hi all i purchased a suzuki across about 2 weeks ago. i put new slide holders, plugs, engine oil, coolant and new brake pads front and back and just purchased a carby jet kit, chain and 1 tooth smaller sprocket for the rear and a new standard for the front, i will be putting in soon. after i had done all the work to the bike it would start hot or cold, but now i have a few problems. 1. the bike wont start when its cold 2. the battary goes flat within 10 seconds. its a new battery i bought 2 weeks ago when i got the bike. can anyone help me resolve this issue? i will be posting pics of the bike soon for all to see cheers josh
Hmm, tough one... How much oil did you put in ? If you look at the window on the side of the engine, is it showing up half way up the glass with the bike standing up ? With the new slide holders, did you adjust the the carby needles ? Or mess with the air fuel mix screws ? If you pop the old jets back in, will it start, what size jets did you install ? if the battery isnt holding charge, then it could simply be failling, are the terminals clean and firmly attached to the battery, when it does run, can you put a multimeter and emasure the voltage at idle that will tell you if the bikes charging system is working?
hi chris i put the same carby kit in as you bought the needles went in the same position as they came out the bike was running fine before and after, so i didnt change the needles. i put 2900ml of oil with a new oil filter as the owners manual said. for a week it has started hot or cold its just started happening for 2 days now. dont know what else to try cheers josh
Hey Josh Am a little perplexed with what has happened with your bike. Originally I thought you may have purchased different jets, but your response clearly rules that out. Think you may need to remove the carbs and check everything again. As for your battery issue, if all terminals are good and clean then take the battery back to place of purchase and have it checked. I have never had a battery die that quickly, your charging system may or could be at fault. One last thing, is your choke connected properly. Check it out. Phil
i had the battery checked today and its fine, the same as a new tester on off the shelf. i have ordered a new battery through work cause we didnt have one instock, my current one is a lion battery and i wouldnt give them the thumbs up thats for sure. DO NOT BUY i adjusted the idle cable today and it almost started. i also put the old jets back in and it wouldnt even bite. do you think it could be the carbies not tuned properly or something to do with the carbies. this is really annoying me.. i work for holden in armidale nsw, i sell caravans, boats, new and used cars, can-am husqvarna and kawasaki motorbikes, kara kar horse floats, custom trailers and golf carts. all 6 head mechanics of the workshop cant give me an answer as to what it is.. between all the mechanic there is over 40 years of wisdom and still cant get nothing. the thing that gets me is the bike would start for the last 2 weeks, now wouldnt start when its cold. i can roll start the bike, even when the battery is flat and it will start first run down the road. after i take it for a 10 minuter ride the battery is full of charge and will start perfectly for the next 3-4 hours. the battery still has charge, but wont start then the battery goes flat with in 10 second of work. what would be causing the bike not to start when its cold cause that seems to be the problem. all i can think of is the carbies or idle cable. i havent replaced the fuel lines but do you think this could be the issue. hopefully someone can help josh
Hey Josh Has to be something simple, in order for a bike to start you need 3 things, fuel, air and spark, one or more of these things is missing... if this was my bike, I would pull the plugs, if they are black, then that may well be the problem... could be $20 fix , I have had problems with cheap batteries on Across's , even though the starter will crank, there wont be enough amps for the rest of the electrical system and she wont fire up. I would also pull the plug leads from all 4 plugs and insert a clean plug into the spark plug gap and hold next to the head\block with something insulated ( dont hold it in your hand or use something metal as you will get a shock) and try the starter, if you see spark between the plug and the block then move onto the next plug until you test all 4, this will tell you if the coils, CDI and plug leads are okay. I would also make sure the plug leads arnt arking on the frame.. look for scorch marks on the plug leads. Next I would check that the carbies are sitting firmly in the carby boots attached to the cyclinder head, any air leakage around there will effect the starting of the bike. I would pull the carbies off and put your old jets in,just to rule it out, I would also remove the pilot jets and ensure they arnt blocked as they are needed to start the bike ( main jets kick in from 1/4 to wide open throttle). Did you adjust the air fuel mixture screws , they should be about 1 1/2 turns out... dont play with this until its your last resort as you will need someone to balance them once you have messed with them ? Can you also check the choke screws are properly screwed into the carby, I left them off my bike once and it would start. Can you check the main fuel hose isnt kinked...also check that when you turn the key that the fuel pump goes tick, tick, tick, tick... to eaily test this, you can remove the fuel hose from the carby and place the end into a small container, then turn the key, the fuel pump should pump fuel out. Do you have a fuel filter ? could it be blocked ? Is your airbox on ? Running the bike without the air box will make it run super rich and can cause issues starting. Did you mess with the idle adjuster ? if its too low, it wont start either. Finally, check where your carby needles are set at, from memory they are supposed to be set at 3rd notch down , see http://suzukiacross.org/2007/05/30/adjusting-the-carburettor-needles/ the higher the needle is set ( ie 1 or 2) the leaner it will run , the lower the needle ie 4 or 5, the richer it will run . Shame your not any closer to brisbane... I could pop down for a look. have a look in the download section of the forum, the workshop manual is there so you can download it. Good luck Chris
i just had another look at my choke cable and i have relised that the connection near the handle bars is threaded and screwed on wrong.. could this be my problem. i think it could be because when i played around with it the bike staryed up normaly again. i will need a new cable and the connection that connects up to the handle bars. does anyone know where to get these from??
How did u go with this problem?.....did u get a new choke setup? At least the weather has warmed up a little there ;D
hi mate. i havent been on the site for a while. my across is long gone. sold it 2 months ago for $2000 and bought a GSXR250R srad import its a nice bike but parts are really hard to find lol.. sorry about the late reply i had a accident on my R1 and been out of action for a while. i hit a dog on the way to work. if you or anyone would know where to get parts from for the GSXR that would be awsome. cheers guys josh
for sure ill have to do it when i get home cause pics are on my computer. its black and yellow, 88 import, 15110k, perfect condition. all standard but ill be putting a exhaust and few other its on it but ill keep the std parts. i picked it up for $1900. it was sitting in the previous owners shed for 6 years. i had to do a few thing like new oil, fuel, plugs, leads, new jets, i need a part for the thottle where it connects to the carby as mine is broken. having trouble finding the part though, the manual i got is in japanese so i dunno what the part number is lol. it came with engineers certificate and compliance ready for the road. check up about 7 tonight and ill have some pics up for you cheers josh
