Hi I've got a 91 GSXR400R. Took it up to Nelson about a year ago and battery started going flat on the way up. Still went fine though. It rained A LOT this trip. we got very wet. Bikes sat around since then. Went to start it last week, no good. Jump started it and away it went. Bought a new battery, put it in yesterday and it started straight up. Ran pretty good, little bit rough but I put that down to sitting around and old fuel. Great, problem solved I thinks to myself. Now I go out there today and its not starting again. Turns over and over, gives a little cough occasionally but nothing more. Even jump starting didnt help this time. Any ideas what the issue could be now! Any help much appreciated.
jmma,
Jan 14, 12:11pm
Good start would be to drain all fuel and replace with new stuff. (o:
dinosaw88,
Jan 14, 12:16pm
Yeah was thinking that. It still had plenty of bang in it last night though.
bitsy_boffin,
Jan 14, 12:21pm
If it's giving a cough then it's probably not far off starting, myself, I'd get some ether and squirt it in the airbox or down a plug, once it fires properly it may be enough to keep it going.
Or try giving it a tow start.
Edit to add: once I'd got it going, I'd be giving it a good old "italian tuneup", and would check the voltage at the battery, I'd suspect you have either a continuous load on that battery, or a duff regulator.
jmma,
Jan 14, 12:30pm
Turn petrol tap on (o:
kazbanz,
Jan 14, 12:31pm
Dino--I'll put money the reg/rec unit has cooked. You still need to drain carbs/tank etc. -although if it ran well I'd be tempted to toss a few litres of avgas into the tank and shake ythe bike so the avgas and existing gas mix.
dinosaw88,
Jan 14, 12:32pm
Ok thanks for that, It idled away nicely for a good 5 minutes last night. Seems strange that it wont go now. But yes, a good squirt of something down its throat may help. Cant try a tow start, no license sadly. And yes I am suspicious of the regulator or similar now so will definitely be checking all that once its running again.
dinosaw88,
Jan 14, 12:38pm
I have the manual here and it gives some information about checking resistances in the reg/rec unit. But it says I must use a proper Suzuki pocket tester as resistance values will vary if I use any other ohmeter
desmodave,
Jan 14, 12:48pm
I think Kaz is on the money. If the battery was going flat there will be a reason for it. Motorcycles dont generally fix themselves while they are alseep for a year.
dinosaw88,
Jan 14, 12:51pm
I agree entirely. But would a dead reg unit stop the bike from starting!
fryan1962,
Jan 14, 5:31pm
did you hit kill switch by mistake!
beast9,
Jan 14, 5:47pm
try the spark plugs they could be failing under pressure had that on a lil tf125 would start and run for two min then die and wouldnt restart
tandj3,
Jan 14, 5:54pm
I had a similar problem years ago half way between kaikoura and chch turned out to be the volts regulator
rednsr,
Jan 14, 6:15pm
No. its the stator coil. That is and will always be the problem. If you ran it with a dying stator then the reg/Rec is probably toast too.
dinosaw88,
Jan 15, 1:31pm
Cool thanks everyone, definitely helps.
peacebird15,
Jan 15, 6:04pm
Bad reg can ruin lots of things, from bulbs to the computer.
desmodave,
Jan 15, 8:59pm
So are ya gunna tell them how to test those parts !
dinosaw88,
Jan 16, 2:15pm
I have the workshop manual, which is a fairly good help. It has resistance values for the reg/rec unit but only tells me how to test the stator at 5000rpm.
richynuts,
Jan 16, 9:14pm
I think it is old fuel that has fouled your plugs, especially if the old fuel in your tank was 91.
doug207,
Jan 17, 9:29am
Drain tank, clean filter Drain carbs, check for varnish in the jets Clean the plugs
Try again.
Another wee cheat is blow down the carb bowl vent a little, it'll throw some fuel down the intake. A bit easier than fluffing around with ether.
dinosaw88,
Jan 17, 11:17am
It wasnt 91. Im back out to sea tomorrow so bike will have to wait just a little bit longer. Will try a few things and update in about 3-4 weeks.
loonee-dial-111,
Jan 19, 4:39pm
In my experience there are 4 common issues that don't require parts replacement. There are more if you have pulled it apart and miss something :-).
1/ Dirty or watery fuel has clogged the carb (clean out the carb jets, check the operation of the vacuum slides if any.) 2/ Wet plugs or weak spark from a flat battery or both occuring in a vicious circle (push start it). 3/ Alternator or rectifier is dead causing battery to go flat is possible but I've never seen it. I think this was more an issue for bikes made in the 70s or earlier. 4/ Water inside an electrical connector can make it misfire e.g. pop pop pop pop miss pop pop pop at idle is a give away there is a faulty electrical connector somewhere, corrosion is the giveaway when you find it. This could simulate #3 but I have not encountered this before. (Take the bike apart and disconnect the electrical connectors, check for corrosion or dirt, clean out with CRC & wire brush or similar and reconnect. Then find a way to stop water getting into that connector.)
dinosaw88,
Mar 21, 12:35pm
Update. Bike has no spark. I've done some testing and found no continuity through the Reg/Rec circuits where the manual states there should be. I replaced it with a new one, (which did have continuity) but bike still wont start. Is there a way to test stator without the bike running! Don't really want to keep buying parts until I hit the jackpot. Ive also cleaned out the carbs and checked every connection I could find. License back in 6 weeks, want to go riding! Thanks y'all
bjmh,
Mar 21, 2:48pm
test stator ! wouldn't a charged battery give you spark even if not charging.
skin1235,
Mar 21, 4:12pm
cdi cooked due to surge due to reg stuffed!, no spark would indicate no pulse to coil, either shitty connection between pulse generator and black box or bad connection box to coils ( or box ( cdi) cooked pulse gen is on stator, think it is the blue wire exiting the stator loom down on left side, should show a pulsing voltage at crank speed
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