I’ve been working on my CBR F4 for the past two weeks but have run out of ideas so I’d be grateful if anyone could point me in the right direction.
The bike wasn’t winterized properly so I started with draining my float bowls and gas tank and then added new fuel (6L) and about half of a can a Seafoam. The bike would crank and the exhaust would pop and a little white smoke would come out here and there but no start.
Next I removed the carbs, took apart the float bowels and the vacuum chambers, cleaned them with carb cleaner and put it back together ( Note: I didn’t take out the retaining pin on the float as it was my first time cleaning carbs and didn’t wanna break anything). It made no difference and the occasional spark out of the exhaust and the white smoke were no longer happening.
Here are my questions:

1) Should I take the carbs apart again and try cleaning the float valve ( I should mention that I had my carbs cleaned by a mechanic last season and they looked clean when I took them apart; however when I would drain the bowls I noticed a lot more fuel would come out of the leftmost bowl than the rightmost one [sorry if I’m not using the technical terms])
2) I realized (a little too late) that half a can of Seafoam is too much for 6 L of gas. Do you suggest discarding the fuel in the tank and using just gas (no seafoam) ?
3) What are the next steps if the issue isn’t the carbs

As always I appreciate your help

 

I would charge your battery, make sure your petcock is open the fuel filter is clean and the pump is working, next, try to start the bike and pull the plugs, see if they are wet with fuel and look at a chart to read the plugs, they will tell you what is going on inside of the cylinders. Another thing you can do to try and clear out the old fuel is to twist the throttle to the wide open position and they to start the bike for 5 seconds, this tells the ecm that the engine is flooded and it tries to clear it.

Do you have a service manual? it can help you with toubleshooting and making sure that everything is set right. I have a link if you need it.

 

thanks. I'm gonna test the spark plugs this afternoon. If I drain the float bowls and after cranking the engine a couple of times the bowls have fuel in them again, my fuel pump and filter should be fine. Correct ?
Yes I have the manual. Thanks

 

You need to make sure its actually getting where it needs to go. easiest way to do that is pull the plugs. Another thing to narrow it down is to pul off the air box and spray a bit of starter fluid into the intakes.

AFAIK, you want the same amount of fuel in each float bowl. I am going to my storage unit later and I'll dig out my clymer manual and see if it has any different procedures than the HSM.

 

It's interesting you mention that. When I drain the bowls, it seems like a lot more gas comes out of the leftmost bowl than the rightmost one. I just assumed it's because the bike is on an angle. What could be the cause of disproportionate amount of gas going to each bowl ?

 

Your float height might be off. Heres a bit more info on that.

I would check if you are getting fuel in the cylinders, do a spark test, and maybe a compression test if you can. That will tell you a lot of info on whats going on inside your bike. Oh and you might find it a wee bit easier to work on the bike if its on a stand, much more stable for wrenching.