machulnyy

Hey guys. Been a while...I came off on that weekend before I had the chance to try everything! Sad times as am still waiting for the shifter to arrive from America..

But here is the interesting part...

Before I came off, I had the chance to check the airbox (thought would start with the easy stuff before getting to electrics). And after removing it I find petrol (edit: could have been oil...forgotten by now!!) inside. This could explain the choke issue right? But how could it have gotten in there??! So i cleaned out the liquid from the airbox and run a bit of fuel system cleaner through it and rode out to my friend’s. The next morning it had trouble starting again but did eventually, I rode for 5 mins and came off. Took it back to his where it is now. Came back a week later to have a look at it and it started first time without problems! I think this is because the connection in the starter motor jolted back into place or something?? But now the exhaust sounds different...more muted and not as crisp and raspy as before and backfires every now and then on idle. Yet another mystery to solve.

To sum up: I think Biggles is right in that there were/are two problems: starter motor and choke.

The choke issue seems to be something to do with the presence of petrol/oil in the airbox (is this what running rich means?). Ordered a new filter. But how did it get there? What’s the cause?

The starter motor issue (as my car mechanic friend explained) could be something to do with worn out brushes which causes motor to short (im paraphrasing but he seemed to be sure of it as soon as I described the symptoms). The fall may have shifter the position of the brushes which is why it now starts well again. But have Ordered the back part of the starter motor to replace.

If these fail, will get to examining the electrics.

But now, the issue of the backfiring...does anyone have any ideas?