been a moody beast since winters over...

[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

[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.

[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!

[andyvanderpandy]

grrr! redex doesnt seem to have done anything for this issue.

not used bike for a day. just tried to start it. starts fine first time (just like in the good ol' days!).

had it started, left it to tick over a few minutes, then knock it off, and repeat. was fine 5-6 times in a row.

6th/7th time - nothing, everything turns over fine, sounds as usual, but wont fire at all.

turn it over about 10 more times and finally it starts again on the button as if theres no prob!


i dont mind it playin up, but the inconsistency is drivin me nuts!

i dont think lack of fuel is a prob as after a few minutes of turning it over without it starting theres a whiff of petrol. if the plugs spark fine does that mean i can rule out the prob being coils/leads/plugs, or can there be intermitant probs in this area?

:smt013

[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.

[andyvanderpandy]

right, ta! ive just gota wait for a sunny day to start tinkering as i dont have a garage at the mo!

[andyvanderpandy]

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!

[RedexRobB]

Im guessing that solved all your problems then??

[andyvanderpandy]

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?

[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.

[RedexRobB]

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.

[extonyg]

i changed my pipe for a slightly longer clear bit of pipe so you can see when there is moisture in there...........