Hate to be the one to say this but the link on CBRForum is still good. Just search it on the forum, at least you got one now!!! Your best friends in that book are chapters 3 and 22 (at least that's my opinion).

 

I pulled out the carbs again last night just to be sure i didn't miss anything thing there. Everything still looked good to me, but I snapped some pics in case someone might see something I don't.

The float needle valves looked good, but I guess I don't know what a bad one looks like. The diaphragms also looked good... no splits or pinholes. I did notice a small amount of fuel on the back side of diaphragms, which I thought was strange. So, I paid extra attention to make sure they were seated properly when I reassembled them.

I put everything back together and attempted to start the bike. It started for about 2 seconds, and that was it... never got it started again.

Here are the pics...

 

All looks pretty clean.

What are your pilot screws set to ?

Try using jump leads from a car battery ( not one on a car and deffo not with the car running )

If it starts up and runs well with the jump leads connected you have a duff battery and possibly a duff charging system

 

I don't have the special pilot screw tool, so I've never touched those. Would you recommend pulling those out and resetting them? I'll have to give your car battery trick a shot. I am using a brand new battery, and I leave it on an automatic charger when I'm not working on the bike so it's always freshly charged.

Pulling the plugs a 3rd time was what I was thinking for my next step. Since the non-starting issue started directly after the plug change (and not the carb cleaning), I've got to believe that the problem has to be directly related to that... especially now that I've pulled the carbs a second time, can't find any issues there, and I still can't get get the bike to start (fired right up and idled fine after I pulled the carbs the first time).

Based on this, I'm thinking that the next logical step is to reinstall the old plugs since the bike was at least running originally with those installed. Is it possible that one of the new plugs went bad... does that ever happen? I get spark from all the coils/plugs when I test against the frame, but I'm not sure that necessarily means that the plugs are performing the way they are supposed to. Is there a better way to test the plugs?

 

Man I'm puzzled. Not saying this is going to fix this and your bike is going to start right up, but, When you removed the gas tank did you unplug everything? If so swap the two wires that connect to the fuel level sensor. For some strange reason if I don't have them hooked up correctly my bike refuses to start. Maybe on the off chance that is your issue. Otherwise, I am still pondering this.

 

That's interesting... would've never guessed that. I did snap some pics before I started pulling the bike apart for the first carb cleaning. The fuel level sensor is hooked up with the green wire in the back, which is how it was originally. It might be worth flipping them just to see what happens.

I'll give updates once I get the old plugs put back in, but it won't be tonight. My wife has already had just about enough of me spending my nights and weekends working on the bike... and today is our wedding anniversary!

This is what it looked like under my tank before I started pulling the bike apart...

 

Wait a minute... wait just a minute!!!

Speaking of looking at the pictures I took before I started pulling my bike apart, I just compared one of my pictures with a picture you posted on another thread... there seems to be a conflict. This still begs some questions, but this MIGHT be my solution... fingers crossed...

This still doesn't answer why the bike would start and idle fine after the carb cleaning... and it certainly doesn't answer why the bike was initially running even better immediately following the spark plug change (died 10 minutes after running and wouldn't start again) being I used my photos to hook everything back up. And, I thought I took my pictures before I unhooked anything... unless I unhooked, realized I meant to take a photo, rehooked incorrectly, and then took the photo. My photos are dated 5/8, so my memory is a little fuzzy at this point. It looks like your photo matches the Service Manual, so I have no idea what happened. I guess we'll see what happens after a make the switch!

 

Yea you have your crankcase breather attached to the carbs. Good luck!! and I know exactly what your saying about the wife getting mad I just started to get her involved in fixing it up and she quieted down. Now she bugs me about what needs to get done.

Edit: And this could be the problem. The carbs use air from the secondary air system instead of the airbox at speeds ~25mph and below. So in theory your not getting any fresh air into the system because you closed the loop with the crankcase breather. That might also explain why the spark plugs had the carbon build up and there was a strong smell of gas. Have a good anniversary with the Mrs. and I hope this is whats wrong.

 

Update... It runs!!!

I knew I wouldn't have time to reinstall the old plugs last night, but I was able to take 5 minutes to switch the tubes around. It took a bit of cranking to get it to start, but it finally did. I tried it again this morning, and it started right up. I haven't gone for a ride yet, and I still need to sync the carbs, but I'm confident my biggest problem is behind me now.

Christian - You solved my problem in a very roundabout way. If you hadn't posted about the fuel level sensor, I'm not sure that I would've looked at those old pictures again. This is somewhat bittersweet. I feel like I wasted a bunch of my time (as well as people's time here) over a silly mistake, but at least I don't have to replace any expensive parts or take the bike in for service. Everyone on this forum has been REALLY helpful, and I am VERY thankful for that!

 

Yea! Great to here its running and that it was an easy fix too! Definitely sync those carbs, the bike will love you for it. And I don't think that it was a waste of time at all, It gave you an excuse to become more familiar with the bike, more comfortable with working on it and you learned a great lesson that most people (me included ) forgo, take lots of accurate photos /videos. Plus, to top that off it gave everyone a brain buster of a puzzle, we got to practice our troubleshooting and were reminded that the devil is in the details. No time wasted here I say! Might as well knock out your 4k mile check up too!

Already Checked your spark plugs and now you have an extra set.
Your going to sync your carbs so that will take care of the idle speed.
All that is left is to inspect your brake pads (3-21), brake fluid (3-20), your clutch cable and system (3-23) and your chain /drivetrain (3-16) and your good!

Although I would personally replace all my fluids (oil, coolant, brake, and fork) as well as do the 8k mile check up instead, since the bike has been sitting so long.