RVF400 - spark? Battery? Something new?

[Hogie]

Hi everyone,

Ive been looking through the forums here to try and work out what the problem seems to be with my precious baby. I have only owned the bike for 3 months.

During this time I had a regulator problem (cooked battery etc), so I took it back to the place I bought it, and they gave me a new battery, new regulator and "blubs" throughout, as when it died, it also managed to blow the blubs (indicators, brakes, head lights)

Anyway, since that day, the bike has been running beautiful....... until today. Over the past few days, the bike just didnt seem right. It would stuggle to hold its idle (under 1200 revs or so), needing you to roll the throttle on a bit to get it moving again, then it would almost go back to normal (but not quite as responsive), sometimes almost die but then seemed to pick up again.

Well today I was riding home from work, pulled up at a set of lights and the bike just stopped. Dead. The battery was fine (as its almost brand new), but it just would not start again. The starter kicked in fine, and the bike made all the right noises, but just NO start. Also just before this happened, you could accelerate (or try to) and the bike would just start to die until it got the revs high enough and you would be fine.

The bike doesnt run hot, and all in all seems almost perfect. My question(s) are as follows:

1) Spark plugs. Do they need to be replaced? Bike has 20,000 kays on it and I would not know the last time that happened.

2) I have read about the vacum lines from the tank? Can someone explain more on what it is Im looking for?

I managed to get the tank off today and the fuel tap is working fine, there are no blocks.

I guess the only thing I can check is the spark plugs? Will the spark plugs have become fouled enough for the bike to just not go anymore?

Enough so that if the bike started, it would just stop at some stage?

My mate seems to think that its a battery fault, but as Ive told him, the lights all work, the battery "had" enough spark to make the starter engage, it just wouldnt fire over. It stopped at the lights.

Any more suggestions would be appreciated.

Blake

[TiN]

I remember experiencing something similar with my RVF before, but I managed to start it again at the lights, and everything was fine after that .

As for the vacuum hoses - there should be two rubber hoses attached to the bottom of your fuel tank (one should be a breather hose, and the other the overflow hose), in addition to the main hose that attaches to the fuel tap assembly. Make sure that these are not trapped or kinked as you put the tank back on.

I didn't keep my RVF long enough to service it, but from what I have heard, accessing the plugs is a bit of a task, so good luck with that.
____________________
TiN
dotgems.net

[Claud 14.7 to 1]

Some aspects sound similar to my experiences with my Cbr400:

The cutting out part (with the battery having enough power to turn it over again)/lumpy idle, sounds exactly what happened when my fuel pump packed up. So I would check the pump works 100%, also checking all fuel hoses/filters for blockages. Wouldn’t hurt to clean the tank out as well. My fuel pump worked intermittently until finally it packed up altogether. The bike cut out on me many times.

That or you ran out of fuel.

On the electrics side, first I would test the charging input to the battery. Make sure the battery charges and holds it's charge.

Low battery power means the bike runs like a dog, well on mine anyway. It also runs badly, especially in the low rpms. As soon as you rev it above say 4,000 it would run, but not 100%.

Also, it wouldn't hurt to check the plugs, just to see how they are getting on. Could also check the strength of the spark, while you're in there. Make sure they are all sparking.

Rvfs are wicked bikes, but apparently a biatch to work on, so Ho Ho Ho to you.

Dunno what I'm so happy about, my CBR4's giving my jip as well. It's in pieces: charging problems and this time it isn't the reg/rec which was an easy fix...

www.400greybike.co.uk : forum part, for more info and people who really know.

[Reevo8]

Sounds like a spot of carb icing to me! Add a cap full of "silkoline Pro FST" to your petrol before you next go out! It worked wonders for my old scooter. Which had the same symptom as the "full throttle but the bikes is dieing until it builds up high enough revs"

I would give this a try first as opposed to wasting money on other possibilites, as it is always wise to have some 'pro FST' around in the winter!