My bike has sat for a long time. It was mostly because of a bad (clogged) carburetor and the cheap new bowl gaskets they sell that don't work. I cleaned it, put it back together and it would leak around the bowl when running. Took the original bowl gasket out, order a new one that looked too thin, put it together and it leaks. Repeat. Finally came up with a solution that works and no leaks so far.
01 Vulcan 800 Classic
Under 5k miles
Carbs were jetted by Kawasaki dealer, Cobra exhaust, EPA equipment still installed.
I meant to drain all the old gas but I accidentally turned the petcock to prime for a second after putting it back together. I drained about a half gallon to look for water or debris in it, I did not see anything. I did add Sta-Bil in it before. I have not added any fresh gas to it yet.
Anyway, tried to fire it up and with the choke open on a cold start, the front cylinder will fire but the rear will not. Figured I would change the spark plugs. Got new ones, gapped the plug, installed them, same problem. Pulled the wire rear boot off the plug and the wire came out of the boot. Stuck it back in, tried the old front plug in the boot and held it to the engine and it sparked. Made sure the wire was in the boot pretty good and put it back in the engine. Tried to start it again and same problem. I even pulled the new plug out and tried the same thing and it sparks. The old plugs aren't really that old because I have changed them before. It will ignite the one cylinder and try to keep running but then dies. After a few tries, one exhaust gets warm, the other does not.
So before I get tired of taking the tank off and letting the bike sit again, I thought I should see if anyone has any ideas. I have the gauge to do a compression test if you think I should. It has less than 5k miles on it and no hard riding so I would think it would be fine. Last oil change was not that long ago as far as mileage goes, but I can do that if you think gas got in the cylinders and made it into the oil. The petcock and float valve have not been a problem that I can recall.
So any ideas or suggestions?
01 Vulcan 800 Classic
Under 5k miles
Carbs were jetted by Kawasaki dealer, Cobra exhaust, EPA equipment still installed.
I meant to drain all the old gas but I accidentally turned the petcock to prime for a second after putting it back together. I drained about a half gallon to look for water or debris in it, I did not see anything. I did add Sta-Bil in it before. I have not added any fresh gas to it yet.
Anyway, tried to fire it up and with the choke open on a cold start, the front cylinder will fire but the rear will not. Figured I would change the spark plugs. Got new ones, gapped the plug, installed them, same problem. Pulled the wire rear boot off the plug and the wire came out of the boot. Stuck it back in, tried the old front plug in the boot and held it to the engine and it sparked. Made sure the wire was in the boot pretty good and put it back in the engine. Tried to start it again and same problem. I even pulled the new plug out and tried the same thing and it sparks. The old plugs aren't really that old because I have changed them before. It will ignite the one cylinder and try to keep running but then dies. After a few tries, one exhaust gets warm, the other does not.
So before I get tired of taking the tank off and letting the bike sit again, I thought I should see if anyone has any ideas. I have the gauge to do a compression test if you think I should. It has less than 5k miles on it and no hard riding so I would think it would be fine. Last oil change was not that long ago as far as mileage goes, but I can do that if you think gas got in the cylinders and made it into the oil. The petcock and float valve have not been a problem that I can recall.
So any ideas or suggestions?