Cold morning, blocked carbs and whoops unscrewed idle!

[Drew]

Oh right, you're on a zxr. Carb rubbers/airbox rubbers is my first guess then.

[scumdog]

Spark plug lead cracked/poor condition...?

Happened to me on a trail-bike I had.
Plug lead had a crack just where the spark-plug boot was, right in line for any water thrown up by the front wheel.
Took ages and some nasty words before I found the culprit.

[Juniper]

Happened to me on a trail-bike I had.
Plug lead had a crack just where the spark-plug boot was, right in line for any water thrown up by the front wheel.
Took ages and some nasty words before I found the culprit.

I shall have to look into this.


I did however sheer off a screw in my carbs when I was putting them back in last time. People have said I could drill it out but I'm not sure I want to be drilling so close to my carbs.

[AllanB]

Kero? I thought meths as it combines with the water. Would have thought kero would leave a residue (good for rust, bad for carbs I would have thought?)


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Correct - meths is the magic stuff to displace water out of a fuel tank. I've always used it over winter in my tanks to avoid the risk of rust setting in the low spots.

[matrox02]

I'm not sure stop-start-stop and start again would dry out electrics. It turns just doesnt turn over (I'm not sure of the right terms there) just like if I was trying to start it cold.

I don't think I've ever touched the spark plugs or the cables. Are those the same as the timing things where its meant to be 1342 or 1243. If it's that then I already know something is wrong there as its set up 1234 which is wrong no matter what order, but it seems to work that way and I've tried putting it in the correct order (as per the manual and lord google) and it wont start. so 1234 it is for now.

Are spark plugs expensive?

You have a Wasted spark plug setup, determined by the CDI on when which bank of plugs fire, IE, your firing order may be 1-3-4-2 but when the plug for 1 is needing to fire 4 also fires and when 3 fires 2 is firing as well, it gets a bit confusing to think about it, but it is right, you would barley be able to get the bike to run let alone move only running on 2-3 cylinders on a stock setup , otherwise, the issues sound either electrical or, that you have a vacuum seal issue with the carbs, replace the carb boots and see how the bike runs after that, and get a tarp to put over the bike in the rain, and also, get the bike warm and set the idle then leave it as is(1500 rpm i think would do fine ), the throttle plates create vacuum that helps draw out fuel for the bike to start properly, hence the no start condition when no idle stopper screw was in place, also you need a nice seal from the air filter to the carbs on the air box as well as that also helps with cold starts


All the crap I learneded the hard way on my old CBR250Rh :S

[Juniper]

Ok, so I'm getting to and seeing what I can do about my spark plugs this weekend!!

Will also check the seal around the carbs and the airbox. I have a feeling it could be that screw I accidentally sheared off be letting air and whatnot in.


What are carb boots?

[unstuck]

What are carb boots?

Things they put on when go to see bands.

[Drew]

Things they put on when go to see bands.

Those are what I call 'manifold rubbers', or 'manifold blocks'. What I call 'carb boots' are the ones that go between the air box and the carbs. Cunt's of things on those old 250s, as they shrink with age and never seem to fit properly. Since the bikes rev so high, a good seal is so so important to keep things working right through the rev range on CV carbs.

Have a look on Ebay for a set of flat slide carbs that will fit. More power, and much less hassle.