Bike is dying... Help!

[MSTRS:Me]

thanks, that make alot of sense. they sound pretty 'brittle' do you have to be super careful when cleaning then or syncing them? so once a cylinder is hydrolocked the piston no longer moves and you risk bending the rod?

Carbs are delicate things, that are easily damaged by hamfisted but keen younguns (and old farts too ).
Bent rod, blown seals/gaskets, even heads blowing off the top. NASTY STUFF as I said earlier.

[Breed777]

damn. do you do work on yours or leave it for a mechanic? Dunno if I will ever know enough to confidently pull my bike apart

[MSTRS:Me]

Mine's FI - and computer controlled at that. What do you think?
Basic carbed engines tho...in my sleep (almost)

[Breed777]

I prefer to just sleep

[Ixion]

All sorts of things have been tried over the years, as far as carbs-to-cylinders are concerned.
Basically, one carb per cylinder was the outcome. ...

Not always. I have a bike with two cylinders and one carb. And a bike with one cylinder and two carbs.

[The Pastor]

dont worry mate you'll learn soon enough. find a carb cleaning guide and have a go at pulling your carbs to bits.

few tips.

do one carb at a time (i think you bike will have 4 carbs- all attached in one big block) take it apart, clean and reassemble before doing the next one.

Find a good diagram and study it so you know excatly what goes in there or not, if you cant find a diagram take pictures or notes. Carefully remove the parts (there is a spring under one cover so be carefull when removing things as they can spring off) put all the parts into a clean ice cream container so you dont lose anything.

clean the out side of the carbs first - then clean your hands, if you dont when you touch the jets and needles you will get them dirty and you will be worse off than when you started.

Only use carb cleaner to clean, dont use wire to poke through the holes etc. a can of carb cleaner is about $17 take out the parts and spray that shit every where.

reassemble the parts

do that for each carb, note if anything looks worn - check the gaskets and diaphrams - the soft rubber things

wack the carbs back on, but leave the air filter out of the airbox, start the bike (can take a few goes to start as your carbs are dry) then spray more carb cleaner into your air box so it cycle through, this just helps incase you've missed a spot etc.

put the airfilter back in and your good to go.

Don't be put off about pulling your bike to bits, just do it! only one way to learn, you'll make mistakes, probably a lot of them, but at the end of the day you'll come out better off.

here is a good thread about carbs
http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/sh...=carb+cleaning
the link in there is a good one, but i'll try and find you a really good one.

this is a brilliant one should give you a very good understanding of whats inside a carb, also shows you how to make an air filter, http://cbr250.com/cbr250/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=26849 (not 56k friendly)

also heres one on hydrolocks
http://cbr250.com/cbr250/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=13372

[MSTRS:Me]

Not always. I have a bike with two cylinders and one carb. And a bike with one cylinder and two carbs.

Yea, but you were young when your bikes were old...experimenting was still going on.

[Breed777]

Thanks guys....

Mechanic came and got bike today.... says the battery is flat (from me trying to start it yesterday) and it is most likely the Carbs as suspected..... he asked what gas I put in and I said 91 (Have used 91 since I got it, I am sure I asked him what to use and he said 91), anyway he said dont use 91 you gotta use 95 or higher.... so will using 91 have done to my bike what has happened? surely using 91 might make it run poorly etc but make it stop completely and poo the carbs?

Dunno now if it will be covered by warranty if I used the wrong gas?

[The Pastor]

Nope hes lieing to ya, using the wrong gas cant affect the carbs. Could make the bike run like shit tho, but i serriously doubt it.

[Ragingrob]

And I'm pretty sure a 1988 gsxr would've been designed to run on 91...

[roadracingoldfart]

I just read this entire thread , pheew.

I am amazed the subject of water in the tank was not brought up especially as the fault showed itself "after fueling". I have found many times that bikes left outside in the rain or filled from a can or whatever can attract a certain amount of water and that will cause a similar symtom to what was happening here.
We have water issues in fuel almost every couple of times it rains due to water getting into the gas stations tanks from flooding , or from opening the tank lid for the tanker to fill it and finding the filler neck clogged with leaves and crap and causing the water to sit above the drain. Its common as.

I hope you have a good result with the bike under warranty and then you can enjoy doing what its designed to do , be riden.

Paul.

[Breed777]

And I'm pretty sure a 1988 gsxr would've been designed to run on 91...

Thats a very good point!

[Breed777]

Whats the best fuel to use 91 or 95 or 98? and how can I avoid this happening again? (The bike is always kept in a garage btw)

[Ragingrob]

Some bikes run better and with more fuel economy on some fuels and worse on others, it's down to the individual bike I think. Otherwise just go for what's recommended in the manual

[sil3nt]

The manual in a bike that old would almost definitely say 91! I would be worried if a mechanic told you not to use it. Using anything other than what the manual says will not give you more power will just give you more fuel consumption!

I just looked it up and it said 85-95 or higher. I would stick with 91 but you could try others to see if there is a difference.