Hey All, So here is the Story with the bike, i just purchased a 2003 CBR954RR from this guy for $500 because it's been in a wreck but had a clean title with 4k miles so stil a good deal even if the bike is really messed up. The frame is in good condition, nothing seams damages all around the bike othee then fairing really scratched except front, front is completely destroyed (no odometer, headlight, front fairing). Guy hit front brake on the high way and bike flipped hitting front end.

Ok so when i got it, it has been sitting around for 3 years so i don't know what issues i should expect. I bought oil and filter and coolant to change all that but didn't start because i wanted to try and start it first. It will give me a hard time to start and usually can only start it once per day, starts for about 30 seconds and then shuts off with smoke coming out of the exhaust. Yes i did put gas, but that's about it, i didn't change the oil or put coolant in there (coolant is lower then it needs to be).

Front is destroyed but the wiring harness seems to be intact and don't think it's a wiring issue (but won't rule it out). No i didn't check the spark plugs, i was thinking of trying that this weekend. it feels like it's not getting gas to start but idk really, also maybe spark plug but wouldn't know why it would start but shuts off after 30 seconds with smoke coming out of exhaust.

Thank you in advance for you help, and having to read all this lol

 

also i did buy a new battery, it did have a bad battery in there. sorry forgot to mention

 

what color smoke?


and are there any unusual sounds when it runs for those 30 sec.? if there are, have you diagnosed with a stethoscope to pinpoint where the noise is coming from?


the front is completely destroyed, what have you done in order to set it up to work on it? is it straight up and down? have you pulled the tank back? is the air box still on there? have you made sure sensors like the MAP are still plugged in?

it would be beneficial to order a gauge cluster off of ebay to run so you could see if you were getting a code. if for some reason a sensor got unplugged, that could be the problem, and a gauge would signal the code that could lead you to the route of the problem

...or i could buy you out of it. haha that's a damn good deal. post some pictures

 

Conrice, thank you in advance for the reply, The smoke is not the regular clear smoke that usually comes out of it, it's about grey and visible. It's not too much smoke, just a bit but will keep smoking for a bit after it starts.

No it doesn't seem to make any bad noise when it's started, the noise seems normal. I'm not sure what a MAP sensor is so i'm not sure if it's unplugged but only cables that are unplugged are the ones in the front. I believe they all came from the lights and cluster, so i don't believe they are causing the issue since i am able to get it started u know?

It's almost as if it's not quiet getting good gas maybe? could it be the spark plug? but i mean a bad spark plug wouldn't allow it to shut off after 30 seconds right? I'm not any experts on bikes but i'm an engineer and love to learn how to troubleshoot all that.

I was trying to avoid ordering the cluster and all that until i got it running but i guess you have a point, i might have to do that. To answer rest of your questions, bike is straight up, there is good oil in there, not enough coolant but don't think that's the issue, i will flush the coolant today and replace just incase.

 

hmm... okay, well, that color of smoke could be oil or excessive fuel, have you looked at the sparkplugs to see what they look like?

it could be a bad FuelPressureRegulator. <-especially if it's been sitting for a couple of years. the diaphragm inside of it could go bad, letting fuel by it, thus the fuel rail wouldn't have a high enough pressure to keep it running. bad fpr's can cause a rough idle, really choppy throttle response, etc. there's a few easy ways to diagnose the FPR. first, when you turn the ignition to ON, the fuel pump should prime for a few seconds and then turn off. if it continuously runs, the FPR is likely the culprit. also, you can turn the bike's ignition to the ON position, and pull the little vacuum hose off of the FPR. if you see gas leaking out, it means that the diaphragm inside of the FPR is bad.

you can buy them off of bikebandit, ronayers, etc. it's not an uncommon problem for the 954 to have, add to it your bike sitting for 3 years... it would make sense.


another real handy tool i like to have all the time is an infrared heat gun. you can point them at the headers and watch the header temps rise. it's an easy way to tell what's going on with each individual cylinder. those headers when the motor is running correctly should all be around 400 degrees. if you see 3 at 400, and then 1 at 160, you know which one isn't running. if they run real hot, it could tell you that you're too lean. if they run too cool, it could tell you that you have an ignition problem or that you're too rich. it's a pretty inexpensive way to tell what's going on with each cylinder within reason.


but first, Check the FPR the way i was describing, and pull a plug or two out and see what they look like. if you're not getting fuel, they'll be pretty dry and yellowish, if you're getting too much fuel, they'll be really black.

how old was the fuel when you started working on it? was it 3 years? what does the inside of the gas tank look like? are there any rusty spots?

the MAP (manifold air pressure) sensor is a sensor that's located on the throttle side of the airbox. it has a vacuum line from the TBs that runs to it. it tells the ECU how much air is coming into the airbox so the ECU can correctly adjust the fuel - and you need it to run the bike. if the vacuum line is missing or pinched, and the plug is not really connected right, it could be causing some issues. IAT sensor (the cone looking sensor inside of the airbox in the back center) also needs to be plugged in. make sure it's not unplugged. it's hard to get to if your hands are big, thus a lot of people just lean it over the side of the bike - and it can become unplugged slightly



take some pictures under the tank, of some wiring by the plugs, and of the bike in general. they'll help a lot for us on here to see what's going on. sorry for the novel

 

hey don't apologize, you took the time to write all that and that's more than i can ask for. You'll have to excuse me since i'm not a mechanic, i'm stil learning how the bike operates and where all the wiring is located.

Some more info: The bike didn't have gas in it when i got it but it was very clean on the inside so i put more gas in it (quarter of the tank full now). I have not checked the sensors or spark plugs, since it's late now, i'm going to take it outside tomorrow and check most of what you asked and get back to you on here. hopefully take some really good photos, just upgraded to the Samsung S4 so hopefully get some good quality pics for you.

i do have 2 bikes and on my gsxr 600, i have those butterflies ( i believe that's what they're called) that open when i turn the ignition to ON position, They don't open on the CBR, at least not all the time, they would sometimes and sometimes just don't. Maybe that can help a bit. also no it doesn't seem to leak any gas.

For the rest, i will print out what you said, and get back to you tomorrow with alot of pics and more details, thank you again.

 

ok so this is gonna sound weird but i was trying to get to the sparkplugs today and noticed my coolant level is almost at nothing so i put some coolant in the radiator, after few tries the bike turned on. It started to smoke from the front headers but its probably because it was really dirty and it went away after 10 min, I do have a leak in the radiator so i will need a new radiator or maybe try and fix that one.

The cheapest radiator is $450, i was shocked, there are few on ebay for $150 so i will just get a used one.

I did take a lot of pics and even video but now the bike turns on and off without any issues at all, so maybe the empty coolant was causing it to overheat quick and turn off? I'm curious to know what would just allow to it turn on all sudden so easily and sounds really good too.

 

Whats the status if your bike. im having simular issues with my 02 F4i.

 

it was a dead battery, i just changed it and it worked fine.