Kawasaki 250 F11B - dads old bike

[jaderd]

ok, straight to garage after work i did the following


wire wheeled to bare metal on

• battery neg to frame at top left of oil res bol
• bottom left bolt of oil res that a part of loom earths at
• coil mounts

I also removed the coil and looked at the new plug and what i had...if im not wrong what it had was home made, dad remembered doing something once, anyway the end had bare wires sitting there then what looks like a peg spring was pierced in at two sides hitting wires in the middle ..WTF seems so backyard...not stock is it ?

then the new one has ends to waterproof / insulate well, as tony said the new one has an inbuilt screw and just screws into the end....too easy then as for the end to clip onto the spark plug for it to occur i had to remove the tip off spark plug as internally it has a hole and a piece of wire that grips the thread as you push it on, nice tight fit is this correct ? and the rubber boot seals it nicely.

worked perfect and fitted up well.


Took bike for a ride and zero different in performance


One bonus though is that the tacho did not register at all on trailtech dash, prior even with no tacho wire connected at all it was still registering and way too high, so i think this new setup has insulated very well and i think now when i connect the tacho wire it will prob work perfect....will test it tomorrow night.


Ok final test just then was lights out in garage and test spark, spark was a nice strong purple / blue centre and orange amber outside, def working fine, which from reading means the condensor is still working fine.


this is ticking alot more boxes.


So that leaves i think points or carby still, any other simple tests ?


Cheers again for everyones input

 

[jaderd]

ok pulled off fly wheel case,


started the bike in the dark, only spark you can see is the faint blue tiny spark at the points...guessing that is normal ?


even as revving up etc no other spark anywhere at all.


i then set the points, set at .4mm and did a few small strokes of 1200 grit sandpaper between the points, went for a ride and worse...stammering throughout the rev range not just mid to top end.


Very happy as this i think means that it is the points or somewhere there related.


then realised my feeler guage is a little "tall" so it was actually causing the points to be open more than the .4 due to it sticking straight up whilst point touch at a slight angle etc.


put in a .28mm feeler guage and set and went for ride, same problem, back to original feeling of problem happening higher in revs.


finished for the day after that as was hot in garage etc.


points looked fine, not black or anything, should i keep fiddling with points gaps? or buy new points ?


cheers for any advice guys

 

[andycafe]

The points will fire the coil at the moment they close, thus completing the circuit through the primary in the ig coil. A current will then be inducted into the secondary, and put current down the lead into the plug. If you measure the ig coil off the bike on the primary, it should read 1.2 ohms or whatever the specs are for that bike. i would suspect either you have a break in the wire, the points are not connected properly, or the kill switch is giving you grief.BTW, the points, if you have not noticed, have small little plastic washers where the wire attatches, isolating the metal from the breaker points body. Often overlooked, and leads to lots of frustration.assemble parts list. new ignition coil, new points new condenser new secondary coilI can't take credit for this information I'm just keen to see you get going so i did a little looking for info on your issue

 

[jaderd]

i honestly havent disconnected the kill switch yet, i will set the points to the proper distance and then concentrate on DC of kill switch, test ride then im guessing move onto the other tests....or it may be the kill switch.,...not too confident though.


Cheers mate

 

[ProSimex]

points fire the moment they open acutally. just nitpicking.

 

[andycafe]

How you getting on?

 

[jaderd]

Cheers all



bit of a update, spent a little bit of time today on bike.


disconnected the tacho again and also the temp sensor pickup off head - no different


inspected the coil, the grey insulation appears to have no cracks at all so think that is ok at moment.


chucked battery back on charger to see if it would do anything different, it did, it went to 100% after a while on fast charge, put it in bike and within 5 clicks of indicator it was dead....checked it, dropped back to 2v approx, then out of bike on the bench the Volts began to climb again ...WTF ? so its back on charger now on trickle charge, already shows 100% though ill leave it overnight to give it a good charge and see how it is.


Havent bypassed the kill switch yet, thats next.....might have some cash coming in soon so might handball to a shop i think as im starting to deplete tests really....and patience is starting to fade


i think the points are fine, though i could swap them out....will see guessing shop would want to do that as part of their testing etc

 

[andycafe]

Hey, is it a new battery? seems like it could be a couple of things, 1: the battery is faulty or dead so even though it reads 100% when on the charger, under load from the bike it shows its true colours ( seems strange that it can only handle a few indicator flashes?) I had a similar issue on my 600, with the indicators flashing dimly and was a bugger to start (electric) so i changed to a seal no maintenance from Evolution Yamaha sweat as! 2: there is an underlying wiring issue with a huge power draw to ground with such a large drop?

I'm good with wiring so if you have a schematic diagram for the wiring I would love to have a look before you shell out your hard earned for a shop to do the same?

Cheers Andy..

 

[jaderd]

Cheers Andy,


bit of an update, i left it sit in shed for a month, i needed a break from it so i didnt get too frustrated,


have bought points, condensor and awaiting new ig coil in mail, once that arrives will fit coil first then see what that does etc and test battery, seemed to charge better second time around so will see.


will def. take you up on offer if i get stuck etc

 

[jaderd]

Got new coil, installed, zero difference , so next it's condenser and points to swap over.... Getting frustrating now lol

 

[andycafe]

Just keep plugging away, once you have it sorted this will all be a distant memory as your twisting the wrist to full power...........

 

[jaderd]

Ok,


quick update.


let bike sit another 3 weeks or more, then i fired it up the other day just to fang around the estate same problem as always ofcourse, also clutch stuck....will sort itself out due to sitting around not being used.


Also seems to hunt a little when backing off in gear....


i stopped off at a motorcycle shop nearby (Greensborough motorcycles for the locals)


Spoke to owner steve about bike symptoms etc, he mentioned he thinks it could be main bearing and the movement alters the point gap at higher revs etc.....now i dont know much so could be the exact problem.


what do you think?


he said to do main bearing if required would be like 50$ part and 500$ labor so that would be a DIY myself if it is the case as i dont want to spend the cash and would rather fix it myself and learn.


Any other ways to test main bearing ?


I still think its electrical...soo as ive said heaps i am going to .


Disconnect kill switch (steve from shop said they either work or dont shouldnt be that etc)
change points
change condensor


he can do points and condensor for me etc but once again id rather battle it myself and learn + i hate parting with cash unless i have to on a hobby like this.


i know im slow but as from the start ive not wanted to rush or become annoyed with the bike, the journey may be frustrating at times but will be funny to look back on when i figure out what the problem was.


andycafe, next time your out for a ride on a sat or sunday, please feel free to drop by (simon - 0418569006) and have a listen / look / ride and let me know what you think, would love an opinion from someone who isnt biased re. getting cash off me lol


Cheers

 

[andycafe]

I was wondering how you were getting on, sure thing- its my Wife's 30th this weekend but I would been keen to check it out! I'll give you a call sometime in the next couple of week's. Cheers Andy.

 

[jaderd]

Cheers Andy,


sounds great, yeah im busy heading to mildura this weekend, then Adelaide the following weekend, the one after that i will finally have a weekend at home (25th / 26th Feb) bloody engagement party's all over the place.

 

[jaderd]

Caught up with Andy yesterday, he was working near my house so popped in to see the bike and have a chat, great bloke, looking forward to visiting him at his house next to see the his bikes etc.


Cheers for dropping by mate.

 

[jaderd]

Had a bit of a play last night, noticed smell of fuel in garage, noticed fuel was dripping slightly from the nipple at base of carby, from bit of reading on net seems that it may occur as overflow when too much in bowl etc....tested the float height with a bit of hose etc, seemed a little high so pulled carby apart bent tang slightly and lowered the level, still not 100% happy if i have level low enough so may do again soon.


Either way it made no difference to bikes symptoms - stammering as get high in rev range and hunting on deceleration, also set points properly at around .35mm no difference either.

Although i have got nowhere with this did teach me how easy float height adjust is etc and that ive cancelled out one more thing that could have been the problem. Busy next 2 weekends so in time i will replace the points / condenser and reassess again.

Pics below of float height prior to adjust...looks 5mm + too high

 

[jaderd]

got some info off two guys on the VJMC forum, they had similar problems whereby it was the small o ring missing off the needle jet that is supposed to seal to the base of the fuel bowl. Went back through sme pics i took when pulling down the carby and in the pics i see no o-ring....really hoping this is the oversight that i missed...will find out in a few hours when i get home and rip it apart again....fingers crossed its missing and fingers crossed a replacement has the desired effect.

 

[jaderd]

Checked carby tonight.​

The o ring on the main needle jet where it seals to the bowl was old n perished, I broke it off in pieces etc, replaced with an o ring i had, almost a perfect fit, you can feel it slot in when placing bowl on, not 100% perfect will source proper one, also the red crush type washer under the brass float needle seat thing was looking old n measured .39mm thick, spare I had in carb kit was .49 so put that on instead. Went for a ride, zero difference. Took carb back off an is in bits until I get o ring I'm 100% happy with , I feel though that this is not the problem and that it is ignition related which is next step once I'm happy with how carby is ​

[font=arial, helvetica, sans-serif]Also another forum member mentioned that inline filters on 2 strokes can starve the fuel bowl making it run lean, from checking on net its a 50/50 decision it seems with others stating zero problems with similar inline filter to mine and running 40mm carbies. Its an easy test though so i will run no inline filter and see how that goes.[font=arial, helvetica, sans-serif]Petcock has new screen filter in it so doesnt worry me even if i have to pull carby down yearly to clean, ive had it apart about 4 times in the last 2 days anyway [/font][font=arial, helvetica, sans-serif]slowly but surely it will run perfect one day[/font][font=arial, helvetica, sans-serif]cheers[/font][/font]​

 

[andycafe]

Nice work man, I was stoked to check out your ride! clean! feel free to drop by when you get a chance, cheers Andy

 

[jaderd]

Cheers Andy,


i will be able to get to you now too!



Well well well, I got to go WOT tonight


I removed the inline filter which I don't think was the actual problem. I then spent some time playing with o rings and the needle jet holder. Realized the ok fitting one I added last night that had no effect wasn't fat enough, so I fitted one that is slightly larger, though sits a little loose on the holder once pressed into the fuel bowl it makes a nice solid click together, still will source a o ring that fits 100%.


Put carby back on bike and bingo, soooo happy, rode it around for 15 min, clutch released which was good as it had stuck over last 6 months etc.


So now I'm done with trouble shooting its time for tuning. Feels a bit wobbly at speed think back wheel is a little off centre, need to re align or also check might be a bit buckled. Then I'll take it to someone off forum or a shop to get it tuned properly before I give it a good ride.


Thanks for everyone's advice over past year, now the fun times begin


Cheers