FZRSupport: the FZROnline Archive

Hey there, I have an '89 model bike. I recently purchased this motorcycle for 900 off of craigslist, with minimal problems, which it seemed like at first. I fired her up two days in a row perfectly, next day it took about half an hour to get it started. I did not hear the pump turn on when I turned the key, battery sounded like it was a a little low, so the bike got jumped from a car for about 20minutes total. After trying and trying, took the airbox off, and I could see that it was not getting fuel. Could the problem be that while the voltage from the battery is low, the fuel pump cannot sense the battery? After spraying some carb cleaner over top of the carbs, it finally started to turn over. I'm pretty new to this bike and all of these electrics! I've worked on a 1976 honda cb750, gravity fed, of course, and my newly attained fzr600 has me boggled!

Charged the battery, getting a reaction with the pump! still no fuel though, choke is on. I havent a clue whats going wrong

Silly question...petcock turned to on?

Of course! pet cock is on, choke is on, fuel pump clicks. Ill get a couple "put puts" from the bike but thats about it

Take a light and look in the tank and see if you have trash. If not then try breaking the hose on the pet cock , before and after the fuel pump and see what happens.

Well I did say it was a silly question. Anyway, It's still gravity like the cb but just getting help from the pump. My guess would be some gunk has possibly clogged, the petcock, lines, or filter (as was just stated). Basically time take off the tank and have a look see. Welcome to fzrs bud.

I'm with sweekster on this one. You should be able to remove the fuel line from the petcock and with the petcock in the "on" position verify that gas is in fact gravity flowing from the petcock/tank. Check the "reserve" petcock postion as well for gravity fuel flow. This will probably make a mess if the tank isn't removed from the bike so be prepared. If fuel is flowing from here your next likely culpurit is the inline fuel filter or fuel lines. The filter could be beyond its serivce life and needs to be changed or your fuel lines could be compromised.

Fuel lines are not compromised, all the way from the petcock thru the fuel pump. Sprayed engine starter over the carbs and some carb cleaner. Engine turned over with a hard time and some backfires, took about 10minutes to run smoothly after that. I'm still not sure whats going on. I recently just started on motorcycles, alongside the much simpler CB, so I'm still learning a lot. What exactly is happening here? With the airbox taken off, when I try to start it up, should I see a spray of gas coming from the top of the carbs? Hoping I dont have to do too much dissasembly, this bike is not made for large hands.. but I'm here to listen and learn!

With the air box off you will more than likely see some fuel atmoizing on the inlet side of the carbs. So the good new is you are getting gas to the carbs at least sporatically. Check your fuel pump connetions to make sure everything is tight and not corroded or something there.

My 600, is cold blooded when it comes to starting it, if it has sat for a while. Once everything is warmed up it's a non-issue. I'm wondering if you might not be in need of a valve shimming to cure your hard to start symptoms. It is an '89, how many miles on the odo? Any idea if/when the last valve lash was done? The back fire might be another indicator of needing a valve adjustment. Since the ignition system also fires on the exhaust stroke. With unburnt fuel in the combusiton chamber and the plug firing on the exhaust stroke you have back fire.

I don't want to lead you a wide goose chase so it wil be interesting to see what others have to say.

Oh yes and a sincere Welcome from myself as well.

I recently purchased the motorcycle, so I don't know when the last valve job was done. The motorcycle is at 19,xxx. I took out the spark plugs, and they were carbon fouled, so it's definitely running rich. Im going to save up for a couple weeks, I guess, and have the motorcycle properly tuned. As much as I hate the idea of paying out the rear end for labor costs, I do not have the proper tools for all this, and no garage :[ so I can do little work in my basement .. It won't be too wild of a goose chase though! I can fix small problems, and minimize the length of the list of things to be done, until I have to take it to a professional.