well, that definately wasn't my issue. i'm going thru the troubleshooting section of my manual and it's saying that the pilot screw could be out of adjustment and my bike is running too rich, which it is. it says it will lack in performance at low and idle speeds. does this sound like it could be my issue?

what about my valves being out of adjustment? would that be something to look into?

 

If it is indeed gas coming out of your exhaust, I would suspect an ignition problem. Bad plugs, bad coils, bad wires,. something along that line.

More than likely though, its not actaully gas, its more than likely just condesation from the exhaust heating up. It will smell like gas, but its nothing more than just water. If your unsure, next time, start the bike up, get a cup, catch some of it. I would bet money if you try to light it, it wont ignite. the only bike I ever saw that had gas coming out the exhaust, would barely run. Your spark plug/plugs would surely be fouled out if it was gas coming out of your exhaust. Check your spark plugs to see if you are indeed running rich. check the color.If your getting alot of black smoke out of the exhaust, you may be running too rich. I don't mean just a little puff of black smoke, I mean a lot of it.

If your valves are out of adjustment due to wear, they would also be making noise. If you rev your bike up, it will sound like BB's in a can rattling as the rpms come back down. If there is no noise, the valves are more than likely ok. I've seen these bikes go 50,000 miles without an adjustment. the 16,000 mile intervals for valve adjustmentare basically just a check. Most of the time, there isnt an adjustment needed.

As long as you, or the previous owner never messed with the carb adjustments, they are probably ok. Your carbs can become out of sync, and this can play into it a bit, but again, more than likely, if no one has messed with anything, its probably ok. But a good carb cleaning is always a good measure to take.

If you havent changed plugs in while, do so. It may be just a weak plug. Do not get anything other than the NGK plugs for it. My F3 ran like crap on champion plugs. NGK's are more money, but in my experience, the bike will not run good on anything else.

The idle screw could be out of adjustment or dirty. But this only affects idle to 1/4 throttle. Its not by rpm, but by throttle input. If its an actual rpm issue, not a throttle position issue, I would suspect electrical.

 

"The idle screw could be out of adjustment or dirty. But this only affects idle to 1/4 throttle. Its not by rpm, but by throttle input. If its an actual rpm issue, not a throttle position issue, I would suspect electrical. "



justasquid- are you saying that it will only affect my performance if i'm 1/4 of the way on the throttle? because if that is what you're saying, that is exactly what's happening. when i'm barely on the gas, it sputters a little, but when i accelerate a bit more, it's fine. so, is that what you were saying?


i have to get a spark plug tool before i can look into my plugs being the issue.

agreed on the exhaust, i was just jumping to conclusions, i should have figured that much when i realized it was completely dry after 5 minutes of running.


yeh, the bike makes no noises after revving it up, but at around 10krpm it makes a peculiar rattling sound, is this common? maybe it's just from engine vibration, the F3 seems to make alot of vibration compared to other bikes i've owned/ridden.

 

yes, that is whatI was saying.

if it is relative to throttle input and not rpm, then I would say your on the right track with the idle mixture. This mixture only affects idle to 1/4 throttle. So something is probably wrong there. More than likey, its dirty. It may only be one carb that is dirty or out of adjustment. I would consider pulling the rack of carbs off the bike, removing the idle jets and cleaning them. usually a good shot of carb cleaner will take care of it. Or, if you want to try and easier way. get a can of seafoam, put some in your gas and run a tank or two. It may clear it up.

about your rattling concern. these bikes do tend to have some vibrations and rattles. Can you tell where it is coming from? If it sounds like just a vibration, I wouldnt worry too much about it. If it sounds like the bb's in a can coming from the upper part of the engine, I would start to wonder about valves.

This may be helpful too. this is a free download of quite a few honda motorcylces. Your F3 is on the link below

http://hondatech.info/downloads/Moto/CBR/CBR600/

 

it doesn't really sound like a can of bb's, just a bit of vibration. may have something to do with the loud as hell d/d

i've been looking thru my manual, but i'm having a hard time finding where i'd adjust the mixture? do you know where it'd be?


ha already ran seafoam thru, i put it thru every vehicle I get. I swear by that stuff. and since this is a sudden problem, it is less than likely dirty carbs, right? i mean, can they come out of adjustment so quickly?

today, i did notice a slight ticking sound that sounded as though it was coming from the front of my engine. it was insync with rpm's and only audible at low rpms ? it's one thing after another..

 

LOL.. yeah, the D&D's are extremely loud. It sounds like it is more than likley just a normal vibration noise. I wouldnt worry too much about slight noises. At this point, your probably starting to pay too much attention to noises...lol A couple of things though. The F3's seem to have a slight noise from the cam chain tensioner. also, pull in your clutch and see if the noise disapears. this is another common noise on F3's.niether noisesareanything to worry about.

it's been awhile since I had my F3, but I think those are located on the bottom of the carbs. they should be towards the front of the carb(towards the engine) just in front of the fuel bowl. there will be a hole. Up inside that hole is a flat head screw. You will probably need a jet tool to adjust them. They look like a long screw driver with a 90 deg. bend at the end.

Here is a pic of what one looks like. Also, a pic of where the idle screw should be located. this is a veiw of the bottom of the carb. (probably not your carb, but should be the same location)

You are right.Most of the time, carb issues do not just appear. But, if a piece of dirt or grime made its way down, it can be all of sudden a dirty carb issue. But also, more than likely, everything is adjusted ok. usually, things dont pop out of adjustment that fast.

If you do decide to adjust the mixture. make sure you record the setting of each one. they will more than likely all be a bit a different. that way, you can put them back to where they were in case nothing improves from adjusting.




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yeh, the cct makes a bit of noise, wasn't too worried about that one though, my katana did the same damn thing. ha

honestly, i'm kind of scared to take the carbs out, seems like a bit of work, i'll have to find a day off from work to do it, seeing as it's my only mode of transportation at this point. being a college student sucks. money/time are hard to come by.


Tonite, the bike ran fine, completely perfect. no hesitations at all? i'm baffled.. hopefully it will keep this up. hopefully something was just clogging a bit and blew thru.

i'll just keep my fingers crossed and update tomorrow.