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aff-man
3rd March 2004, 16:42
Well the bike is running a bit rich ( i have been told) and the carbon all over the exhaust should be sufficent proof. But the question arises.... do i fiddle with the carbs ( i did with the vt250's) and is it difficult or do i just bite the bullet pay a couple of hundy and let a mechanic do it. Secondly most mornings it starts on three but switches to for after like 30 seconds riding down the road. Could this be due to carbon buld up on the spark plugs???? or a more sinister problem. And if the bike needs a complete service (i can do most things but don't want to screw it up) where do i go and not get shafted.

Andrew
3rd March 2004, 17:55
I got a full service done at spectrum. I wouldn't touch the engine of my bike just because these old 4 cylinder 250's are so temporamental. I suggest bite the bullet get it into the mechanics. School has just started for the both of us and I know how hard doing the BE is. The last thing you need is bike troubles when you're stressing about the finer points of 3D calculus exam you have that week.

erik
3rd March 2004, 20:14
I'd kind of like to try and give some advice, but I'm totally new at this, so I dunno if my advice is any good. Anyway, if it's running rich, I'd check the airfilter to make sure it's not too dirty/blocked. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I think if the airfilter is blocked it'll make the bike run richer?
In regards to it starting on only 3 cylinders, after my experience with the Zeal, I'd check the ignition coils/plug caps with a multimeter, just to check the resistance to make sure they're all similar, it should be fairly easy to do, and it doesn't cost anything (if you've already got a multimeter), so it can't hurt to check them. Unless you have to pull them apart to do it, in which case you could possibly break something...
There's an article about spark plugs here: http://www.strappe.com/plugs.html that might be useful if you're thinking about looking at the spark plugs or changing them.

But I think that unless you're dead keen on learning how to fix your bike yourself, it's probably best to take it to a mechanic if you can afford it. Especially if the bike is your only form of transport.

Good luck.