FZR600 Resurrection and Frame Swap?

[FZR-kyle]

Next questions:

Idling issue: I can't seem to get the bike off the choke. When I first start it, I have to put it on full choke and it fires up reluctantly at first. it usually takes a few tries to get it where it will stay running. Still on full choke, it will idol between 2.5k and 2k rpms sometimes dropping down to 1k rpm's. If I don't blip the throttle, it dies, if I do blip the throttle it goes to about 3k rpms for a second or so, and then goes back to 2.5 to 2k rpms. So it sounds like to me it's not getting enough gas, right?

After a minute or two, I start to slowly decrease the choke, and it seems to run better until about half to just under half choke, and any lower and will die right away.

This is the first carburetor that I've ever worked on so I'm not sure what I should do. I followed the video posted somewhere on the forum on how to clean the carbs, and was very careful when putting the gaskets and so on back into the carbs, so I don't think that is the issue, and the carburetor boots on my bike looked to be in pretty good shape, a couple minor cracks, but still flexible and soft (or as soft as rubber gets in 40 degree weather)

I've checked the spark plugs and they all look good and have spark too. I don't have a temp gun, but all the exhaust pipes felt about the same temp after I worked up the courage to touch them while it was running... I know, not very smart, but I had just started it, and it wasn't too hot yet.

That's all the info I can think of to describe what I've done, so hopefully someone can point me in the right direction... I guess my next step will be to see if I can find a manometer to see if the carbs just need to be dialed in more.

One last thing... when I turn on the hi-beams sometimes they come on, and sometimes I loose all the lights in the front until I switch them back off and the low-beams come back on like normal... has anyone seen this issue before? I haven't really investigated it yet, but thought I would mention it before I chase my tail in circles trying to figure out what it is... probably just a bad ground or loose wire

[willandrip]

Replacing aging stock calipers with much younger "blue dots" is a recognised upgrade and principally done
for economy . The much newer items often just require cleaning,fitting and bleeding. No expensive seals required.
Hope you got a set with pads already fitted, that saves even more funds, just clean the pad faces on abrasive paper
and treat them as you would when fitting new pads...let them bed in gently.

From your description; the bike appears to be running on the choke circuits but when you reduce the choke it falters.
This means the pilot air or pilot fuel circuits are obstructed.
These are very narrow passageways and jets and the slightest blockage will give the symptoms described.
A strand of copper wire stripped from household or other cable aids cleaning if no proper tools are available.
Some use nylon fishing line or guitar string if they have access to them.
I clean small jets once; if that fails or the problem returns soon after then the jets are replaced with new as it is more cost/time effective.

An acquaintance swears by cleaning jets with very high pressure compressed air via a blow gun.
This invariable blasts the jet out of ones fingers, across the garage and thus never to be seen ever again.
This results in new jets being fitted and that removes the jet from the equasion !


The lighting problem may be dirty switch contacts or often corroded earth connections.

It may be better to start new posts for each topic if problems continue.....what tends to happen on forums is the questions and answers become a wall of text or something of novel proportions and readers skip over to the next post.

[FZR-kyle]

I just cleaned the jets using a guitar string (followed the video on one of the other posts). They all looked clear and had no obstructions inside them that I could see. Should I play around with the idle screw and see if it's not opened up enough?

It has pod air filters on it (not sure why, PO did it), and I'm not sure if the PO re-jetted the carbs, would that cause the problem also? Should I get a re-jet kit for all of jets or just the pilot jet, and which stage? I'm pretty sure it still has stock exhaust, It's black and has no decal's or plates saying what brand it is...

It may be better to start new posts for each topic if problems continue.....what tends to happen on forums is the questions and answers become a wall of text or something of novel proportions and readers skip over to the next post.

I'll keep that in mind.

[FZR-kyle]

This morning when I started it, I felt the exhaust pipes again, and the 2nd cylinder was cold and all the others were hot. I don't know if i just didn't feel it yesterday, or it just started to not fire, but it sounded the same as yesterday, so most likely I didn't feel it.

I took the spark plug out and it has a strong spark, and was gapped to .30 and I could smell gas after I took the plug out. The only thing I can think of is that I completely effed up the carbs when I did the bench sync... I guess I'll take the carbs back off and try to re-do the synch, or maybe try to find a cheap manometer or make one out of some plastic bottles like this guy did:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GaTRyHxvneY

It looks pretty simple to do, but very time consuming to use because you have to re-level each bottle after each test...

[TomcatMJ]

http://www.fzr-forum.de/technikfaq/inde ... artlang=de <-This selfmade synchronizer (get google translate for the text and build it doubled for 4 cylinders) might be easier to use...its working the same way a carbtune (htp://www.carbtune.co.uk ) will do, but with oil instead of metalpieces and thats the reason why it will on one side be larger in its dimensions but on the other side will be cheap to build

[willandrip]

I just cleaned the jets using a guitar string (followed the video on one of the other posts). They all looked clear and had no obstructions inside them that I could see. Should I play around with the idle screw and see if it's not opened up enough?

It has pod air filters on it (not sure why, PO did it), and I'm not sure if the PO re-jetted the carbs, would that cause the problem also? Should I get a re-jet kit for all of jets or just the pilot jet, and which stage? I'm pretty sure it still has stock exhaust, It's black and has no decal's or plates saying what brand it is...

It may be better to start new posts for each topic if problems continue.....what tends to happen on forums is the questions and answers become a wall of text or something of novel proportions and readers skip over to the next post.

I'll keep that in mind.

If you can get it to start and run without the pods fitted... it is a simple matter to observe the slides and note if the offending cylinder is working to the same extent as the other 3. You may get some fuel splashback , so mind your eyes.
If the slide is not rising the same amount as the others it is possible to raise it manually.
If no jets or passageways are obstructed this should cause the cylinder to fire.

You stated that fuel was evident by smell....the plug should have been wet. If it was wet....suspect airway blockages...if dry fuel passages.

It is not unknown for plugs that fire outside a cylinder to fail under load when fitted...try swapping with a one from a running cylinder..a cheap and effective test.

Personally I do not recommend home made manometers or vacuum gauges when factory made items are readily available and cheap.

[FZR-kyle]

I tried what you said with the pods off, but I was working on the back brakes earlier and forgot I took the muffler off for easier access, so I started it with both the pods and muffler off (the pipes were still on the head gasket, only the muffler was off) It fired right up, a LOT easier than with the pods and muffler fitted... it looked to me like all the slides were moving about the same, even when I revved up the engine to 4k rpm's or so. When I go back out I'll put the muffler back on and see if that makes a difference.

I ordered a compression tester and will test it out when it gets here in a couple days. If it fails that, there are a bunch of videos on how to convert one into a leak down tester and I'll see if I can find out where it is leaking.

I also swapped the spark plug from a good cylinder (no.1) to see if it was the spark plug, it fired in no. 1, and still no fire in the 2nd. When I took out the plug it was wet from gas.

[FZR-kyle]

I'm pretty sure it is not an ignition issue, I swapped the 2 and 3 spark plug wires since they fire at the same time, and cylinder 2 still did not fire. I guess I'll have to wait and see what the compression test shows.

[willandrip]

When you stripped the carbs and cleaned the jets is there any chance you transposed 2 jets in no.2 carb ?
It is easy to do.

I do not think your problem is compression related.

[FZR-kyle]

I don't think I did, I tried to only take one jet out at a time, and put it back in the same hole... that's what she said (sorry, couldn't resist )

I guess I'll take it back off and see what I can see

[FZR-kyle]

I'm not sure what I did, but somewhere in the process of taking the carbs off and looking at all the jets, I fixed it, and all 4 cylinders are firing.

Somewhere along the line the carb adjustment screw and spring for no. 3 (I think) fell off. I guess I'll try to find a replacement tomorrow, because now cylinders 1 and 2 get very hot and cylinders 3 and 4 are cold-ish, and with the pods off I could see that the slides on 3 and 4 are not moving out far enough and there is still a rough idle... So the missing screw is effing that side up...

I think I will try to make a manometer, and if I don't like the way it runs after I try that I'll try to find a cheap one.

[FZR-kyle]

This morning I took off the front brake calipers to get ready for when the blue dots come in, so I can slap those babies on and see how she goes, or, in this case, stops .

I realized I had what appears to be stainless steel brake lines... I just never noticed because they have a "clear" hose over them that was coated in grime and was so black I thought it was rubber .

On to my actual question... has anyone used this method to bleed the brakes? And if so, what are your thoughts? I was going to try to do this to the front. My main concern is that I will be pushing all the crap in the calipers and lines back through and into the master cylinder.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8JRzN896Uyw

[willandrip]

Well...you got it running on 4 cylinders which is good.
You may have a little trouble sourcing a spring and adjuster and will probably need to fabricate one ....which is bad.

Reverse bleeding is some owners preferred method of brake bleeding.
It is particularly useful when a new system is built and all the components are bone dry of fluid.

I have never needed to bleed brakes other than in the traditional way.

[FZR-kyle]

You may have a little trouble sourcing a spring and adjuster and will probably need to fabricate one ....which is bad.

Luckily, my local powersports dealer had one they could order, and was wasn't too bad for price (I think it was around $7, I've gotten to be pretty good friends with a guy that works there and he usually charges me just above cost ). It comes with the screw, spring, and washer, so I just ordered it from there. A used one on fleabay was like 16 bucks, and all of the other ones cost at least $20 USD in shipping alone. I don't have the time, patience or tools to find/make one that will work.

Reverse bleeding is some owners preferred method of brake bleeding.
It is particularly useful when a new system is built and all the components are bone dry of fluid.

The little brake fluid that hadn't leaked out of the bike was very bad, so I took off the front calipers and they have been sitting for a few days, so they are about as dry as they are going to get without actually taking all the hoses off and cleaning them. I think I'm going to try the normal way to bleed them and if that doesn't work I'll do it again the other way.

I just started back to school from the winter break, so I won't be able to work on the bike as much as I would like, but such is life.

[willandrip]

Push the caliper pistons all the way in and fill the reservoir , open the bleed nipple with a bleed pipe into a jar and let gravity flush the system.
Refill the reservoir and bleed conventionally the next day.