filter saturated with water ( very rich mixture ) or maybe eng swallowed some??

water in electrics...........handlebar kill sw and/or ign sw........

[kinolove]

Yes the bike has a CDI unit , it might be that, in fact my friend thought that it sounded like an ignition/timing issue.

I've not heard the top end clattery; I'm just going on what the mechanic told me when he managed to get the engine running somehow.

Anyway, bike is in the garage,if they can't fix it I'm sure I will have a long checklist to go through!

[P.]

Where abouts are you based?

[jjdugen]

First thing I do with a dead or hard starting SR (especilly when run for a little while) is check the ignitor / cdi both cold AND hot. They had a few tries at this one, so check year and model number if you are replacing.
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Try Soi 23 on Amazon for a good read.... Self promotion? Moi?

[cb1rocket]

try running easy start through the carb mouth. If it starts, fuel problem. If it doesn't then you have a weak spark or ignition problem.

Best way to test before tearing your hair out

[kinolove]

Just moved to London. Second garage say it needs new carb + intake valve (it's about to fall into engine) so they must have ran a compression test. At least this time they seem a lot more sure about what is wrong unlike the last place.

I just said go ahead even thought it's expensive, I should have prob. just cut my losses ... kind of expecting it to still not be fixed after these are replaced but it's went this far so might as well see it through.

Silly? Perhaps.

[cb1rocket]

I would not bothered anymore. You could of just bought a new bike instead! Or let the BCF massive help you and guide you through it

[kinolove]

Yeah I know, but been through a lot with my first bike! Plus I need one, knowing my luck the next one would have been b0rked as well.