hi, this is my first time posting on theses forums so bear with me. got my f4 last season, putting about 7k miles without skipping a beat. I made the mistake of not winterizing it properly and it sat for about 5 months, with me starting every now and again when it got really cold out. Come time it gets warmer out again i take it out for a ride, runs perfectly, no performance issues at all. next day im out riding again and all of a sudden it bogs down and im at 1/2 power, with me struggling to come out of red lights without stalling. so i come home, clean the carbs out, and now i cant get it to hardly run at all without stalling. i replaced the spark plugs, there are no vaccum leaks, and it has a new battery and STILL nothing. im totally lost and aggravated and would reeeeaally appreciate any insight at all

 

Hey Dan, welcome to CBRF. I wish it was under better circumstances, but we'll help you out. You've come to the right place.

Okay - what did you do with the gas tank? Did you flush it out?


Since replacing the plugs, have you pulled one after trying to start it to see what it looks like? Is it wet with fuel?

 

D'ya put the vac hose back on the petcock ?

Or is the tank getting vacuum locked with a blocked breather?

Drain the fuel bowls ?

Sounds like fuel starvation

 

i flushed the gas tank out with seafoam first, then fresh gas. the plugs seem pretty dry, at first i thought i bought a faulty set of plugs so i put in the old ones but that didnt change anything. i checked all fuel/vaccum lines for any blockage. what is peculiar is the air valve solenoid seem to have gas in it? not sure if its supposed to. the breathers for the gas tank are not blocked or anything

 

ok giving the plugs a second look, they are soaked with gas

 

what does it mean if my plugs are soaked? am i not getting ignition?

 

Soaked, as in, you can see build up? If they're shiny, yeah, that could have fouled the plugs to where they wouldn't work. You can try cleaning them with some carb cleaner and compressed air. But even then, they may not work.

 

Does it still have the same fuel in the tank that's been in there for over 5 months? If so, I'd suggest draining all that out and starting with fresh fuel.

Also, try adding some Seafoam in the tank. One can of Seafoam says it treats 8-25 gallons. Thus, 1/2 can per 4 gallons of fuel max. I just did this to my bike after it had sat for 5 months without winterizing. It ran a bit rough for a minute or two when I first started it until the Seafoam mixture got going through the system.

Lastly, it's not a good idea to keep starting it over the winter if you're not going to ride it. That just attracts condensation in the system when you let it sit there and idle. Have you ever noticed how water drips from a car's exhaust when it is first started on a cold day? The same thing is happening inside your bike if you don't ride it and get it hot enough for an extended period to burn all that off.

 

i drained the old gas out, put seafoam in with some fresh gas, then flushed that out too for good measure

 

If those plugs are fouled - you're not going to get spark. Period. Which means it's not going to run.