Suzuki Bandit 250 timing issues after washing bike with hose

[Millsie]

As per title, washed bike down with a hose heavily focused on the front sprocket cover + front sprocket and chain as the bike was smelling of something burning possibly due to the fact that I rode my bike through plenty of sand on the weekend

Come around to the next morning and the bike is seriously struggling to start. Eventually it does however at particular revs it's almost like hitting the limiter

Throughout the entire ride to work it felt like the timing was horrendously out as it only managed to hit half of its power band (9-16k revs) .. So clearly I've forced water into the engine right?

Is there anything else I can check to confirm this?
Maybe check if there is water in the air box too?

[haydes55]

First port of call is check air filter.

If that's dry, drain your oil. Water is easy to see in oil

[nodrog]

Remove all the spark plugs and start it, rev it until all of the water comes out.

[scrivy]

Remove all the spark plugs and start it, rev it until all of the water comes out.

Drain the oil first though right?

[rambaldi]

Drain the oil first though right?

Switch it out for Sea foam, the foam helps separate out the water just like in the sea.

[scrivy]

Switch it out for Sea foam, the foam helps separate out the water just like in the sea.

Then replace it with CRC to clean it out?

[rambaldi]

Then replace it with CRC to clean it out?

Nah, you need a bit of grit in there to bind it and keep things stuck together. You don't want your engine to fall apart do you? No I thought not, best throw in the blue stuff off some 180 grit sand paper just in case (it has to be Blue for some reason, I tried with red/brown and my engine just blew up all cartoon like).

[Akzle]

this thread is so full of win

[Oakie]

First port of call is check air filter.

That.

10 chars

[Oakie]

First port of call is check air filter.
Actually check under the air filter box. There'll be a drain plug ... probably at the end of a piece of long tubing. Take the bung off the end of the tubing and you may be surprised at what flows out. I was when I did it to my 600 Bandit a couple of years back.

[ellipsis]

...never, ever, hose your bike down...it's wasting water...throw it in a river, like Tazz does...

[p.dath]

So it seems obvious that water has got in somewhere it should not. I would try something easy first like WD40 ("WD" standing for water displacement) or CRC, which will displace water on electrical fittings and the like. Give it 30 minutes to do its work.

[GSF]

Something very similar happened to my '92 Bandit 250 after my mate borrowed it for a weekend and washed it (and blasted the everloving shit out of it with quite a high-pressure hose).

It actually wasn't related to the hosing down at all, the emulsion tubes were worn out and made the bike bog down, unable to rev out and eventually shit itself completely.
I wouldn't be too quick to jump to conclusions, it could always be pure coincidence. Correlation not equaling causation and all that.

[quickbuck]

It could even be something as simpe as you got water down the spark plug holes. (Not actually into the engine at all... yet)
Rather than the HT Currnent going into the combustion chamber, it would just rather head to earth.

So before removing the plugs, check in there first.....

A little 250/4 will always seem like it is being rev limited if it is running on 3.

[Squiggles]

It could even be something as simpe as you got water down the spark plug holes. (Not actually into the engine at all... yet)
Rather than the HT Currnent going into the combustion chamber, it would just rather head to earth.

So before removing the plugs, check in there first.....

This, some have a wee drain hole that can get blocked.