Bear with me guys, might be a bit lengthy, but im going to give you as much detail as possible.

Ok, so while at work today I had my 99 F4 back in my apt. complex parking lot. Our complex apparently has cheap cement (you can tell by all the pot holes and sinks from cars), but i never thought what happened, would happen.

Anyhow, While at work on this particularly hot day, my kickstand ate about a 6 inch hole down through the asphalt and then tipped over (onto the drivers side). A friend called while I was at work and picked the bike up and put a wood block under the kickstand.

I don't know how long it was sitting on its side, but now it wont start. I have just lightly tipped the bike before for literally about 10 seconds, and had the same problem. What I did was tip the bike to the other side (to try and unflood the engine/carb) and then just held the starter (without turning the throttle) and after about 15 seconds of chugging, it started.

Now, it won't start. A buddy of mine and I tipped the bike on the opposite side and held it there for about 10 seconds before we did anything else, because i knew it would be flooded (you can see brown oil/dirty gas? coming from just under the gas tank and had leaked down the side of the bike).

So after tipping it, I put the key in, and hit the ignition. It churned/chugged about 3 or 4 times and then I heard a loud "CLUNK!" and then it stopped. I hit the ignition again and nothing. Now the lights are all on, turn signals work, neutral light comes on, etc... so i dont think its the battery (just got a new battery about a month and a half ago as well). The clunk kind of scared me, but we tipped it again to see if perhaps we could drain more out of the carbs (if that was the problem?), and then tipped it back up. It chugged about 2 times and then nothing, after about 5 seconds of holding down the starter with nothing it chugged one more time, stopped, and then i heard a faint "pfffffffffffffft". Wasn't sure what that was so I stopped. Turned it off, waited about another 10 minutes, and then tried again. Nothing. After holding it for about 5 seconds i heard the "pfffffffffffft" again. Turned it off, rocked it back and forth a couple times, hit the ignition again, and got a single "chug" and then the "pffffffffffft".

Now it's just sitting with the kickstand on the block in the parking lot. I don't know what to do. I don't have any tools other than basics like standard screwdrivers and such, so I can't do anything like take the gas tank off or anything... but I figured if you guys had any suggestions or ideals, that I would be more than open to hear!

As far as damage, the mirror is fine, it tweaked a bit but i just repositioned it, the break handle was untouched, the left side fairing has a decent chunk out of the plastic, and the tail on the drivers side has a good amount of scratches.

I'd rather not report to the insurance for fear of raising my rate or having them slap a salvage title on it. Plus, if the damage is only the fairings (as much as it sucks) as long as i can ride it i'll survive. I can buy new fairings on craigslist or something if need be. The paintjob/fairings I bought it with arent the best anyhow (although i dont really have $500 to plunk down on fairings right now so i'll probably have to try and get some on craigslist or something).

anyhow... any advice would be soooooo much appreciated. Sorry for such a long post, just wanted to answer as many questions and be as thorough as possible up front. Thanks guys!

 

Worse case scenario you probably don't want to hear.

Sounds like you may have had fuel leak into the cylinder (at least 1) when it was lying on its side. The clunk may have been the piston hydrolocking on the uncompressable fuel.

Not good, if that is it. It can bend conrods!

Take the plugs out and turn it over see if any fuel is ejected.

Cheeers, SB

 

wow, yeah... definitely dont like the sound of that.

how do i take the plugs out? I don't usually do a whole lot of the maintenance on my bike unless its an oil change or replacing fluids...

 

Yea no more tipping the bike. Pull the spark plugs out wait a few minutes to let the fuel dry out. Put the plugs back in, make sure the choke is off and the throttle is wide open (backwards to how you normally start it). Hit the starter for 5 seconds, flip the kill switch off than on. Repeat 2 more times and than try to start like normal. If it still doesn't start than come back here and we can dive into this together. Time to get yer baby back up and running!

 

As much as I hate to say this, you are in over your head. Unless you can find a knowledgeable friend to come over and give you a hand, find a reputable bike shop to check it out. You simply don't have the tools or the experience/knowledge to diagnose this problem. I'm not trying to insult you.. just trying to be realistic.

Good luck

 

Keep us posted.

One thing I always use on questionable surfaces w/ my kickstand, is a mud puck/kickstand pad...SPEEDMETAL Parts & Accessories - Kick Stand Pad - Cycle Gear. Of course, you can use whatever you want but these are lightweight & easy to toss under your seat. In a pinch, a smashed cola can will work too. Ever since I came out of a restaurant to find my bike at an extreme angle & the kickstand sunk down in the pavement, I've used one.

 

Thanks everyone for the replies... I have an update!

Ok, Now I'm pissed (and not at the same time, you'll realize why)

I came out tonight (4th of july) and found my bike over on its side... AGAIN! I had a wood block on it and everything. it was fallen on the passenger side so 1 of 2 things happened. We had a big storm today and it was blown over (it was resting on about an inch thick piece of wood... i tested it and it would take a pretty good blow to knock it, but i suppose it could have been that?) or... some little bastard pushed it over.

Regardless, there looks to be minimal damage except for a few scraped to the fender on that side and my lever for the brake was bent (i can take some pliers and bend it back). Anyhow, I hopped on for my 3rd time since this all happened and figured "why the hell not, lets see if she starts now, even though she didnt just 12 hours ago".

Put the key in, flipped the kill switch to on, opened the throttle, and hit the starter... voila! She starts! Not sure how in the hell or why? Maybe laying on the opposite side did something to even the fluids out? Really, I have no clue...

**************ON TO MY NEW PROBLEM******************

she starts up, but immediately there is a thick smoke coming out of the exhaust, it has a very strong smell, and it was sitting thick in the air. I knew this wasn't good, but I was so excited that she actually started that I didn't want to turn it back off and have it not start again.

What I figured is that it was the oil that probably mixed in with the gas while on its side. I kept a close look on my gauge to make sure it wasnt overheating, and just let her sit in neutral around 3-4,000 RPM's... figured maybe I could burn out all the excess oil and get back to just gas.

Also, she sounded a little odd while running. I can't quite explain it, but it wasn't the same purr she normally had. Anyhow, I let it run at 3-4k rpm's for about 5 - 10 minutes until i could take my hand of the throttle and she stayed running without me giving it anything. (all the while, still putting out the thick smoke). I decided "what the hell" and to see what she was running like. I popped it into first, and did a few laps around my apartment complex around 4 -5k rpm's in 1st. At the lower speed she still felt like she had the normal "pick-up and go" she usually does, so that was a good sign.

I then took'er out onto the main road for just a quick minute to see how she shifted through gears... this wasn't the best. around 5-6k rpm's she started whirring pretty loud and sounding like she was having some trouble. I then Switched her into 2nd and she went down a few rpm's and was feeling a bit smoother, once I gave it some gas, she did the same thing. It seems that somewhere above 5,000 rpm's shes having some trouble with her pick-up and i don't want to push it too hard for fear of doing some major damage as i'm not sure whats happening...

...I came back, parked her, started her up again after shutting off just to make sure she did (she did, no problem, although still the thick, odd smelling smoke coming out) and then shut'er off for the night.

Any suggestions? ideas? Should I just turn it on and leave'er run to work things out? Should I not turn it on again? Ideas? Theories? I'm completely disheartened because my once nice looking bike now looks like trash due to all the repeated falls... but on the other hand, I would just like her to be up and running again!

Any help would be appreciated here. Thanks guys!

 

Great suggestion! I actually just picked one up minutes before I rechecked on this thread from amazon... heres the one i got!

 

what color is the smoke? and what does it smell like? and like turb said if you just want it fixed take it to a shop, if you want to know whats messed up and how to fix it than we are glad to help.

 

it was night, so I couldn't tell what color it was... it was just thicker than normal... if i had to say, it was whiter than usual (and thicker) as it filled the entire parking lot I had it in while I was revving it.

I'm not 100% on the smell, but it did seem to have an oily type smell... again, not 100% sure, but not normal gas.

I just pumped several hundered dollars into it buying new tires, new chain and sprocket, and new brakes... i'd rather not take her back to the shop if its something I can do myself... if it seems just WAY too over my head, then i suppose i'll have to digress and take her in... but i'd like to do it myself if I can.