riffer
15th November 2007, 10:15
The headlight had stopped working and the bike wouldn't start. I pulled the whole bloody thing completely to pieces on the driveway eliminating problems.
1. Replaced all fuses. Jumper lead from car battery to bike battery in case battery was down in charge. Bike won't start.
2. Assume the headlight wire had broken and the automatic cutout of the headlight on startup wasn't working so stopping CDI from working. Remove headlight fairing and strip out instruments. Check wiring with multimeter. Damn. No problems. 12v at both main and full beam. Light is blown. Bike still won't start.
3. Check solenoid fuses and replace. Hotwire bike at solenoid to isolate potential ignition switch problem. Bike still won't start.
4. Take tank off. Check fuel tank petrol output. OK. Check main/reserve fuel tap output. OK. Check Fuel pump output to carbs. OK. Bike still won't start.
5. Pull airbox off and start bike while twisting throttle. Damn. Petrol squirting into venturis. No petrol problems then. Bike still won't start.
6. Timing problem? Coils? CDI? Pull spark plugs out one by one checking for spark. Damn. They all have spark. But spark plugs don't look too wet. Strange... they should be flooded after all this non starting. Bike still won't start.
7. Finally had an epiphany and checked the workings of the carbs, linkage by linkage. It turns out that the choke linkage to the cabs had broken and the carbs were running too lean for the bike to start when cold. Grab spare carbs from the garage and strip the choke linkage out from one set to another.
Bike starts first push of the button. Decided to take the car to work after that, and leave the bike on the charger today.
However, it just goes to show how you can get caught up thinking it's one problem when there's actually two separate ones.
I still love my bike but damn it irritates me sometimes. :mellow:
Thanks Frosty for putting up with my bitching while I was diagnosing the problem.
1. Replaced all fuses. Jumper lead from car battery to bike battery in case battery was down in charge. Bike won't start.
2. Assume the headlight wire had broken and the automatic cutout of the headlight on startup wasn't working so stopping CDI from working. Remove headlight fairing and strip out instruments. Check wiring with multimeter. Damn. No problems. 12v at both main and full beam. Light is blown. Bike still won't start.
3. Check solenoid fuses and replace. Hotwire bike at solenoid to isolate potential ignition switch problem. Bike still won't start.
4. Take tank off. Check fuel tank petrol output. OK. Check main/reserve fuel tap output. OK. Check Fuel pump output to carbs. OK. Bike still won't start.
5. Pull airbox off and start bike while twisting throttle. Damn. Petrol squirting into venturis. No petrol problems then. Bike still won't start.
6. Timing problem? Coils? CDI? Pull spark plugs out one by one checking for spark. Damn. They all have spark. But spark plugs don't look too wet. Strange... they should be flooded after all this non starting. Bike still won't start.
7. Finally had an epiphany and checked the workings of the carbs, linkage by linkage. It turns out that the choke linkage to the cabs had broken and the carbs were running too lean for the bike to start when cold. Grab spare carbs from the garage and strip the choke linkage out from one set to another.
Bike starts first push of the button. Decided to take the car to work after that, and leave the bike on the charger today.
However, it just goes to show how you can get caught up thinking it's one problem when there's actually two separate ones.
I still love my bike but damn it irritates me sometimes. :mellow:
Thanks Frosty for putting up with my bitching while I was diagnosing the problem.