Bike broken

Don't know whats wrong with it but it won't start, it tries to but just dies. anyone any ideas....

It was fine a couple of weeks ago & yes it has got petrol in it.

Anyway booked first week off in June to get it sorted......More expence [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Electrics, plugs, fuel. Could be anything really. Tried a hammer on it yet?

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If it wont fire then it's usually either no spark or no fuel, so start by checking all the usual stuff.

Carbs gummed up is my bet, got an optimate here if you want to borrow it to make sure the battery's in fine fettle.

Stonesie wrote:Carbs gummed up is my bet, got an optimate here if you want to borrow it to make sure the battery's in fine fettle.

I'd be willing to bet it's not. That doesn't happen overnight, and it's highly unlikely that the pilot circuit and main jets could be blocked, so chances are it would start, it'd just run crap. Even if one carb wasn't working at all it'd still start and run on three. Tbh there's a lot of crap talked about it, IMO. My Bandit sat for about two years after I flipped it and smashed it to pieces, without draining the carbs. I stripped and cleaned them as a precaution during the rebuild, but they were clean as a whistle. Same with bitch ex's carbs, after even longer laid up.

Stonesie wrote:Carbs gummed up is my bet, got an optimate here if you want to borrow it to make sure the battery's in fine fettle.

Thanks for the offer but already got battery on optimate.

It did fire up earlier but only for a few seconds & died again, sounded very rough like only 1 cylinder firing but I could be wrong.

Are you getting a spark at the plugs?

ok this is what is happening.

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I see what the problem is - you've got a fake carbon top yoke cover, lol...

Kowalski wrote:I see what the problem is - you've got a fake carbon top yoke cover, lol...

Can't say I ever noticed until you pointed it out [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Check the breather pipes aren't blocked or trapped if you've had the tank off. Check the fuel filter too.
I'm no expert but it sounds like it's sparking and starting then not having enough fuel flow to keep it going.
Also, it might sound stupid, but does it have a reserve switch?

Sounds fuel related, set the fuel tap to prime and give it another go? If it has one, that is.

Fuel pump??

Fuel pump? It's got carbs.

So why did fuel pump fix kits come up for kawasakis when I did a search? It was just a guess and a Internet search ade. :)

Just did another search just to see and found this . Here's a link [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

:)

Bugger me, never knew that. How stupid is that.

Update, yesterday I stripped & cleaned out carbs, a couple of the jets were a little clogged up. Built it back up today & now runs ok ish, I took it round the block a couple of times & there is a flat spot at 4500rpm.
When its not moving sounds ok ie no flat spot. as soon as it gets past 5000rpm its off like a shot.

Any ideas [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Assuming you're sure the carbs are now all clear (and correctly set up, balanced etc), what mileage has it done? Dunno about the ZX6, but teh ZX9 was always well known for carb wear at higher mileage causing poor fuelling and rough running, especially if they'd had a Dynojet kit in (the needles wore the carbs, requiring the whole bank of carbs to be binned and replaced).