So here we go! I sold my grand cherokee for 900 bucks and bought this for 1K, no pun intended. It was someones project, a heck of a nice guy. He had taken a beat up bike and made it pretty again, and put new tires, brakes off a 93, aftermarket abs, new pads, new plugs, wires,fuel pump, bulbs, paint, battery the list goes on. After doing all this he goes to fire it up and hardly ran. Next thing, wont run at all. Nothing off the start switch, have to cross the solenoid to roll it over. No vroom whatsoever, not even a snort. It sat for a few years before he picked it up. He decides it's beyond his realm of knowledge and puts it on kijiji. I decide I have nothing better to do.
Day 1- find out horn barely meeps, can't get anything off start button except the headlight goes out, boosting from my truck will give it the juice to honk the horn after a minute or so. Still no start, but can roll it over by crossing solenoid. Battery read 12.84, but just didn't have the guts. I immediately thought ground issues. Next two nights were spent doing the cable on, cable off tests. Same result each morning. Voltage there, no guts.
Day 3- pulled plugs and checked for fire. One side good spark across gap, other coil the fire was erratic along the center electrode, bridging wherever. I figure coil is weak and won't send the spark across the gap. Try taking it off the bike and cleaning where it bolts to the bike, maybe not grounding well? Does it even need to? I don't know. Drop bolt for coil down plug "canyon". get it out with electrical tape on a hacksaw blade. removed plugs from boots, place them in tool box just to be safe and stick plug boots down the hole to avoid that again. Head in for the night.
Day 4- check coil to see if it works now. good spark across the gap. YAY! Other coil, erratic spark. Swear a little. Start switching plugs into different boots, guess what. Two of my new plugs and my new battery are pooped. Yay in a way, cheaper than a pair of coils and a R/R. I figure he pooched the batt turning it over trying to get it to run. Next step, test that starter switch and get a new battery.

 

Day 5 I started as a rest day. Re-organized my tool bench, and stuck some foam and vinyl on my work stool as this appears to be anything but a quick solution. decided to remove the battery from the bike, and noticed as I pushed the pos cable away from the battery, it was crunchy sounding and corrosion dust puffed out from under the sheathing. Rest immediately forgotten, I peeled the sheathing back. The Pos cable is constructed of a copper core surrounded by a stainless braid. The braid is almost broken the whole way around and the wire has enough weather in it that I believe I can safely assume it is not conducting as good as it should. I dare say I will probably change that out before I replace the battery

 

You'll probably find the carbs need a good going over - strip and clean and synchro them.
Sounds like the power cable was toasted - pardon the pun-
Earthing cables are another source of annoyance - check them all to be sure.

Let us know how you get on.....and a warm welcome to our asylum - you don't have to be mad to join us, but it does help.................

 

Keep working through the minor problems Richard and you'll end up with a bike that rewards you.

Keep us posted.

Cheers, SB

 

well, in the words of some of our forum friends, I'm knackered. I can get three thumps out of her at best, carb innards looked really good, jets were clear, flushed everything out with carb cleaner, re assembled. more there than before but not exactly what I would like to hear, you know what I mean? the starter relay is kaput, one on order. start switch is working, by way of testing the wires at the relay. I have spark, coil wires are in correct order, grounds are good, power is good. starter rolls strong, but after I leave it set for a bit, it'll cough once to three times, and then thats it until I leave it set again for a while. I think carbs, but is there a base setting for them you can use to get it running?

 

Youn need to start by closing off all the pilot jets gently, then winding each of them out 2.5 turns. Then if you get it running balance the carbs.
Are all the vacuum lines on the carb seated correctly? Vacuum line to the petcock (for Mark 2 and 3)?

Sprock's the expert carb man on the CBR1000F (all years) but he's swanning about Europe at the moment. Might pay to PM him.

Cheers, SB

 

I did get it to backfire. unfortunately I believe I did as well, immediately following
I'll try that, thanks. the only thing that doesn't have a line or plug on it were the two overflow **** in btween each pair of carbs. I assume they are overflows, gas poured out when I tipped the carb bank upside down when I took them off

 

Yep they're the overflow tubes.

What are the condition of the carb boots? Not split or leaking air?

Cheers, SB

 

no, appear to be all good. still a no go. I have a friend coming to have a look at the carbs as I'm sure they are the problem. just not something I'm seeing

 

Oh sweet Jesus. turned those screws in a 1/2 turn and the most sweet sound ever. Made my scalp crawl. Knees wobbly and everything. Kids jumping around, yelling. It was fun and the best feeling I've had in forever. I don't have the gear to fine tune and sync the carbs, but it's so nice to know there is nothing else serious going on but some carb work. Many thanks to all who have put their knowledge and experience on here. It made it possible for me to take this bike, with almost zero actual bike knowledge and get it going with this forums members' help and some small engine and mechanical life experience. When I get this all squares away in my head, I will summarize everything and try to help out some other poor soul.