27-02-14, 04:33 PM
Thanks for the responses guys. I'll try to answer all those questions in order - hopefully I don't miss any!
The bike was stored out in the elements, unfortunately.
I initially tried to start the bike, found the battery was nearly dead, so brought it in and charged it for a couple of days on a trickle charger. As for the battery health, I'm not really sure or sure how to check. The bike starts pretty comfortably first time, but I generally need to charge the battery back up a bit if the bike is left for more than a couple of weeks.
When I say about the short burst up the road - I warmed the bike up for a minute or 2 on the drive, then it was about half a mile before the problems started to become apparent. The actual ride was probably about 10-15 miles, although none of that above 40mph ish. I also left the bike over Christmas without much fuel in the tank, and added some fresh regular Shell unleaded when I went out on my first ride.
I need to use some choke to start the bike, and when operating the lever, I can see the cable moving in and out on the carb, so it doesn't seem to be sticking unless it isn't fully closing properly. I think I had fully closed the choke when I started my ride, but can't remember for sure.
When I got my bike, it didn't come with the toolkit unfortunately, so I'm looking in to picking up a proper fazer one off ebay, unless anyone has a better solution of what to get/where to get it? As for the multimeter, it's something I've been considering picking up for a while - off to Amazon I go!
I'm back from uni this weekend, so I'll take a good look at all the wiring and try to clean it up where I can - admittedly it wouldn't be the first time corroded wiring has caused my bike problems, if that did turn out to be the case.
To check the downpipes, I tend to just flick a bit of water on them, and it's pretty clear that cylinder 3 isn't getting as hot as quickly, although it certainly isn't staying completely cold.
I also opened up the carbs around last September time to try and clean them out, only to find they were pretty spotless inside - what are the chances they've got bad since then? The bike seemed to run fine for atleast a few months after this job, so I presumed it was ok...
Similarly with the cam chain, I'm pretty confident the timing was spot on, and the bike seemed to be running perfectly for several months after this job. Is it likely that if I did get the timing slightly off, it would cause a problem a few months down the line, rather than immediately?
Again, thanks for all the comments. Hopefully this extra info + some wire cleaning this weekend can go towards me having a happy, tarmac filled spring!
HazzaBui
The bike was stored out in the elements, unfortunately.
I initially tried to start the bike, found the battery was nearly dead, so brought it in and charged it for a couple of days on a trickle charger. As for the battery health, I'm not really sure or sure how to check. The bike starts pretty comfortably first time, but I generally need to charge the battery back up a bit if the bike is left for more than a couple of weeks.
When I say about the short burst up the road - I warmed the bike up for a minute or 2 on the drive, then it was about half a mile before the problems started to become apparent. The actual ride was probably about 10-15 miles, although none of that above 40mph ish. I also left the bike over Christmas without much fuel in the tank, and added some fresh regular Shell unleaded when I went out on my first ride.
I need to use some choke to start the bike, and when operating the lever, I can see the cable moving in and out on the carb, so it doesn't seem to be sticking unless it isn't fully closing properly. I think I had fully closed the choke when I started my ride, but can't remember for sure.
When I got my bike, it didn't come with the toolkit unfortunately, so I'm looking in to picking up a proper fazer one off ebay, unless anyone has a better solution of what to get/where to get it? As for the multimeter, it's something I've been considering picking up for a while - off to Amazon I go!
I'm back from uni this weekend, so I'll take a good look at all the wiring and try to clean it up where I can - admittedly it wouldn't be the first time corroded wiring has caused my bike problems, if that did turn out to be the case.
To check the downpipes, I tend to just flick a bit of water on them, and it's pretty clear that cylinder 3 isn't getting as hot as quickly, although it certainly isn't staying completely cold.
I also opened up the carbs around last September time to try and clean them out, only to find they were pretty spotless inside - what are the chances they've got bad since then? The bike seemed to run fine for atleast a few months after this job, so I presumed it was ok...
Similarly with the cam chain, I'm pretty confident the timing was spot on, and the bike seemed to be running perfectly for several months after this job. Is it likely that if I did get the timing slightly off, it would cause a problem a few months down the line, rather than immediately?
Again, thanks for all the comments. Hopefully this extra info + some wire cleaning this weekend can go towards me having a happy, tarmac filled spring!
HazzaBui