Running on 1 cylinder (aka - why I hate Mondays)

[charlie13]

Greetings & Happy New Year to all you wise people of the org,

I've got a fair idea what's wrong, but I thought i'd throw it open to the org to possibly confirm or deny my suspicions. I have had an imtermittent problem with my '01 curvy running rough, which I thought was down to knacked spark plugs which were probably as old as the bike (22000miles). So this weekend I set about changing the plugs, and thought I may as well change the bent radiator for the straight one I have. And for good measure while it's in bits, I'll check the valve clearances and fix a dodgy connection to the LHS front indy.

Off with the fairing, airbox, old rad, and cam covers. Valve clearances OK. New rad fitted OK. New sparks OK. Put new connector on LHS indy OK. Put it back together and I have a V-single, with the front not firing.

I noticed that the front plug was slightly damp with fuel when I changed it, so i'm thinking the front ignition coil was maybe not up to snuff, but I have now lost my tacho as well. Reading through various posts on poor running etc, I now think that I have had a dodgy connection to the front ignition coil. When I've been rooting around on the LHS of the airbox connecting up the breather pipes I've dislodged the connection so much that there's no front spark and the tacho has lost the signal from the coil. So my beloved curvy wasn't fit for the commute to work this morn, and that's why I hate Mondays.

Do you think i got my diagnoses right? I'm going to check all the connections in the front coil, and also for a spark. Is there anything else people would suggest I look for when I tinker with it again tonight?

[yorkie_chris]

I bet you've popped the connector off the front coil -ve.

Make sure you've also remembered to put the breather pipes back to the airbox, I forgot this once and it throws a lot of oil out!

[charlie13]

Spot on Chris! Old fumble fingers had knocked the connection off the coil. Had it in the kitchen in bits last night, thanks to an understanding other half, and while i was at it checked as many connections as I could and as much of the loom as I could just to give me a bit of piece of mind there wasn't an earth or dodgy connection elsewhere. She's sunning again tho, so I'm :D

Think the change i've noticed in the running is also down to the carb's needing a balance. Doesn't feel or sound quite as sharp as it was. Next job on the weekend to do list.

[yorkie_chris]

IMO get some silicon grease into the connectors, I had loads of bother with mine corroding and causing intermittent faults grrr.

Have you got gauges?

[charlie13]

Yep cheers, got myself a shiny new carbtune unit when I did the last service. If you ever need a lend give us a shout. Still not got round to adding the extra bits of pipework to the carbs yet tho, to make connecting up easier.

[yorkie_chris]

Thanks but got my own ta :-P

As for extra pipework just stick a 6" bit of rubber tube on the front pot ... don't f### about with valves like that bluepoof site tells you to. Don't forget to plug the tube with a bolt though hehe

[charlie13]

Cool. A quick trip to aspley autoparts and I just needs some rubber hose and a tee-piece to split the vacuum hose between the rear carb and fuel valve. And some bolts of course!

[yorkie_chris]

I don't bother with that, its easy enough to just pull the tube off the spigot and suck on it every minute or so to let some fuel flow. (also less chances of vacuum leaks)

Remember you'll need some little chunks of brass tube to connect the carbtune pipes to the other pipes.

[charlie13]

Many thanks for all you radvice Chris, much appreciated :cheers: