Yes, the title grabbed your attention, didn't it! LOL... prepare for a rant, as I need to get this of my chest.

I know that I'm far from the only who has ever encountered this, but I had a problem with my bike.
Yesterday late afternoon, I geared up, hopped on the bike, turned the petcock to 'open', pulled the choke lever backwards and started it; no problemo...
Killed the choke, selected first gear, drove of the drive way... no problems there either.
6ft into the street, all of the sudden, bwaaaaaaaaahp... DEAD, wouldn't start to save my life.

So I took a systematic approach to the problem; ignition requires fuel, air and a spark.
Air filters; not blocked... air ruled out.
Fuel; petcock open, check... fuel in tank, check.
Crap, now I have to push it back to the garage and check if the fuel hose isn't blocked (being warm and moist outside, in a full leather suit).
Closed the tap, took of the fuel hose, fuel came out... just to be sure, I briefly opened the tap again, works like a charm.
Took a screw driver and opened the bleed screws underneath the bowls, fuel came out of all four, so must be something spark related.
Crap, another easy fix ruled out, now I knew I was going to be late for work

I went to my folks' home and took my dads car to work (the shame... a grown up guy in his late twenties having to borrow his daddies car).

So today I pulled the tank, checked for 12v on the coils; check.
Hit the kill switch, checked again, works well too... luckily.
So I pulled the plugs, starting at cylinder number 4.
Plug was dry and a bit dark, but I know it's running a bit too rich so no surprise there; it being dry means it either sparks, or doesn't get fuel.
I pushed the plug into it's wire, tested for spark, and though not very strong, enough to ignite fuel the way it should.
So if it's getting fuel, and sparks, why will it not run?
Hmm... ignition off maybe, crap.
Well, to be sure I checked cylinders 3 and 2 as well, exactly the same as number 4.
Pulled plug 1, the wire came out of the socket on the plug... wtf?
Pulled the plug, wet!

So now I know... when taking a systematic approach to troubleshooting, I just need to systematically START CHECKING STUFF THE OTHER WAY AROUND, because it's always the last thing you'll check after you've already started to give up all hope and call it the day.

I was able to push the loose cable back enough in to make it spark, but I'm not going to ride this way.
Seems like I have to take a drive to a large bike salvage yard about an hour away and get a set of used plug wires, as nobody seems to stock new ones.
I was told ordering them will take as much as a week, and then I still had to collect them.

That was my day... and now I'm off to work again, with a permanent facepalm-mark on my forehead.

 

Wait a second. At the end of the plug wire, there is a screw. Use a common screwdriver and screw it out. There is a small resistor under the screw. It might be bad. I think I used a 7mm screw, with the head hacksawed off, the same length as the resistor, to take the resistor's place. I did this on all four spark plug caps. Plus, I use NGK DP9EA-9 plugs instead of DPR9EA-9 plugs. No resistor. That should give you a healthy spark, and save you from buying some old sparkplug wires.

 

Boy am I glad I'm not the only one that has started at the wrong end.

I had a "failure" at high speed, as a friend of mine went by - WTF ???.
Pulled over - he hit my killswitch on his way past me...........
Half an hour later, missed breakfast, bugger I hate him

Glad you found the problem (and you have nicer friends than I do)

 

In the alternative part section, I listed some wires that may work. No one has given feedback on them yet but I think I will give them a try soon.
I was waiting for my son or daughter to change wires on their cars and experiment with the old ones. I just hasn't happened yet that I know of.

 

Hey:

CB1000F and some CB1300F Honda plug wires work, They will be Yellow, Red, or Blue, and newer than most CBR 1KF ones. Other Honda ones and most aftermarket are too small a circle at the top and let water/dirt get into the hole, and can not seal up so be leary of them.

Dub

 

I think you may have become an unwitting victim of Murphy's Law here. It's like when you can't find your car keys. Why are they always in the last place you look?

Simply because once you've found them you be an absolute ****en idiot to keep looking for them.

 

Murph' was in fact a genius long before Einstein.............. moral of the story
It only takes one bright spark for everything to work out just fine ...lol

 

Haha, thanks for the replies mates, a sweet laugh always makes a sour day turn for the better (well, it's been a few days ago hehe).
I was able to push the cable back in the plug as far as I could, though I posted I would not, and then I applied some insulating tape to hold it together and make sure no sparks were lost 'to atmosphere'... ghetto fixes rule, should have used duct tape for ultimate ghetto bonus points though.
It now runs as good as it ever has, not a single miss, hesitation or whatever; good as new.
Cleaning the spark plugs electrodes with a wire wheel on a drill even helped improve smoothness of the idle and ride, how nice!

 

Well don't forget to post up pics of that new integrated LED rear end unit you scooped from
Ebay either ........ laughs cost ya know Stefan