sounds good, tomorrow when i start to work on things.. good place to start would be from the beginning now that its not starting up right? like plugs first, then if the plugs have spark, check to see if fuel is getting to the plugs by check to see if they are wet or dry after i try and crank it a few times and then if thats good then what?

also on two side notes, one thanks for the specifics on the filter thing.. the screen you described, isnt that the fuel filter? right before the pump.. i thought the petcock thing was in with the switch for the gas being on/reserve/off..

and two the mechanic that had the bike and "fixed it" said something to me tonight about the initail problem with the dieng engine, he said that the "coil" might have went bad. what would he mean by coil?

 

there isnt a filter in the petcock... only a fuel filter that is before the fuel pump. clear/opaque like described.

 

No. Do what I said initially with the bowls, as the bowls not having fuel would make your bike eventually quit starting. Let's not make this bigger than it has to be.

The fuel filter is a ~2-inch long cotton-filled plastic cylinder in the fuel line between the pump and the carbs:



Coil pack. You have 2 of them, and they distribute elctricity to the spark plugs. It's where the other end of your spark plug wires go. 1 controls cylinders 1 and 4, the other does 2 and 3. If you have problems with one of those specific pairs firing, then its usually your coil pack. Don't cross that bridge until you come to it.

Maintain a precise troubleshooting flow, and you'll be OK. Troubleshooting random "maybe's" all over the place will just eat up valuable time, and result in a ton of useless variables.

 

can you help me out with this? drain valves and float bowls? like i said before i'm not well versed with my bike but im trying to learn.

 

i cant get the bike to start right now so waiting untill it chokes out isnt really a possibility right now. can i still check that stuff?

 

update.. it starts.. with choke full on it wont get above 750 rpms and back to the original problem with not being able to give it gas or let the coke out with out it staling. so now whats up with the "open vale and float bowls thing"?

 

anoother update.. it sounds like everything runs fine now. and i have no idea what i did, if anything. i came home. pulled two plugs #1 and #4, didnt do anythuing to them and put them back in. played with the vent lines comming form the tank. and then opened up the air box, cleaned the filter again, and screwed everything back down. put it all back together, and then played with the fuel pump to see if it was pulsing and it was. so i pulled the number one plug again to test to see if i had spark and all the suddon the bike fired up.. still wouldnt take any throttle but i kept it running and played witht he fule lines between the filter and the pump and the tank squeezing the lines beacuse it sounded like it was getting fuel when i did it. then i decided to try to run it with the gas tank open and presto! the bike ran and let me try and redline. closed the tank back up and kept trying it and it keeps doing it. i'm goingto throw the plastics back on it and give it a hort ride around the block later tonight. we'll see what happens, keep you posted.

any idea what the hell i could have fixed by the described nonsense above.

 

could have had a loose connection on a vacuum line? maybe a pinched fuel line going from the tank to the fuel pump, or from the fuel pump to the carbs? i've done the above a couple times before myself.

 

Sounds like a tank vent issue, then. Air isn't getting into the tank to replace the fuel that drains, so the vacuum just holds it in. I bet it will happen again after you ride for a while. Check the two vent lines that hang of the rear of the underside of your tank, and make sure they're not kinked. They actually run through a little bracket on the frame near the petcock.