1990 ZZR not sparking

[zeocen]

Hey hey
Well I got a new, old, bike ... and as with any old bike. It has problems (I bought it for a pretty competitive price hehe).

Anywho, apart from today the bike has been fine, clutch is a little clunky but that's it. I went to start her up today and it wouldn't spark, it would just be going RrRrRrRrRrR but never actually start up.

It takes a while for it to start to idle properly, but it is an old bike afterall. This is the first time it has never started at all though.

What could be wrong? I also noticed a 'whine' noise coming out of the gas tank, I opened it up and it sucked some air in as i opened it, could that be something that might flood the engine? Or could it just be really fucked sparks? (the guy said he recently checked the sparks and they were fine, but, he didn't seem very sure of himself.)

[wildpudding]

Are you sure its not starting because of spark issues mate?ie have you pulled the plug and earthed it to the engine casing with the lead connected while turning the engine over?

Does your bike have a fuel pump? By opening the tank and having air rushing in could suggest that the engine is trying to suck fuel, but the vent could be blocked so so fuel can get out, creating a vacuum. Check the vacuum hose.

Stefan

[Donor]

That thing has an alarm dunnit?

Immobiliser issues?

Tried setting and unsetting the alarm?

[zeocen]

Nah the immobiliser hasn't been installed, just the alarm and sensor etc..

Crisis averted it seems, hooked it up to the car battery, started the car, started the bike, bike fired up instantly.

So I'm guessing it's the battery, wasn't strong enough to get a spark going? I don't quite understand.. maybe I've worn the battery out or something. I mean I'm stoaked it's going again, but yeah, just seems weird it was firing up straight away one day, then the next it wouldn't RrRrrRRR (technical term) enough to spark?

Can anyone shed some light on this? I go for my full on Thursday, but I think I may need to uh, bend the rules, just a tad, to get this big boy to my local dealer.

[breakaway]

Have you cleaned out the carbs? Maybe they are filthy.

[arj127]

i would check the vent on the fuel tank for sure, my ZZR broke down on the motorway when i first bought it, ended up being a crimped vent hose.
I have problems with my battery on my VFR from time to time as my trip to work is only 9 minutes and i dont ride far enough to put and charge back into the battery. So i just give it a charge every couple of weeks, it only has a small 4 amphour battery after all. Also, i will only turn my headlights on after the engine has been started to save discharge

[Luckylegs]

The motor was turning over (just not starting) right ? Your description of the noise seems to indicate so, but... Was there a clicking type noise while it was "RrRrRr.... ing" or was the RrRrR replaced with a click...

Since the battery appears to have been naff, wonder whether perhaps it was having trouble powering the starter motor.

Had a similar issue with my old VFR when ever the dud (old and dying) battery would go flat.

EEK: does that sound similar to the suggestion in the last post.... Woops, should have read that closer