Hey guys, i decided to take my bike for a spin tonight with my friend on the back of it. As i was riding, i was having problems taking off from a complete stop. The engine seemed to seize as if it had no petrol in it. So i switched it to reserve but still had the same problem. So i pulled into a servo and checked the tank it was nearly full!!!! Anyone know what can cause this? also i notice my bike has a flat spot between 3-5 thousand rpms. unless u give it alot of throttle it seems like its about to stall. maybe this may have something to do with it. I was thinking of turning my idle screw up a little higher. What do u guys think?
The fzr just doesn't really have any power that low - hampered by the fact that there is increased weight with two of you. You would likely find the same thing occurring if you took off from a relatively steep uphill slope (without pillion). I doubt there are any other problems with it - fzr's just like to be revved. When you take off rev it higher (6000+) and use your clutch to control. Usable begins at around 6000, optimal power between 12-14000 (I used to take off between 8-10 000, and then increase to 12-14000 if I wanted to 'play'). Increasing the idle won't help that much with the take-off - it may help with the stalling issue, but if you take off with higher revs then stalling isn't an issue If the bike can idle well at standstill (either when it is on its sidestand or when stopping at lights) then there shouldn't be a need to increase it. Idle should be set to somewhere around 2000 revs (which is unfortunately hard to ascertain considering the tacho stops at 4000). A higher idle will use more fuel and actually remove some of the 'feel' from the engine.
ok, so in other words i should ride the clutch on take-off. Is that how its supposed to be done? i remember giving my ex a lessons a few lessons in manual driving which resulted in me forking out $800 to get a new clutch put in. is it safe to do this on my bike?
Bike and car clutches are entirely different and it is safe to ride a bikes clutch (within reason). The main point is that it is a sequential gearing which is immersed in oil (wet clutch). Car clutches are not sequential and not in oil, and as a result can 'burn out'. You should still release the clutch once you are up to speed, but each gear change you can ride the clutch for a short distance to make the changes smoother as well. Bike clutches will still eventually fail (oil is not the only factor in 'wear' of the clutch - but it is a major one which is another reason to do regular oil changes). Riding the clutch excessively may cause this failure to occur earlier, but I rode mine as above for over 25 000 k's without issue. I have heard that dropping the clutch etc. (i.e. hard starts) will wear it faster because the clutch barrell will begin to groove irregularly and cause missing gears etc. It used to be relatively common for large bore sports bikes to have 2nd gear slippage or lose 2nd gear entirely because of this wearing - they put it in second and it essentially acts as though it is neutral meaning that the rider needs to skip 2nd and put it into 3rd. This is caused by 'harsh' gear changes between 1st and 2nd (which is usually the hardest because that is when you are still accelerating). This has been reduced in some of the newer sports bikes - apparently they have patterned the grooves on the clutch barrel differently - but some older models had / have this problem (i.e. fj1200, rf900) As a side note - ducati clutches are dry clutches (not immersed in oil). I have heard ducati riders say that they need to replace clutches on some models every 30 000 k's, sometimes earlier. I still want an st4...
I've had similar problems with stalling at idle mate. My '88 model runs beautifully when the revs are up but you have to be on the case at traffic lights 'cos sometimes it cuts out. Apparently the main cause is a carby problem - even cleanign them and getting them serviced doesn't always fix it (according to the guy at brighton kawasaki). Like Boz I just rev the hell out of it on take off and go easy on the clutch. Speeding up the idle helped too.
prob 1 mine s d same...my engine dies wen i make full stop at traffic lights even i pull the clutch. but ther r some conditions. engine dies at full stop if i use front brake (full clutch) so i have to rev alot. if i neutral before i make a full stop, i dont have to rev and d engine wont die. if i use the rear break on full stop and im not in neutral (full clutch), the engine wont die. prob 2 wen i go to work, ders a steep angle road that i have to overcome. At the peak of that road I have to make a full stop just to make sure the road is clear. The bike is still hanging so i have to front break, full clutch. If the road is clear i have to make a 90 degree left turn quickly. I have to do it quick coz motorist wont give way. everytime i use that road my bike stalls unless i wont do a full stop which is unsafe. In that scenario, the bike's weight is very noticeable. even i play the clutch i always stall unless i rev high..very loud
prob 1 - sounds like you are flooding the engine. If you pull up quickly you will flood the carbs and stall the engine. Some improvements to this include speeding up the idle speed (but not too much) and revving the bike as you are stopping. Back brake does not cause the front to dive nearly as much so that is why it likely isn't stalling. prob 2 - I would continue to do what you are doing - revving the engine enough so that it doesn't stall. In this case it sounds the opposite of prob 1 - sounds like you may be starving the engine of fuel. I am not sure if there are any real fixes except for finding another way to work. Hopefully someone else could help with these too!?!?
