Bike: 1995 Kawasaki ZX-6R

I just got the bike painted and was sitting for about 2 weeks. When I put it together it took a little while to get it started. I put new Spark Plugs in and everything and now the bike "cannot" make it to 9k rpms.

It will start and idle fine and I can blip the throttle, once I give it too much it starts to bogg and if I keep on the throttle it will die. It fights to get to where its even 5k. I dont understand, my friend said it might be a stuck valve or something but I was not driving it hard at all before it was painted. I am looking for any ideas so please bring them on. Im am so frustrated now its all good looking nice and now it wont move anywhere.

Please let me know if you guys have any ideas and how much it may cost to fix

 

i believe its not a stuck valve but a floating a valve. a floating valve is when the valve can operate at idle and a few thousand RPMS above that but when it gets up to higher engine speeds the valve doesn't like to go back to the valve seat which basically means the valve stays open the whole time and causes unwanted airflow.

No idea how much it would cost but this is what it sounds like to me have your dealer check it out

 

This is also a popular opinion among my friends who know more about bikes than i do. If anybody can do me a favor and they have had this repaired or let me know what I should do.

I would like to know how much it would "generally" cost. Thanks for the help, im sooo ****** bummed.

 

Before you go tearing your engine apart and getting major work done, check your carbs . . . try taking 'em off and giving them a good cleaning, check your floats, everything necessary to proper operation . . . it sounds like a classic case of it sat too long and now the carbs are gunked up . . . especially if you use lower octane gas . . . Why would a "floating" valve happen just by the bike sitting for a while? doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me either, though I'm sure its possible . . . If it is a valve problem, your looking at getting your top end rebuilt, which isn't a good idea with stock piston rings, so realistically looking at a rebuild, or new engine . . . check your carbs FIRST though!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by slylos &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Before you go tearing your engine apart and getting major work done, check your carbs . . . try taking 'em off and giving them a good cleaning, check your floats, everything necessary to proper operation . . . it sounds like a classic case of it sat too long and now the carbs are gunked up . . . especially if you use lower octane gas . . . Why would a "floating" valve happen just by the bike sitting for a while? doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me either, though I'm sure its possible . . . If it is a valve problem, your looking at getting your top end rebuilt, which isn't a good idea with stock piston rings, so realistically looking at a rebuild, or new engine . . . check your carbs FIRST though!</TD></TR></TABLE>

Thanks for the info... do you think that that could happen if it was only sitting for 2 weeks. (Given it was outside in the pouring rain without a air filter in there?!?!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by type-r 01 886 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
do you think that that could happen if it was only sitting for 2 weeks. (Given it was outside in the pouring rain without a air filter in there?!?! </TD></TR></TABLE>

you mean the floating valves or gunked up carbs? check your carbs and gas, make sure you don't have water in your gas also . . . I just can't see that being a valve problem . . . its possible, but highly unlikely . . . especially sitting outside uncovered in the pouring rain for two weeks, thats almost a dead give away . . .

 

hey mine did the same thing after i got mine painted... what i did was take off my carbs and i looked in the part the fuel comes in through and and theres was a little peice of dirt in one of them... i took a air compressor and blew it out and the bike ran great... even the littlest bit of dirt will throw the fuel mixture off... carbs are very picky...

just pull the carbs off...trust me im no mechanic but its very straight foward... should only take you a couple hours to get it apart and back together

 

I guess one way to check to see even if its a major problem is to do a compression test right? Can I "borrow" one of these tools from like pepboys or something. I have no way of getting the bike to kawasaki or anything.

But I really hope it just takes some cleaning of the carbs... that would own.
Are there anyother ways to elimenate the possibility of there being something wrong with the valves?


Modified by type-r 01 886 at 4:17 PM 5/26/2004

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by type-r 01 886 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Are there anyother ways to elimenate the possibility of there being something wrong with the valves?
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Yes you can do a compression test, but don't waste your time, pull your carbs off, clean 'em out and make sure there's no water in your tank . . . thats where your problem is, not with your valvetrain . . . On a bike, if you had valve float, you probably would've already had piston slap(because of clearance issues), at which point you would've heard a loud bang and it wouldn't start anymore . . . pull off your carbs, clean 'em, check your tank, enjoy your new paint job and go riding!!

 

If it's been sitting outside open to the elements, I would first just drain the gas and start with some fresh gas. Take the Carb off and clean it out. Try the east stuff first. Don't go ripping the thing apart just yet. With no air filter something may have got in the card and is clogging a jet. Certain jets are for certain RPM ranges so it may work fine at low RPM but when you reach higher RMP it might bog. My guess is a clogged jet. If a valve was stuck in one position, I would think it wouldn't run very well even at idle.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by slylos &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

Yes you can do a compression test, but don't waste your time, pull your carbs off, clean 'em out and make sure there's no water in your tank . . . thats where your problem is, not with your valvetrain . . . On a bike, if you had valve float, you probably would've already had piston slap(because of clearance issues), at which point you would've heard a loud bang and it wouldn't start anymore . . . pull off your carbs, clean 'em, check your tank, enjoy your new paint job and go riding!!</TD></TR></TABLE>

You guys are massive amounts of help and very inspiring to rip it apart and do everything right. I think there is water in there becuase my tank had water in it when it was getting painted (to remove a dent with a stud welder). I wonder if thats the issue or is contributing to it, I dont know much about cleaning carbs but I will find a howto on the internet or something.

If anybody knows any links to one for my bike that would own. Thanks guys!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by type-r 01 886 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
I dont know much about cleaning carbs but I will find a howto on the internet or something.

If anybody knows any links to one for my bike that would own. Thanks guys! </TD></TR></TABLE>

Make a stop at your local bike shop and pick up a shop manual for it . . . I'm sure they can atleast order one of they don't have it . . . that should give you everything from checking your oil to torque settings on the main caps, though you only need instructions on how to clean your carbs and check/adjustment info for your floats, also don't forget to re-sync your carbs . . . with a little effort and that manual, I'm sure you can handle it . . .

If you know there's water in your tank, try getting it all out and getting some sort of gas/water type treatment from your auto parts store . . . follow the intructions on it and go from there . . . if the only problem is the water in your tank, you would've saved yourself a whole bunch of unnecessary work, you wouldn't believe the problems water can cause a 14.7:1 air/fuel mixture

 

Just cleaning the carb is easy. Just pull it out and take the bowl off and carb cleaner the hell out of everything. Try to spray it through the jets and just remember how everything goes back together.

J00 don't need no stinking manual.

 

hehe well i may have went a little over kill... i removed the entired set of carbs from the bike, now im going to go grab some carb cleaner and do it while they are off the bike. I am also going to replace the fuel filter.

Here were my findings:
1: The fuel filter i just noticed has a small "puddle" / gathering of rust in it from my old gas tank.

2: When I removed the bowls there were collections of the same material at the bottom under the fuel puddle.

3: There is like a dusty residue on the floats of the carbs from the rust.


From my findinds so far do you think that once I do clean everything with carb cleaner it will solve my problem? Other than the little traces of rust residue the carbs look spotless. I also did run the bike without a air cleaner for a bit before it was painted so tell me what you all think.

 

I believe your carbs have to be cleaned and syncronized thats what was wrong with the Yammaha 550 vision that i'm working one.... I was having the same problem as u....

 

What do you mean by synchronized? If that is what I need to do how do I go about doing that? As far as air/fuel... where are the adjustments on the carbs? I dont really know. Even though they are off I cant seam to locate them (I have no idea)

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by type-r 01 886 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">What do you mean by synchronized?
</TD></TR></TABLE>

I would worry about cleaning them out really good with carb cleaner and not worry so much about synchronization . . . if you really want to, you may have to call your dealer or pickup a shop manual to get the proper methods . . .
If there is rust on your filter and on your floats, then there is water in your gas . . . don't forget to clean out your tank, take it off and drain it and fill it with fresh 93 octane gasoline . . .

 

Also, after its all cleaned and put back to gether, is there a place to adjust my a/f mixture. Or is that something you must do on each carb when its removed or something?

 

That's really funny, I'm going through the same problem. I had my bike tuned up and I painted it at the same time. Once everything was put back together my bike wouldn't start. It cranks, just won't starts. When it did it wouldn't go past 5k RPM before the engine died. My carbs were cleaned during my tune up. Could it be the gas? It has been sitting for two weeks. Sorry to hijack the thread

 

AWESOME AWSOME AESOME!!!!!! I cleaned the carbs and the bike runs better than it ever did. WOW what a difference. Once again, like always honda-tech you pulled through and my bike is running great now. Now that I have it painted and running I will take pictures and post them up as soon as I can.

Thanks again for all the help guys seroiusly, i would not have known what the hell to do if it wasnt for you all. This is the first work that I have ever done on my bike and I loved every minute of it, knowing that I got the info from trustworthy people and did the work on my own (without a manual) and she runs GREAT!

HT family.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by type-r 01 886 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">AWESOME AWSOME AESOME!!!!!! I cleaned the carbs and the bike runs better than it ever did. WOW what a difference. Once again, like always honda-tech you pulled through and my bike is running great now. Now that I have it painted and running I will take pictures and post them up as soon as I can.

Thanks again for all the help guys seroiusly, i would not have known what the hell to do if it wasnt for you all. This is the first work that I have ever done on my bike and I loved every minute of it, knowing that I got the info from trustworthy people and did the work on my own (without a manual) and she runs GREAT!

HT family.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Very cool man very cool . . . definately post pics and get out there and ride!! and have fun!!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 916LuDeR &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">That's really funny, I'm going through the same problem. I had my bike tuned up and I painted it at the same time. Once everything was put back together my bike wouldn't start. It cranks, just won't starts. When it did it wouldn't go past 5k RPM before the engine died. My carbs were cleaned during my tune up. Could it be the gas? It has been sitting for two weeks. Sorry to hijack the thread</TD></TR></TABLE>

what do you mean tuned up? did the person doing the tuning up know what they were doing? why did it need to be touched? could be similar problems yes...

glad the original guy is doing good.