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been a moody beast since winters over...
Posted: Mon May 18, 2009 10:07 pm
by andyvanderpandy
so i was riding most days up till the end of november, then snow came so enough was enough, the zxr is dropped off in mummys nice warm garage. i gets her out again in march and shes not behaving at all.
9 times outa 10 she wont start without 5- 10 miuntes of turning over
during this 5 - 10 minutes of turning over the bike turns over fine but wont fire. occasionally itll try to fire and sound like shes bout to fire up and then just die out sounding like a wet fart.
once started theres no issues, but ive ridden for an hour or so, stopped for 3 minutes to get petrol and then exact same problem stars over again, so i cant depend on it for work cos its so unpredictable.
battery is less than a year old, but i guess it was stood for a few weeks, it sounds strong (i know that means nowt like) but surely the fact it ometimes starts means thats not the prob. new plugs last week
Re: been a moody beast since winters over...
Posted: Mon May 18, 2009 11:48 pm
by RedexRobB
My first port of call would be gummed up carbs after that long. Try some redex (blatant plug there

) in the fuel and ride it round for half hour then let it sit overnight, let it do its work on the innards. Then next day take it out for a few hours and give it a good run, with any luck it will clear the crap out and save you stripping the carbs.
If still no joy then time to get the carbs apart and get at them with some cleaner.
Also worth taking the plug off the airbox pipe on the left hand side, after winter mine was nearly full of water from condensation although i had been using mine!
Pluags are also a possibility.
Re: been a moody beast since winters over...
Posted: Tue May 19, 2009 3:53 pm
by andyvanderpandy
never thought of trying the red stuff! ill give it a bash n report back. i really cant be arsed to take the friggin tank off one more time so it best work!
Re: been a moody beast since winters over...
Posted: Thu May 21, 2009 10:09 pm
by andyvanderpandy
Re: been a moody beast since winters over...
Posted: Fri May 22, 2009 7:58 am
by RedexRobB
Have you been switching the ignition off by the key each time? It could be your ignition switch mate, im sure weve had a couple of cases before where the bike has spun over and not started then started randomly, but theres not been any consistency in it working and not working. But has turned out to be the ignition. It also sounds reasonably consistent with you stopping for fuel then having trouble starting. Although souning like it might fire it might not be that at all as it will either work or not id imagine, not somewhere in between.
Im not 100% where you need to check, but what id do is get the multimeter out and get the bike in a state where it wont start, then check the voltage.
Just consulted the manual and you can check the voltage on a yellow wire on the 6 pin connector block that the ignition plugs into. Obviously dont disconnect the block or you wont get anything, i remember being able to get a reading from the back of the block where the wires insert.
If you want to look for yourself its page 15-18 in the manual.
Re: been a moody beast since winters over...
Posted: Fri May 22, 2009 7:39 pm
by andyvanderpandy
right, ta! ive just gota wait for a sunny day to start tinkering as i dont have a garage at the mo!
Re: been a moody beast since winters over...
Posted: Fri Jun 05, 2009 7:58 pm
by andyvanderpandy
RedexRobB wrote:snip snip...
Also worth taking the plug off the airbox pipe on the left hand side, after winter mine was nearly full of water from condensation although i had been using mine!... snip snip
i wouldnt believe such a simple job would fix such a bitch of a prob! i recomend everyone to do it! cheers rob!
Re: been a moody beast since winters over...
Posted: Sat Jun 06, 2009 9:47 am
by RedexRobB
Im guessing that solved all your problems then??
Re: been a moody beast since winters over...
Posted: Sun Jun 07, 2009 3:20 pm
by andyvanderpandy
RedexRobB wrote:Im guessing that solved all your problems then??
seems to have! when i pulled the little plug out a patch of shitty water came out, made a little wet patch on the concrete about the size of CD, so im guessin it was pretty much full. has been as good as gold since! is there anything else i should check, could the fact i was running with this full have caused any other issues?
Re: been a moody beast since winters over...
Posted: Sun Jun 07, 2009 6:07 pm
by RedexRobB
I think the only thing it was causing was it to suck in water, so perhaps drain the carb bowls out as could be some water/dirt sitting in the bottom. Its probably alright as the bike seems to be fine now, but worth a thought if your that worried

Nothing else that id check.
Re: been a moody beast since winters over...
Posted: Tue Dec 01, 2009 4:24 pm
by RedexRobB
andyvanderpandy wrote:when i pulled the little plug out a patch of shitty water came out, made a little wet patch on the concrete about the size of CD, so im guessin it was pretty much full.
That time of year again guys, keep an eye on this as it does make a difference! Already emptied alot out over the last few weeks, i should store it in a jar just to see how much accrues! Ive got the pipe poking out so the air box drain plug is easily accessible, so every morning i just pop it off.
Re: been a moody beast since winters over...
Posted: Tue Dec 01, 2009 9:50 pm
by extonyg
i changed my pipe for a slightly longer clear bit of pipe so you can see when there is moisture in there...........