FZRSupport: the FZROnline Archive

I got my bike running but I am still having some minor electrical issues. I bought a brand new master relay hoping it would help some of w issues but no such luck. Any and all input would be greatly appreciated.

I have two wires with power going into the handle controls.

Things working
Headlights both low and high work
Kill switch
Start button
Tail lights and side lights are all on none bright
Fuel pump

Things not working
Horn
Turn Signals when they are supposed to be flashing
Brake Lights when braking
Tachometer
Temp Gauge

other things to note
Turn signal on dash is lite solid
Neutral light on dash is not on

I think it has something to do with the front turn signals. When I removed both front running/turn signals the light on the dash went out and so did the rear turn signals.

Hopefully someone can help me figure this annoying wiring problem out.

On the bike I have a two blacks spliced together, blue, and green/chocolate
On my lights I have red, black, and black with white stripe.

Turn signal issue ended up being some wiring issues. I cut the wires and wired in some new weather proof quick disconnects.
Temp gauge was a bad connector so I replaced it as well. I ended up finding a blown fuze on my triple check of them. Most of the light bulbs in the gauges were burned out.

One last problem left until I can start riding.

Brake lights. If I jump the wires the lights come on, so I am left to think that the switches are burned out. Maybe just corrosion on the inside preventing a electrical connection.

Is there anything I can do aside from ordering replacement stop switches?

Disconnect each switch, get the ohmmeter / test light in there; confirm that it really does NOT 'make' when the brake lever / pedal is actuated. Also check the adjustment of the rear brake switch.

Rear brake switch was out of adjustment.
Front switch is not working at all, ordered a new one.

I think that takes care of my electrical issues. I should be out riding but she still has a few gremlins inside of her.



So last night I had it all put back together just needed a couple of things but now she doesn't want to stay running. I found out that the fuel pump wasn't getting any fuel. Pulled the tank and it was just a plumbing issue, probably a kinked line or something. With the tank on the ground and a fully charged battery I got it to fire up. Choke open all the way and I had to open the throttle to get her to fully catch. So I got it up to four thousand rpm, it started to 'backfire' so I closed the choke. About thirty seconds later is started to drop off, slowly it worked its way down to three thousand rpm. So I opened the throttle a bit more to try and keep it at four thousand. About another fifteen seconds later it dropped all the way and just shut off, kind of like it ran out of gas. Turn off and on the kill switch, fuel pump primes and it makes the humming sound like when it has gas pumping through it, rather then the clicking when it is dry. Tried to start it a few times with the start button and the starter spun up like it should but no sputtering or backfiring. I pulled off the air box and the carbs may have smelled like there was excess fuel. I checked the diaphragms if you will, by pushing them open, three of the four seemed like normal. The one on the right, the highest one, seems a little stiff but still operable. I am missing two of the tiny plastic gaskets that sit between the carb and the diaphragm or it's cover. I was able to find one but the other is no where to be found. Maybe my idle knob needs some fine tuning. Maybe the ignition box is having problems. Maybe the carbs are out of sync. Maybe this the bike is just cursed or maybe it doesn't want to be driven anymore. Everything was good last week, I could jump the wires and it would fire right up.

I am so close yet so far away. Any and all input would be greatly appreciated.

.:Edit:.

i was able to get it started, i am not exactly sure what the issue was. i can't get the resting idle to sit any lower then 2.5 - 3 thousand rpm. is this a normal idle range for the bike? when the idle was below two thousand rpm is seeemed to be having some troubles staying in one range, it kept stumbling. maybe i can get a picture of it when i start it up after it cools down.

I also had a bit of smoke coming off of the radiator. i let it get a little over 2/3 the way up the temp gauge and the fan did not come on. i know that a fan switch would band-aid the problem i just haven't had a chance to get to installing it yet. maybe that is a project for tomorrow.

I can't seem to bleed the front brakes. it is not my first time at the rodeo but i did go and buy a syringe and some tubing to try and force the fluid back up the lines. Which didn't work, i had enough force on the plunger it kept blowing out at the tubing to bleeder valve connection. So i tried to use it like a vacuum and pull fluid from the master cylinder to the front brakes. on the right caliber i was able to pull about 20cc of fluid but the left one did not seem to want to pull much of anything. i am thinking about pulling off the calipers and checking to see that the pistons are free moving. They may be seized up from sitting around, but i would not expect this to restrict fluid flow.

[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=QuDMcJLtPjk[/youtube]

Hey, another WI rider! If you're on the lakeshore let me know.

Does your bike behave any better with the airbox on? I know that without jetting these bikes tend to run a little funny without the box. If it still won't behave then a carb cleaning might be in order. I'm no carb expert, but these didn't seem too scary once I decided to actually take them apart. Before getting too involved I'd at least see how it behaves. I usually start mine on full choke (usually no throttle needed), wait for the RPMS to hit ~3k (happens within a few seconds) then modulate the choke down so the motor is running ~2k while it warms up. If I'm running it n the driveway while getting ready I'll stop and adjust the choke in every time the RPMS start creeping back up. Once I'm on the bike and about a minute down the road, I'll put the choke all the way in. Idle spec in the manual, if I remember correctly, is 1100. Mine will run there all day with no choke once it's warmed up.

My fan seemed to kick on near the top of the gauge, and it took forever for it to get warm enough. I've only had it happen once or twice in the driveway in the 8 years I've had the bike, and maybe a handful of times while on the road; with every time being sitting in stop and go traffic on the hottest of hot days. Try applying voltage to it just to make sure it spins and if so try letting it idle again in the driveway to see if it comes on. The other site (fzrarchives.com) had a sticky on the operation of the system and the installation of a switch that didn't interfere with the original operation, but I don't remember where I saw it.

As far as the brakes, it is an absolute pain to bleed that master cylinder the first time. When I replaced my shitty old brake fluid, I would pump it a whole bunch of times and then stop (making sure the hole stayed covered with brake fluid), give the master cylinder a few taps, and a bunch of bubbles came out. I did this no less than 100 times before it finally seemed right. I'm not sure if there is a better way to do it. Since the MC is a pain to bleed no matter what, it might not be a bad idea to just take the entire system apart, flush all of the old fluid out, clean up the calipers nicely so they move smoothly, and then put it back together and bleed it so you are starting with a good system you won't have to take apart for a while.

Hey, thanks for the input I appreciate it. I am hiding down in Milwaukee.

It does much better with the air box on, I did play with the fuel/air ratio and I am able to get it to sit bout 1,200 - 1,500 on idle. I am still having some issue but I think my stator is toast, I can only idle the bike for about half an hour before the battery is dead. Brand new battery last year. I think my carbs are out of sync. But that seems like a small issue since I can limp it over to a shop and have them sync it for me.

The fan hopefully is working, I just picked up parts to wire a switch in to manually control it. But I have been more focused on getting the brakes working to spend time to wire in the switch.

Now the annoying part.
I pulled my brakes all off and cleaned them. Not pristine but good enough. I was able to blow through all three brakes line, which tells me they are not collapses. I separates the calipers and pulled each piston to check seals. They seem to be in decent order, I think they would be letting brake fluid leak out at the piston if they were shot. Two of the four pistons seemed seized up in the caliper but eventually they broke free and popped out. Everything went back together pretty good. One caliper both pistons needed a little persuasion to go back in, but a few light taps on a socket wih my needles nose got them to seat back into place. I reassembled everything making sure I had all the washers in their proper place. I connected my syringe to the right side caliper and pushed fresh dot4 fluid back into the system. At first it squirted out the left side bleeder, then slow leaks all the way up to the master cylinder connection. I figured I would leave them cracked just a hair to force any air out of the connector. Then I bench bleed the master cylinder. Yeah probably was a better way but damnit my thumb works so nicely. Got the air out of the master cylinder and then quickly connected the top connector. I gave the lever a few flicks to try and get any air that may have creaped into the master cylinder, there were some tiny air bubbles that came out but still not much of a lever. Alright so now I am kind of irritated but I figured I would use the old fashion crack the bleeder open and shut them to get ride of any air, that didn't help, but maybe a little air came out. Then I decided to try and force fluid back up the system, that didn't work. It seems like the master cylinder is preventing me from pushing it back through the system because when I cracked the connector loose at the master I was able to force fluid back through. I tried all sorts of lever positions, open, closed, 80, 20 , 50 nothing seemed to work. So the. I tried sucking it out, well that went up up like a lead ballon. So now I am getting pissed, what the heck do I have to do to bleed these brakes. My last brilliant idea was to take my hose and connect it to the bleeder and prop it up in the air. I cracked open my bleeder while holding the brake in and forced fluid I to the tube, all fluid no air. I gave the caliper a little smack with a small hammer trying to dislodge any stubborn air bubbles. Now I just have it sitting with a zip tie on the brake pulling it back about 3/4 of the way, the bleeder open with the tube on it half full of brake fluid. I am hoping that the tube will fill full of fluid and help any air bubbles find their way out while still keeping the system sealed.

I did not read everything but what lines are you running? 1 from the master that splits into 2? 2 lines from the master?

Did you try any of this?

http://fzronline.com/wiki/doku.php?id=b ... _5_minutes

http://fzronline.com/wiki/doku.php?id=c ... ke_systems

One line that splits into two.

Yeah I basically did all of both of those two links. The only thing I didn't do is crack the bleeder free at the master cylinder and try to bleed from there, but i did bench bleed the master before install and had fluid flowing up from the calipers before I reconnected the hose.

I would check out that stator, the entire electrical system on these bikes is picky but pretty simple and it just might run better with the right voltage. I had a broken connector on my stator where it plugs into the rest of the harness that I had to replace because I could see my lights randomly dim when riding at night. I just used generic connectors that I found in an electrical kit I had that fit in the plug hole that the stator plugs in to. I cut the crap connector off at the stator and removed it from the stator plug, crimped a good connector to the wire, and plugged it back into the plug on the stator. I had planned on that being a temp fix until I could replace the stator, but it's been working perfect for several seasons so I just left it there. Also swap over to the newer style regulator if you have not done so. You won't regret it. Rock solid voltage all the time is awesome.

I have no idea on the brakes, are you getting bubbles in the master cylinder if you pump it with the cover off? Did your master cylinder seem to build pressure properly when you had it disconnected and used your thumb (ie the master cylinder is not bad)? It was several years ago (like 2006) that I redid my brakes, but that technique sounds familiar and I still remember having to pump the brake lever no less than 100000 times and keep adding fluid before the bubbles finally stopped. It's a tiny hole in the master cylinder so even a small amount of air will take a while to pass through it.

I finally had a chance to pull the stator cover off. I found one of the wires was hanging on by a thread. I re did the splic, yeah previously spliced together, and it seems to be working now.

Brakes, I got as much air out of it as I could. I was thinking about it the past couple of days and I couldn't really tell how far the lever pulled back since it was off the bike when I did my testing. There is pressure comming out of it but the lever just pulls back to the handle every time, with little to no resistance. Is this something that a rebuild kit will take care of or do I need a completely new unit?

That doesn't really sound like it bled all the way, you should get resistance when the hole is covered with your thumb. I've seen instructions like "pull the lever half way, plug the outlet hole, release the lever to draw in fluid, repeat until you get good resistance on the lever." I did mine still on the bike with the wheel turned all the way left so the cylinder was close to level. Just be careful with brake fluid around paint.

I believe that either a rebuild kit (which I've never done) or a replacement master cylinder is an option. Check the for sale section. A few years back on the other forum I got a complete front brake system (still hooked together and everything) for the cost of shipping.

Use a zip tie to hold the brake lever against the bar overnight. The constant pressure helps force tiny bubbles out of solution, and form into larger, more easily bled bubbles.

I played with the brake lever and got a pretty solid lever, for the most part. i just adjusted the amount of travel, worked a few bubbles out and it now stops the bike while i am pushing it. My plan is to zip tie open the lever over night to hopefully get all the air bubbles out.

This bike is turning into a real pain in my ass.

I had everything good to go, just finishing buttoning it up so i can go riding tomorrow after work then... clunk, bam, splat. "son of a bitch" wrenches go flying, so i shut it off, crank it over, and it is not wanting to start. even with the throttle open it just wants to spin at one grand. open the idle air and it catches and will run a little bit but now it is back firing like crazy. so i pull the battery out charge it up, check my stator nope not the problem. try it again. this time the starter doesn't want to engage, so i pull the cover off and find out three teeth are missing on the lower gear.

Does anyone know of an aftermarket "Gear 3" I can buy or is the new oem gear good enough?

Any ideas on what is the hell caused this to happen?