Hey guys, i just bought a '99 cbr600 from my buddy whos had it sitting for a little while. So far Ive changed the oil, drained the old gas, put new in with fuel cleaner, and replaced the battery. All the electrical parts seem to be working. I tried starting it the other day and it wouldnt fire. Then after letting it sit and trying to let the cleaner do its job and break up whatever might be gummed up it would fire and sputter then die. Now after another day of trying it I got it to run for a couple seconds and die, but if i touch the throttle itll die immediately. Im really hoping i dont have to go in and clean the carbs myself but its looking like thats the case. Any ideas guys? This is my first bike and ive worked on alot of cars before so I know it wouldnt be too difficult to do the work myself but im just wondering if its going to be necessary.

 

I think a carb cleaning is in your future....

 

Sitting? How long? Carb cleaning 101....

How's the spark plug look?

 

been sitting probably like 3 years or so now, he turned the fuel switch to off before he let it sit so I thought that might have helped, i think im gunna try and blow out the lines and see if that helps. would I just need new jets or what? Ive seen the kits for the carbs but im wondering if thats all im going to need

 

3 years!? Pull the carbs and clean them. Drain the tank and change all of the fluids. Make sure you look closely at the tires, old rubber is dangerous (even though they have tread on them). You may need a new battery too.

 

yeah he moved out to kansas from md and i forgot he had it until i started looking for a bike recently. like i said i already drained the gas, changed the oil, and got a new battery, and the tires are still good, he put new ones on just before he decided to move, so i guess im looking at a carb job huh?

 

also here is a video of whats going on now... oh boy

 

Don't want to hijack the thread here, but I've heard this with old tyres... why? the reason I ask is, in UK, there's quite a few old stock of Pirelli Diablo Strada's going cheap from shops BUT they stopped making these some time ago... so, would this not be dangerous to sell a say 6 year old tyre then?

As for the carbs, yep you'll need to strip and clean. Had to do it on my son's 125CBR in march as EXACTLY the same thing was happening, only way would've been if you'd caught that when it ran for a few seconds and opened it up and you'd have probably got a puff of black **** out the exhaust and blown it through... likely hood is now, you've blocked something. Shouldn't cost much though...

 

Don't want to hijack the thread here, but I've heard this with old tyres... why? the reason I ask is, in UK, there's quite a few old stock of Pirelli Diablo Strada's going cheap from shops BUT they stopped making these some time ago... so, would this not be dangerous to sell a say 6 year old tyre then?


It depends on how they were stored. Rubber dries out and gets hard over time, eventually cracking and rotting. The forces required of a tire will exceed an old tires capability and cause the tire to fail. Hard rubber is very slippery and on a bike and your life is very dependent on its grip. Cracked up, rotted tires, can blow out and again is not good on a bike.

If they were stored properly, they probably will be ok. I wouldn't risk it, but that's just me.

 

My bike always makes that noise, for better or for worse. but I noticed that if I flicked the kill switch and than turned the ignition it would make that noise. If I turned the ignition than flicked the kill switch than it would npt make that noise. just an observation.