Suzuki Bandit 250 - mechanic advice needed

[Sammy12]

I ride a suzuki bandit 250, recently found i loose acceleration going more than 90 kms... Only usually when im going uphill! Changed the spark plugs this morning.. and hit the motorway for a test ride... Its better... but im still loosing acceleration.
Rule of elimination, is to get the carbs cleaned...

Some advice as to what is wrong would be good??

[The Stranger]

Ok, stab in the dark here, but it's easy enough to try and don't cost FA.
Drain the float bowels on the carbs.

[YellowDog]

I don't know that engine however it sounds like the bike is running just fine, however is a little flat at the top end.

Depending upon the number of Ks you have and how it has been treated, this sounds like a compression issue. e.g. Piston rings, de-coaking, exhaust, etc.

A fuel related issue would usually show more erratic symptoms.

I'd start with the basics such as Spark Plug Gap, HT Leads, Contact breaker gap, to see what these easy low cost checks do for it.

Good luck.

[p.dath]

Have you been eating a lot of mince and cheese pies recently?

[Sammy12]

Have you been eating a lot of mince and cheese pies recently?

lol im afraid not... im on a crash course diet..

[Sammy12]

Thank you all for all your replies... atleast i know what could possibly be wrong with IT. HOWEVER.. i managed to break down tonight.. and in the process of getting it back home in a trailer.. It took a tumble, so i think it m.a.y.b.e a while before im riding again. Atleast it'll be garaged and in pieces to fix EVERYTHING! :)

[Sammy12]

With mechancial assistance of Squiggles and Slyer.... My bike is now back on the road and sounds great :D

[fazer]

What did you do to clear the problem?

[Squiggles]

Pulled it to pieces and put it all back more or less... didnt find anything really wrong with it, so will be interesting to see if the problem returns.

[fizbin]

sounds like the same problem Cain had with the EL. float valves in the carbs is the place to start if it comes up again. give me and badger a call if you need help we'll see what we can do :)

[mctshirt]

Before you start tearing the carbs to bits try checking for electrical shorts - I had a burnt out headlamp plug give me all sorts of random problems on Bandit 400 before fixing it with a $5 Repco plug. You might have solved an electrical problem putting the bike back together without even noticing :)

[Conquiztador]

Airfilter can cause this. As you get up in revs the bike needs more air. If the airfilter is dirty/blocked this can happen.

Good luck!

[Pedrostt500]

Ok, guys and Gals, The best Fault finding advise I have been given, is start with the basics, a petrol engine requires three basic things to make it run, Air, Spark, and Petrol. So before you go tearing apart carbies, or stripping down electrical systems, check the easiest things, then work towards the harder and more exspensive parts of your bike. A workshop repair manual is one of the best tools you can buy, worth every cent, read it cover to cover, you may never need to deal with 90% of what the manual covers, but knoledge is king.
I brought a pressed steel oil drip tray from Super Cheap, its about 900mm x 400mm, I use this when I am pulling down carbies for inspection & cleaning, remeber to always clean the out side of carbies, before opening them up, in fact if you can give the whole bike a clean before you start, its easier to work on a clean bike than one covered in muck, when opening anything up, particurly if it is a bit complex, keep a note book on hand, so you can draw a diagrame of how it came apart so you have a reminder of how it goes together, also if you can lay the parts out in the order that you pull them apart, it save on the " what are these bits that are left over senario".
If you have the time, $, space, and inclination, getting into something like bucket racing, or trail riding, can get you an older bike to learn how to and how not to fix your more exspensive road bike.

[peasea]

Airfilter can cause this. As you get up in revs the bike needs more air. If the airfilter is dirty/blocked this can happen.

Good luck!

As can a fuel filter. I dunno about that specific model but a lot of bikes have wee gauze filters at the top of the tap. Drain the tank, remove the fuel tap and check it out. Costs nothing to look.

[peasea]

knoledge is king...

It sure is, when you can spell it.

[Sammy12]

Engine sounds great now, took it for a long trip this evening and im not having the problem with loss of revs anymore. HOWEVER... the beast wouldnt start today. 4 hours into it .. Quick test of the horn-sounded drained-headlight looked dim. So gave up and blamed it on the battery! 6 hours waiting.. IT STARTS! Its been sat in the sun all day... and it starts! So think i might have some dodgy as wires somewhere thats draining the battery...<_<

[Slyer]

We'll have to do some tests and see what's going on.