Is the fuel pump supposed to start pumping as soon as you turn the key on?

I just put my bike back together from changing out the head andcylinder block gaskets and now it will not start. It acts like it's not firing. I checked one of the plug wires and it was firing. I pulled the fuel line off of the carbs,turned the key on and no flow. Tried turning it over but the bike barley turned over because I ran the battery dead trying to get it to start. But in it barely turning over, it did not flow. There was gas in the line when I pulled it off the carbs but it would not flow when I turned the key on or when I tried to turn it over.

Loaned out my battery charger several months ago so now have to try to get it back.

If the fuel pump is supposed to be pumping then either it went out when Itried to start it with it dry or I have a wire loose somewhere.

 

Is the fuel pump supposed to start pumping as soon as you turn the key on?

No. It is run by a relay that is connected to one of the ignition coils( 1 & 4 ). Charge up the battery and try again. Make sure the fuel lines are connected properly on the fuel pump. If you want to pump some fuel into the carbs then you can remove the fuel pump relay and short the blue wire to the blue/black wire. When you turn the key on then the pump should run and fill up the carbs. Make sure to put the relay back in. Pump is not supposed to run all the time.Keep us posted.Good luck!

 

Thanks. Will try that.

 

Jumping the relay worked. Got the bike started. But now there is a bad and loudtapping/knocking that sounds like it is coming from the valve cover. It sounds kind of like the Cam Chain but tried tightening up the CCT and it did not go away (manual CCT).

I had a friend tell me I needed to adjust the valve clearancebut he said that after I already had the valve cover back on, the radiator in, carbs on and breather on. I didn't undo any of the rocker assemblies so didn't think it was that big of a deal. If everything sounded good I was planning on pulling the valve cover back off after about 100 milesto readjust the CCT andpaint the valve cover. Figured I could adjust thevalve clearance then.

I had a thick build up of rust on one of the piston cylinder wallsabove the piston that I cleaned up when I had the cylinder block off. It appeared the head gasket had been slowly going for a while. I also cleaned up the carbon off the top of the pistons and the bottom of the valves. I did not unseat any of the valves when I was cleaning. I took the head to the car wash and cleaned it with engine degreaser and tire cleanerand then coated it with oil once back at my house. I used a brass wire brush on the bottom of the valves and the top of the pistons.

I took most of the rings off and wrapped a rag around the ring grooves when cleaning the top of the pistons. Used my air compressor to blow them off real good.

The sound, I'm thinking it could be the valve clearance, one of the chain guides didn't get seated right, a valve is hitting the piston, I left something in the valve coveror I burned a valve guide or something.

Hopefully I didn't burn a valve from overheating it. I pegged the temp gauge a few times.

I'm going to get a compression tester and check the compression before I start pulling it back apart.

It runs good now. No smoke. Just the tapping/knocking noise.

Any ideas on the noise or better ideas on troubleshooting?