Went and did something silly...

**John_H** · 23rd November 2010, 16:16

Confidence was high after doing an oil and filter change myself for the first time over the weekend, so I was trying to do some maintenance myself

. The throttle had lots of play in it and the cable needed tightening. The tensioner near the handlebars was at its tightest setting so followed it down and found another tensioner above the engine. Couldn't get to it as the frame was in the way and decided the tank needed to come off. Armed with my workshop manual I took the tank off, I didn't disconnect anything I just rotated the tank round and strapped it on to the rear of the bike. When it came time I put everything back together, went to start it and it wont start, it will turn over but my guess is it isn't getting any fuel. The empty light was on so fuel was pretty low but there is still fuel sloshing round in the tank. What have I done????????????

**yod** · 23rd November 2010, 16:17

broken it...

**HenryDorsetCase** · 23rd November 2010, 16:20

the fuel tap is turned to ON, right?

check under the tank to ensure you havent crimped* a line.

*crimped: tee hee

**The Pastor** · 23rd November 2010, 16:20

Fuel tap off?

kill switch on?

**AllanB** · 23rd November 2010, 16:20

I'll give you $15 for the bike as is.

Sounds like you have put a big stinking kink in the fuel line by rotating it 180 degrees. Lift the tank UP and have a peep under there for restrictions.

Alternatively you may have actually left the tank rotated 180 and you are presently sitting on the bike backwards trying to start it by gripping and pushing the rear indicators ....... in this case turn around.

**bogan** · 23rd November 2010, 16:21

broken it...

by accidently pulling a hose off when you rotated the tank, possibly the vac line to the tap

**John_H** · 23rd November 2010, 16:36

Thanks for the replies, I'll take it off again and have a look. I'm pretty sure I haven't pulled anything off, I couldn't see a fuel tap so I definitely didn't switch it off. There was no strain on the hose underneath when I rotated it as there was lots of play.

**Owl** · 23rd November 2010, 16:59

Perhaps broken the fuel line connector (they're weak).

Does the fuel pump make any noise when you switch your ignition on? Broken wire from being stretched?

Don't adjust the throttle cable too tight, or you'll cause problems with the "Throttle Position Sensor". There is supposed to be some slack.

Much easier to remove the tank than trying to work around it.

**Owl** · 23rd November 2010, 17:24

I'm just running through pics of mine and wondering how the hell you adjusted the throttle with the airbox in place?

**John_H** · 23rd November 2010, 17:26

Thanks to all, panic over. There was a kink in the fuel line. Hmmmm noob mistakes like that knock my confidence in doing things like this. I might leave it to the professionals. Does anyone know any basic motorcycle mechanic maintenance courses in welly, or any kind KBers feel like teaching me ;-)

**Owl** · 23rd November 2010, 17:34

Good shit on the save

Oh and with your oil change, did you make sure you removed the old filter o-ring. They have a habit of coming away from the filter and staying with the sump. You don't want two o-rings!

**Gremlin** · 23rd November 2010, 18:15

Originally Posted by John_H

Thanks to all, panic over. There was a kink in the fuel line. Hmmmm noob mistakes like that knock my confidence in doing things like this. I might leave it to the professionals. Does anyone know any basic motorcycle mechanic maintenance courses in welly, or any kind KBers feel like teaching me ;-)

Or... you could keep posting these threads... we loves reading them we does

**John_H** · 23rd November 2010, 18:22

Originally Posted by Gremlin

Or... you could keep posting these threads... we loves reading them we does

Ha ha ha, it must be amusing watching people who don't know what they're doing if you've got pretty good mechanical knowledge. I might stick to building stuff, I can do that well!

**cs363** · 23rd November 2010, 18:23

Originally Posted by John_H

Thanks to all, panic over. There was a kink in the fuel line. Hmmmm noob mistakes like that knock my confidence in doing things like this. I might leave it to the professionals. Does anyone know any basic motorcycle mechanic maintenance courses in welly, or any kind KBers feel like teaching me ;-)

Well, as long as you learn from your mistakes it's not all bad

Get yourself a service manual for your bike and read the applicable sections prior to commencing work, that usually stops most errors as long as you use some common sense.
Roadsafe do some basic motorcycle maintenance courses, give them a try: http://www.roadsafe.co.nz/index.html They're based in Wellington, they actually had a maintenance course at the beginning of this month (over 2 nights) so I suspect the next ones will be in the New Year.

**Gremlin** · 23rd November 2010, 18:28

Originally Posted by John_H

Ha ha ha, it must be amusing watching people who don't know what they're doing if you've got pretty good mechanical knowledge. I might stick to building stuff, I can do that well!

I wouldn't know. Nowhere in my post did I allude to my mechanical abilities (or complete and utter lack thereof).

I doooo know however, not to touch it, and let the bike shop deal with it. They even give me a big smile every time I come in, no idea why aye?