Hey there

Let me start off by saying that i have combed the forums and found people with similar symptoms as i am having, but my situation still seems unique.

second, the service manual isnt helping a whole bunch.

Also, i am a newbie. i am 17 and this is my first street bike, but i am working with my dad who is an auto mechanic as a hobby. he doesnt have any experience with bikes, just an understanding of engines

ok so i purchased this 92 f2 about a month ago. couldnt ride it for the first few weeks until i got my permit so really ive been riding it for 2 weeks

It ran great at high and low rpms except for a rattle, which i believe is the CCT as i have read from other posts. i havent done anything about it yet

now for my issue
It was a work day and it made the 45 minute total commute fine. an hour after i got home i left again. After being about a mile away, it seemed to be lacking power and laggy but sounded normal. about another half mile I got to a stop light and pulled in the clutch and it died. i couldnt get it started with pet petcock on on or reserve, and i tried to bump start it on the hill is was on, to no success. so i call my friend to come pick me up with my bike and once i got it home, i was able to get it started with the choke on. now it sounded very bad, skipping out. it sounded like it was missing on 2 cylinders

i checked the ignition coils with an ohm meter, they passed flawlessly. next i checked for spark, which ensures spark plug and cable functionality. also fine, although the spark seemed weak. one plug smelled strongly of gas, but still sparked when we tested it

the service manual reccommends checking compression, but i do not have a tester and my dad said if that is actually the problem, then this is more then a little project and is going to cost more then the bike is worth to rebuild the engine.

that said, i wanted your opinions and suggestions as to what else might be causing this sort of thing

my dad suggested that i check the fuel lines, petcock and wiring before i investigate deeper and drop the engine.

he was also thinking about maybe a new ICU (ignition control unit) or chip, but when i called the shop they were doubtful and said it was very very rare for one to fail, and they have no way to test the one i have, so i would have to buy a new, non-refundable one to see if it was the problem for 150+ OEM. blargh.

mainly, i dont want to take it to the shop because of budget and it will be a learning experience, but i can pay for some new parts if thats what it comes to. i have about 400 dollars which i was planning on buying fairings with, but it needs to run first
shop is last resort, but if this issue is beyond me (us), then so be it. i just hope its not too serious

the part that awes me is how this was sudden, with no recoznizable symptoms before this, but not too sudden as if something *broke*

please give me hope

also i was contemplating a major rebild
basically dropping and disassembling the engine/transmission, inspect and clean them, as well as look for anything showing signs of wearing (while im at it) i figure if theres a mechanical problem, more may be on their way as this is a 16 yr old bike with numerous owners

any advice will help, thanks for your time and input, and sorry for the long post.

 

When the bike died on you was the battery dead? I ask because you said you tried to bump start it. If that is the case look into the R/R. Otherwise, seems like maybe the carbs could be the problem....sending too much fuel. I would also say the ICU and an engine compression problem are WAY down the list and unlikely.

 

I suggest you clean the carbs out(probably due for this anyways) and test the R/R for proper operation. it sounds a LOT like how mine acts when my carbs get all manner of junk in them, so I more suspect carbs than the R/R to be the culprit here. remove them, and pull the bowls on the bottom. get a toothbrush and some spray carb cleaner to start off, along with something to gently scrape the caked on/hardened crap out.

Do you have a fuel filter anywhere on your bike at all? if no, GET one.
I never trust just that little mesh screen in the tank to filter stuff out, since it can tear, or have been removed, or something like that by a previous owner and you not know it. the porous copper/paper media filters catch the most dirt, which is what you want for your bike.

 

agreed. check ur gas tank for rust also.

 

I'm going to go a different direction and tell you to make sure you have a fully charged battery in that thing. If you said it sparked, but looked weak, you aren't getting the proper voltage through the system. Also head to the auto parts store and get the appropriate NGK plugs for your bike. Spark plugs going bad are notorius for causing starting problems like this.

The battery should read at 12.8 or very close to 12.8 volts. When cranking, the battery should not drop more than a few volts. If the voltage drops down to 8 or 9 volts or the bike cranks slow, you may want to look at trying to use a different known good battery. Also, once running, double check the regulator voltage output at 4 or 5 k rpms to make sure you are getting about 14 volts. Lower than that and you may have a problem. (higher is bad as well.)

Once you have a strong spark and good plugs, then you will want to investigate the carbs, if you are still having a problem. One may be dumping too much fuel and fouling the plug.

 

thank you all for your input. I will test the battery, although i doubt it is the culprit. it cranks fine even after sitting for a few days and trying for a few minutes. no signs of lag there. the guy i bought it from said he had replaced it a month before

i really think the battery is fine

i will check the carbs as well

a good point my dad made is that this was fairly sudden and dirty carbs or bad plugs is a progressive thing and it was running great before this.

i am beginning to think it is a gas/petcock/clogged screen/carb problem due to buildup or rust. although, what is to blame for it running poorly when i did get it to start? it wasnt running as if it was about to run out of gas- skipping in and out, i know what that sounds like... this was a very unique frequency. it was consistent, not high-low... like it was keeping a specific rpm and frequency and would rev high if we gassed it for the few minutes we ran it, just sounding strange like it was missing out on one ore two cylinders. sounded more like a dirt bike. idk if this sounds anything like a battery, plug or gas problem...

 

my bike sounded like a dirt bike when it was running on two cylinders. one of my ignition coils went out. check the voltage there.

 

You have already stated the spark looked weak. You need to solve that if you expect the bike to run good at all or solve ANY fuel issues. Even with the correct fuel/air mixture, a weak spark will cause problems.

You would be surprised at the number of people whohave posted that their bike ran fine one day and wouldn't start the next. New plugs did the trick a LOT of the time.

 

already checked coils cables and plugs, thanks though

what does r/r stand for again?

and thanks for the reassurance mike, sounds like its something this simple i wasnt looking forward to dumping hundreds for the shop to tell me i had a bad cable or something.

im out of town right now so when i get back on tuesday the first things ill do are replace the plugs and check the petcock. and add on a fuel filter it sounds like...


thanks guys ill let you know how it goes

 

ok so now that im back home, i took my tank off. before i got further into disassembling my bike, i decided to check fuel throughput. Sure enough, i held it up and turned the petcock on, res, and back off, no gas came out of the line. so this leads me to a clogged petcock of some sort. i took it off, tried to blow through it and it was very difficult but some air came out the other end. i took off the diaphragm lookin' thing and then when i blew into it air went through fine. this leads me to the diaphragm (terminology?)

anyone had this issue before? and can i service it myself or so i need a whole new one or a new petcock in its entirety? let me know. if you want to see what im talking about i can post a pic...

i figure ill take it to the honda shop tomorrow and see what they have to say