Running on one?

Hi a couple of days ago I fired up my SV curvy 2002 model so carbed, from its winter hibernation. It ran on one cylinder or sounded like it, would not idle and generally ran like a bag of spanners. So I took it for a blast, about 20 miles to clear out the blockage in the carbs.

Now I noticed that it is not as powerful as it was before and although did idle at the end of the blast, it does not sound right.

The idle is rough and RPM is about 700 rpm at idle and there is a sound in the exhaust note like a metalic chinking sound as it ticks over. Imagine a small set of castonets or similar every other beat.

Any ideas out there as to what this might be? Is this sounding terminal? I am thinking big end, valves - no idea really.

No smoke at the back, plenty of oil, battery charging. Is it sick, or just normal?

Any help appreciated.

Cam chain tensioner goosed?

[flymo]

you may just have dirty carbs if its been left for so long with fuel in it.

[Spanner Man]

Morning all.

It sounds like it's still on one cylinder, or at least partially. Most likely a carburettor issue as suggested.
Try draining them & see if you get an improvement. If not you'll have to strip them & give them a proper clean.

If your engine is idling at 700rpm you'll get all sorts of strange noises. When you've sorted the running issue, see if the noise persists.

Cheers.

Draining the carbs is quite stright forward I think, so I can do that.

What should the idle speed be? It does seem slow, is that normal?

Yes it has sat in the garrage for about 4 - 5 months with petrol in the carbs I suppose. Could be gums.

Is it going to be the cam chain? How does that show itself?

Thanks all for your suggestions so far.

Will report back, when I get back to UK.

[fizzwheel]

Idle speed, depends on how you set it I have mine set high at 1400 ish RPM. The mechanic in my dealer always resets it to 1100 ish when they service it.

I like it set a bit higher as IMHO it helps with stalling when its cold in the winter months.

[dirtydog]

Originally Posted by fizzwheel

Idle speed, depends on how you set it I have mine set high at 1400 ish RPM. The mechanic in my dealer always resets it to 1100 ish when they service it.

I like it set a bit higher as IMHO it helps with stalling when its cold in the winter months.

I set mine to about 1400 as well, it just feels better to me

[flymo]

As spanner man said, I would ignore the funny noises for now and give the carbs a good service and get it running at the proper idle. I think 1300 rpm is the figure in the manual. It will sound like a bag of nails if its running dead slow.

put some fresh petrol in it before you mess with it too much.

How do you drain the carbs on the bike? I'm asking as I need to drain and clean the carbs on my race bike, I need to find out why it was not firing properly. I suspect it was dirty carbs or something else. But I need to get this to get back on the track asap!