Hi,

I have a 2002 CBR 600 F4i, which I've owned for about eight years. It's always been a great starter: however just recently it's become a little reluctant to get going - it can take several seconds for the engine to fire. The engine turns over fine on the started motor: no hesitation or slowness. Once the bike is running, it's absolutely fine. I fitted a new battery in when I bought the bike, so that's around eight years old. The bike is always garaged and on an Optimate charger when it's parked up: but it hasn't had a decent run for a year or so - although it does have a fresh tank of gas. Has anyone else experienced this problem, and if so, what was the solution?

Many thanks,

Graeme

 

Hi Graeme, welcome to the forum.
I would start with the battery, at eight years old it will be past its best even with the optimate to refresh it. May even have a little gum on the injectors from the old fuel if it has not been run for a year.
Give it a good run with the fresh gas and see how it goes.

 

Thanks for the welcome - much appreciated!

I suspect it's the battery, too. Is it possible for a battery to have enough juice to turn the motor over reasonably, but not enough to provide a decent spark?

I've ordered a multimeter and (with a lot of help from YouTube/Google) I intend to use it to check the battery condition: I think that's a worthwhile step.

Graeme

 

It would depend upon how fast it is spinning the engine over on the starter, if it spins reasonably well you would expect it to have a spark!
A multimeter is an invaluable tool for us with 'older' bikes as it is generally the staring point for any electrical related investigations.

 

A good way to check is crack the throttle when cranking. Every time my battery starts to get low and give me the long crank no start this fixes it right up. That being said, 8 YEARS?!?!?!?!?!
WTF MATE! We get 3yrs if we are super duper lucky out here.

 

Welcome! 8 years for a moto battery? That might be close to a record! 👍

 

4 years here in S. FL tops if we're lucky.