Running on three

[dnos]

I have a suzuki bandit 250 and it has issues, its only running on three cylinders.
Its very sad and i wish it was all better.:crybaby:

Anyway I was riding home and all of a sudden the engine started sounding/feeling funny. I thought maybe i was running out of gas but alas that was not the problem. So i had a look at it last night and the far left cylinder was not working - i pulled the plug out and it looked ok, it had spark. Swapped it for the plug on the other side and fired it up and it was still the same cylinder missing. So I guess its not as simple as a buggered spark plug either.

A mate who came round with tools for me to borrow commented that there didn't appear to be much compression but i don't know much about that stuff although hes a car man, so i'm not sure.

So does anyone have any ideas or advice.
Or do i need to take it to the local, iv'e heard ghastly overpriced, bikeshop?
Cheers.

[FROSTY]

Possibly its the valve clearances.The gixxer 250's used to loose power cronicly whent the valves were outa kilter.
otherwise cleean ya carbs out

[Wasp]

My bandit sometimes doesnt run right, other known issues with them include the coilpacks and CDI, see www.banditalley.com (in the 250 forums)

[dnos]

hey that banditalley is pretty cool - cheers.
Doesn't seem to be any manuals around for the 250s tho.
Right will have to get into it this weekend i have pulled the tank off but need to work during the day so i can see, will try figure out stuff like carbs and valves - unknown teritory.
Hopefully can get it sorted soon, I'm getting major withdrawals!!!!

[Wasp]

theres a website in japanese (google translates it pretty well - "the great sea-bass bandit":rofl:) with practically all the info for all the models, its bookmarked on my home computer though (which i backed up and re-installed lately (and may have lost the backup :doh:)

[dnos]

I had a go at cleaning the carbs out which were filthy.
Bastard thing was some of the bolts were pretty buggered and i didn't want ot strip the heads so couldn't get them all fully apart.
But after putting it all back together thinking thats as far as i would go i fired her up and it was all good.
So i went for a celebratory ride and it felt bloody good to get out on the bike again.
Thanks for your help Frosty and Wasp. I found "the great sea-bass bandit":first: was worth reading it just for a laugh.

[Wasp]

Awesome, how long did it take to do the carbs? mine need cleaning too but ive never done anything carb related before and have no idea what im doing.

theres a really handy/awesome specs page in english on that japanese site with all the specs for all the different models

[dnos]

ummm, took me ages cos i have no idea either. Spent over half the day doing it i reckon.
Once i took the tank and air box off i had trouble getting the throttle cable and choke cable disconnected. but then i took the whole lot off and tried cleaning them. didn't do as good a job as i would have liked cos as i said couldn't undo a lot of the bolts specially the ones holding the float bowl.
I am gonna try do the whole lot again some time soon and do it properly.

A piece of advise do them one by one so you don't get confused as to where everything goes and have something to check against cos looking at pictures isn't that easy.

Good luck!