FZRSupport: the FZROnline Archive

Hi All, I was able to acquire a beautiful fzr600, appears to be in almost mint shape. was sitting for about 3-6 years. PO said they started it up at least 3 times a year. This guy collects and maintains things very well. However, After riding for the first 20 minutes after picking it up (had to replace front tire prior to riding) engine bogged down , I pulled clutch in to downshift and... clunk - nothing. Tried starting it back up, starter tried kicking, then thud. the Starter would not spin.

I turn key on, lights are bright - go to crank the starter, I get a "CLICK" and the lights dim to almost nothing. I have not cracked open the engine as of yet - was hoping to have a better understanding of what it could be before getting the confidence to try. I did lots of research, possibilities are piston stuck, timing off, valves busted, or could get lucky and may be hydrolocked.

Its my first bike, I did the basic maintenance (brake fluid, oil change, checked brakes, new battery, new tire, clean chain). I dont have an issue opening up the engine, I just dont have the knowledge of what its supposed to look like once I have it opened.

Any seasoned riders/mechanics have suggestions what i should look for? Thanks in advance.

What makes you think the engine is seized or "locked up"?

I think I would remove all 4 sparkplugs & inspect them for anything out of the ordinary. Then I would jack up the bike to get the rear wheel off of the ground & put it in the highest gear (5th or 6th gear), then try to rotate the rear tire & see if the engine turns.

If you are lucky & the engine rotates as it should, then start looking for an electrical problem. Test your new battery to see if it is actually good. I bought a Bike that wouldn't start or run even after the P/O bought a new battery for it. He bought one of the cheap Chinese batteries & it had a dead cell or two in it right out of the box. It would charge up, but couldn't hold a charge long enough to operate the starter. I bought an AGM type of battery & the Bike fired right up. Check your battery leads for corrosion, etc.

I find it odd that your Bike just suddenly died. Usually that is an electrical issue. Hopefully your engine still rotates & you just have a short somewhere.

Good luck
~JM~

I felt a thud when trying to start it the second time. and now i'm not getting the started to crank at all, as if its stuck. I have tried putting in higher gear and rotating the tire, but it hasn't moved. maybe i just fear trying to cause more problems if i force it too much. I certainly will try again. Do you think I should try rolling it in reverse first?

I know the batter certainly is good, new and I tested it many times. That is pretty lucky, sometimes it's the small things that are over looked. I almost feel it was getting flooded out for some reason because it was bogging down - then poof nothing. not sure why it would run for some time then, nothing - maybe it reached a certain degree and cut out?

Pull the Sparkplugs just to see what they look like & then try rotating the engine either with the starter or by hand. Once you pull all the plugs the engine can't build compression & is much easier to rotate. This will at least help determine whether or not it's stuck.

~JM~

Is there oil in it?

Ok I will pull the plugs and try the rotation.

Yes there is fresh oil in it. I checked the coolant any looked good so I don't change it.
The kill switch is set to run (: not the average newbie.

Thanks all. More suggestions welcome. I appreciate everyone.

Any luck yet.

I had a thought...

Does your bike have a kickstand interlock switch that prevents the engine from starting/running when the kickstand is down? MAYBE... Just maybe... It has gone bad, or the kickstand spring is not pulling the kickstand up enough to release the interlock.

Anyone else know more about this?

~JM~

No luck yet, may get to pulling the plugs this weekend.

I believe there is a switch linked to it stand. Something else I thought was odd too - it would only start in neutral. I always thought most bikes can start as long as clutch was disengaged. Maybe related, or another possible issue.

Check the 2 wires that conect to your clutch lever & see if they are still connected. I believe the clutch lever is involved with that kickstand interlock.

~JM~

~JM~ wrote:Check the 2 wires that conect to your clutch lever & see if they are still connected. I believe the clutch lever is involved with that kickstand interlock.

~JM~

dtm wrote:Tried starting it back up, starter tried kicking, then thud. the Starter would not spin.

I turn key on, lights are bright - go to crank the starter, I get a "CLICK" and the lights dim to almost nothing.

The start button breaks the headlight circuit to keep all the amps going to the starter - if the headlights don't go completely out, there's something wrong with the start button. If you hear clicking with the button pushed, the safety interlocks are satisfied and are energizing the starter relay. Keep looking at the mechanical side. We had a fellow here last year with several busted teeth in the starter gears. Have you pulled the starter clutch cover yet?

Ok - plugs taken out, rusted in top - possibly residual from washing. The tips were a little oily and damp. I have replacements.

Still not able to budge when plus out. Thinking something's mechanical. However I want to try and bypass the kickstanf switch. Maybe something not sitting well with it - it is near the oil drain plug and maybe was bumped wrong while doing oil change.

The lights cut out completely on (attempt) to start. Still not starter noises - thinking gears somewhere inside are angry at me.

Off the wall thought, maybe coolant is not reaching everywhere and seized?

Thinking I'm going to have to set some time aside so I can crack this thing open and look for some metal shrapnel. Thanks all, ill update you ASAP and thank you all for your help.

-also the smaller connection under the clutch handle was disconnected. But connected and still nothing changed.

It is beginning to sound more mechanical & unfortunately more serious now. I was hoping it was an electrical problem because they are usually easy to fix once you finally figure out what it is. I'm not really able to offer anything more without being there to see what is going on.

Good luck
~JM~

Thanks JM - I'm thinking so too, maybe I'll get lucky - either way I think is great experience for me to learn and get advice from you guys. I just need to grab a haynes manual and time to crack it open. Thank you