Hi everyone, I am new to the forum so hoping you can help me. I passed my test last August and after a summer on a thundercat I have took the plunge and swapped for a Honda CBR 600F Sport, I am hoping too buy it tomorrow but before I do I need help with something.
The bike is 2001 registered and has only had 1 owner from new and he has only done 3600 miles majority in the first year of ownership, from 2002 hes done no more than 2000 miles. The bike has been sat in his garage due to him being in the forces he's had no time to ride it so he hopefully will sell it to me tomorrow. I took it on a test ride today, not the best day as it was wet and very cold. The bike started no problems, however in low revs upto 3000-3500 its not very responsive on the throttle and doesnt pick up until around 4000 revs where it rides like a dream no problems whatsoever. Its a great bike and i absolutely loved riding it, just concerned over the lack of response in low revs. The owner explained that this problem was mentioned in the last 2 services and he was told that because of lack of use it has "stale fuel" causing this problem and found no other reason for it to be any other problem. Bearing in mind the bike has done no more than approx 300 miles a year but in times it has just be stored in a garage and not used regularly sometimes not ridden in 2 years and not for long when he does. I rode for 50 miles and the problem seemed to get better but is still struggling in low revs after this ride I used approx £10 in fuel so would have thought I would have burned up the old fuel in the tank.
I am hoping someone can put my mind at rest and that this is a problem due to not being ridden and stale fuel and hopefully I can rectify after using it more than he did. Could it be a spark plug problem, dont think in 9 years they have been replaced. Any ideas and should I be worried

Thanks for your help
Nick

 

Sounds like it just needs some MAJOR maintenance done...ie, fresh gas run through it, as well as some injector cleaner, new plugs, new oil, air filter...and whatnot.

 

I agree as well. With such low mileage the motor should still be like new. Check the oil and see how ugly it looks, then ask the owner what kind of maintenance he did before he stored it for so long. I just bought the same bike but an 06, and it has 3200 miles on. It runs perfect however i did have to replace the cam chain tensioner. My bike has decent response off the bottom, but it's no powerhouse until say 6k+ rpms. I haven't even had the bike out for 20 mins total since i bought it because of winter. I'd say go for it if it runs well. If that fuel is that old it will definitely cause the bike to run poorly. Those spark plugs are pricey and should last a while. Maybe they did get corroded from storage, but i doubt it. Good luck on your purchase.

 

Thanks for your response, I went ahead and purchased the bike, hoping some overall maintenance will cure this problem. He's had the bike since new so for 9 years and covered only about 1500 miles in the last 7 years. During this time due to his concern over little use he had it serviced 5 times. 1st 2002, 2nd 2006, 3rd 2008 , 4th may 2009 and 5th October 2009 when he decided to sell it. The last service he had a cam tensioner fitted and in all services had oil change so oil is good. He's looked after it but has been idle for some time, the non responsive in low revs is more like the bike stutters like it is only running on 3 cylinders but once it gets to 4000 revs then the bike rides like a dream. Hoping its not a major problem as other than that the bike is awesome.
Cheers
Nick

 

You're grasping at straws thinking that stale fuel will make it hesitate in the low revs like you describe. If the fuel in the bike when you bought it was old enough that it Gelled up then you could possibly have a clogged fuel filter, or other fuel related issues, but don't forget that if he drove it 2000 miles since 2002 that is still roughly 12-14 fresh tanks of gas, which is about 2 a year - should be more than often enough that the gas stays "fresh", and if you put 8-10 liters in you filled it up half way with fresh.

Despite what alot of members on this site will tell you fuel doesn't go bad in a matter of a few months. I've said it before and I'll say it again - I've probably put 200 miles on my RX-7 in the past 3 years and the fuel in it is fine.... My Boat has been sitting for 5 months and will sit another 2-3 and will be just fine. My 4 wheeler hasn't had any fresh gas in it in nearly 2 years and I just rode it with NO Problem last weekend.

Before you assume it is fuel I would search around on this site for hesitation and see what some other concerns could be.

Congrats on the purchase!!