Guys,

My F4 bike conked out tonight, is showing the green oil light. Was no big sounds or anything, just went dead after being on a motorway and then I smelt a faint burning smell. Do you reckon it's definitely seized, and if it might be fixable?


Worried!

 

green is neutral. red is the oil light.

What did the bike do? If it seized while in gear you would have known it, as it would have locked the rear wheel and sent you hurling airborn.

Does it turn over still? We need more details.

 

Hi, thanks for reply

It's dead at the starter but all the electrics come on. I'd just come through some lights when it went dead, so I think it was in gear and I didn't feel it lock. I pushed it home. The red oil light comes on when I turn on the ignition but I don't recall feeling any heat from the engine prior to it cutting out. I'm pretty sure I'd have felt some heat, but the red light makes me think engine seized. If I can manually go up the gears would that mean it hadn't seized? Cheers.

 

Pretty sure the oil light stays on til you start the bike. Drain the oil and see how much you got in it, if its full then wasn't a lack of oil that would lock the motor.

 

It's probably not seized. Sounds more like an electrical issue to me, hence the smell. And no... going through the gears won't tell you anything other than the trans is going through the gears.

When a motor locks, you won't feel any strange heat. (well, unless you shot a hole through the block and hot oil is sprayed all over your pants. lol)
The oil light won't tell you much either. If the bike shuts off due to anything, the oil light will come on.

I would start checking electrical components like the battery, wiring, reg/rec, fuses, relays, etc.

 

Thanks. Praying that's the case. I'm wheeling it around to a garage around the corner tomorrow morning before work. Worst case scenario engine from Ebay for circa £350, plus labour. The battery is brand new, the other electrical components I don't know. It has been left out in the cold/wet uncovered a lot which I doubt has done them much good. It only has 25k miles, is a great machine.

 

You sure you didnt just run out of gas?

 

Nah, I'd filled it up just before it went on me. I'm not sure what to think, but I'm clinging to the fact the back wheel didn't lock and it was in gear when it happened, plus I got whiff of something that had burnt out.

 

it honestly sounds electrical. you mentioned a smell, you should be able to remember if it smelled like hot oil, in my experiences over heated oil has a pretty distinct smell, and so does burning plastic.

 

Guys, its not seized and it started okay at the garage I took it to. Phew! They've test run it for eleven miles and no problem. !?!? They're not a Honda dealer so cant do proper diagnostics on the electrics. Any ideas what could cause it to die on me? It was raining fairly heavily... but!? I now recall it wouldnt start after pulling into a supermarket several weeks back and then went fine next day. I'm worried it will die on me in the middle of nowhere or a motorway... Thanks for your messages last night - was in a panic!