Where to start with this one ....... had the bike about a month, bought off E-Bay. Basically it had an intermittent problem with the clutch safety cut out. The guy said it was slight corrosion on one of the terminals and a quick clean would sort it out. Occasionally when you started the bike and put it in gear it would stall. Give that clutch safety lead a waggle and problem solved. To be fair, it only did that once. The bigger problem I noticed was how hot the bike is running. More than once I would pull up at lights and she just cut out. Then, yesterday she stopped and has refused to start ever since.

I have a mechanic friend and he has been working on it. I am NOT a mechanic but watched him disassemble the clutch lever assembly and test the switch. He pulled out a spark plug and tested it for a spark .... nothing. Tried new plugs ..... nothing. I think he said the temperature sender unit? was probably knackered but he thinks it could be the ECU, which we can't test?

The bike turns over strongly but does not fire.

I appreciate this is a crappy explanation but was wondering if you guys could give me some suggestions for other things to check when a bike won't start.

The fuel gauge and temperature gauge flick about all over the place?

Could it be the stator? I'm hoping it isn't

 

G'day Heff,

Welcome to the CBR Forum

Firstly it would be good if you filled in your profile so we knew where you were.

Secondly, size/year of bike, whether it is a 600, 750 or 1000 Hurricane (most common to use the name) and what year would be nice as well!

Thirdly, it's best if you post in the section most suited to your bike model.

Straight off, it sounds like an earthing problem if your gauges are flicking all over the place, but I'll wait for more information.

Cheers, SB

 

Whenever a seller says something like "a quick this or that will fix it" I would wonder why THEY just didn't fix it before listing it for sale. Otherwise, I'd be leery of a more serious problem.

Anyway, my assessment of the problem is a loose or corroded ground connection somewhere.

 

Check the regulator/rectifier (r/r).
If it's original it is probably contributing to your issues.
Look for signs of heat damage. Melted wiring/plastic/ burnt pins on both the r/r, itself,
and the connector. It's usually under the right side cover (right when seated on the bike.

Ern

 

First off please accept my embarrassed (and genuine) apologies. I'm a forum veteran and I have no excuses for my laziness regarding this post and my profile. I will correct that immediately. I think I panicked a bit and my manners went out the window If someone with mod powers could move this post to the Hurricane section I would appreciate it.

The bike in question is a 1988 Honda CBR1000f (J?) I had never heard the name Hurricane until I joined this forum. I wrongly assumed it only applied to the 1000 and was so chuffed with that name I have been using it since (DOH!)

I caught the E-Bay auction with 2 hours to go. The minimum bid was £550 and it had not received a single bid. It was on SORN? had no MOT or tax and had been stood in a garage for 4 years. Do not ask me why I placed the minimum bid - I still can't explain it. I have never placed a bid before in my life!! Mine was the only bid.

When I met the guy selling it he seemed genuine and open about everything. I was there hours whilst he explained its history and fished out extra bits like the original exhaust system, another tank and a Haynes manual. I honestly think I fell lucky with the seller, but I have been known to be wrong

The bike was imported new from Italy. I am it's third owner.

The guy told me he didn't like the Kph clocks so he had them changed. The original milage was 47,051. The new clocks read 20,517.

He had replaced the cans with a 4 into 1 Scorpion but I notice the old collector box is the original. Someone just welded a cap over the spare hole. I know nothing about bikes so that could be the way things are done. Just feels 'odd' to me.

He had fitted new brake pads and crucially replaced the clutch lever after the bike fell over in his garage? It has a lovely fist sized dent on the left hand side of the tank. This is when he mentioned the dodgy clutch safety switch. In fact, as he was demonstrating it actually happened. He started the bike and the second he put it into gear it stalled (like there was no clutch). He took off the connection at the handlebar? and blew into it. Sure enough that cured the problem.

The bike flew through it's MOT with no advisories.

For the first 2 weeks the bike never put a tyre out of place. I complained to my friend that the heat coming out of the side panels was uncomfortably hot but he has a 900 Fireblade and told me his could get like that and the weather has been hot. Then out of the blue I pull up to park and she dies on me. The fan was going for gold and I had only ridden 15 pretty gentle miles.

I figured it had over heated as the temp gauge was in the red. No real signs of overheating. No steam, hissing or cooling noises, just the fan. When I came back an hour later it started like nothing had happened. I re-checked the coolant levels and they were fine.

Nothing happened again until last week. She was starting to stall with more regularity and taking longer to start again afterwards. This was also when the temperature gauge started flicking from cold to hot, back and forth and the fuel gauge falls to empty.

Then we come to the final stall where I ended up pushing it home. I'm 52 - I nearly had a heart attack Luckily I wasn't too far from home when it happened but still, that is a ****ing heavy bike! I had no idea.

I take (push) the bike to a mechanic friend who used to work in a Honda motorbike garage............

......Just discovered a huge electrical scoring mark when we took off the headlight fairing. Opposite the fuse box and some of the wires had slightly melted together. Looking at that as I type.

The clutch safety switch - when the clutch lever is out the gauges show the opposite of what they should. Pull the lever in and they return to normal. He has changed the switch (no difference) and even bypassed the switch, no difference. Same for the lights and indicators - in that they only work when the lever is down

My friend agrees that it must be an earthing problem but I'm not sure wiggling wires and watching the dials is going to find the fault. He has a multi tester but seems reluctant to use it in anger

Thanks to everyone who replied to this thread.

 

Well done Heff, that is some story.

You are bang in the middle of the typical age for a CBR1000F owner on the forum - we do have some outliers in the younger and *ahem* more mature end of the scale!

Now that you've found the melted bundle, grab the Haynes manual - or download the factory manual from here (just look either in the manuals section or find a post by Naga_Thai and the link is in his sig) and go through the wiring diagram for the '88.

Good luck and keep us posted on your progress.

Cheers, SB

 

Heff - My 01 600 F4i would run great then out of no where would die and would not start. It turned out to be wiring harness connection that connected the headlight to the main harness. I'm not saying this is your problem as it seems like you have other stuff going on as well but you just might want to check it out.

 

Thank you R Dub. I will pass that on. Information is power

 

Is it possible that the fuel pump is broken which then sends a signal to the ECU as a safety precaution? My friend asked me to ask this.

 

Thanks Ern I'll check that out