Little help please!

Got three things I would like a little help with!

Firstly - The Big One - So, rode home from work and ten realised I had alot less cigs than I thought I did. Got the bike back out to pop upto the shop. Bought some cigs, got back on the bike and then set off. The bike then decided to loose power and then the engine cut out. Pulled to the side of the road, No lights on the dash. The rev counter and the speedo both shot upto the redline and back down again. Tried the starter and she started again only to do the same 5meters further along.

Pulled to the side of the road again, waited about 10 seconds and fired her up. Managed to make the mile home journey without any further issues.

It has been raining alot today so I am guessing it could be an electrical fault, though not entirely sure what to check. I am ruling out the front plug issue as I have experienced this and it was completely different!

Any help would be appreciated.

Secondly - The 'I will do it this weekend' one - I want to clean my carbs and the plungers as I have a slight idle problem when the bike has been stood over night. Think it might be the plungers. Took it into a stealer when I had the same problem once and it was this so I want to clean them. So the question...? How do I do it? Is it in the Haynes manual?

Thirdly - The Rubber - Need some rubber/foam/stuff that goes under the exhaust hanger so it's not metal on metal (Hope you understand that!). Mine seems to be melting away. Where can I get some of this stuff from?

Sorry for the long post and I hope I have made sense!

It's a K1 Curvy btw

- Dave

[northwind]

Yep, definately electrical, I'd say check the battery connections first, annd then the starter relay, and also the wiring around the headstock and under the rear seat for chafes.

if you call whoever the exhaust is made by i am sure they will supply you with a strip of the rubber for the hanger.
or you could buy this - not specifically for your exhaust i would presume, but it comes with rubber
http://www.mandp.co.uk/productInfo.aspx?catRef=568025#

[Ruffy]

I concur that the "Big One" is electrical. Sounds like a very flat battery, but the causes of that could be numerous. Usual suspects are:
1. Knackered reg/rec
2. Knackered alternator
3. Short on the wiring (chafed insulation against the frame or similar)
4. Knackered battery

1 & 2 will mean no charging, the battery will flatten (pretty quickly if you run with lights on), as the bike's running "total loss". Get the battery on the reg/rec output wires - you should see dc voltage increase with revs, up to approx 5-6000pm If not, check you are getting ac voltage out of the alternator (across any 2 of the 3 larger, yellow wires). You can also disconnect and do a continuity test through the alternator windings. Voltage out of the alternator but not the reg/rec means the reg/rec is gone. Nothing out of the alternator means it's duff.

A close inspection will be needed to rule out 3. As for 4, personally, I wouldn't even think about shelling out for a new battery until I have eliminated all the rest.

As for the carb issue, if it's only a minor problem, have you tried dosing the fuel with Redex or similar? Running a couple of tanks with a strongish mix may save you having to strip the bike down.

[yorkie_chris]

Loose battery connections or a corroded earth wire give the mental clock effect intermittently

Went out for a 50mile blast yesterday and everything seemed fine. What other things would become apparent if it was the reg/rec?

Gonna hopefully get out again soon (when I get my ar$e out of bed) and will report again. Gonna pick some redex stuff up on the way to see if that is any help. Cheers guys!

Originally Posted by northwind

Yep, definately electrical, I'd say check the battery connections first, annd then the starter relay, and also the wiring around the headstock and under the rear seat for chafes.

Checked the battery connections, only thing I found was on the red one (you like the tech terms??? ) the little cover thing was off and not sitting over the connection. Everything looked fine around the headstock...couldn't see any chafes.

Check the terminals on the battery - are they secured down properly? EDIT: I see you've done this already.

Alternator would show itself as speedo/rev counter jumping erratically. For example, doing only 2k RPM in 2nd gear, but your speedo thinks you're doing 186mph when your senses tell you otherwise.

That would then get more frequent (and more random) until the alternator just stops responding, and then you're on borrowed time (battery power only). Once the battery dries up, you're then running with no electrics. Not so bad on a curvy, but a pointy means no FI.

[yorkie_chris]

Curvy still needs electrical power to run the engine, coils and igniter unit need power (that's it though!)

[the_lone_wolf]

Originally Posted by yorkie_chris

Curvy still needs electrical power to run the engine, coils and igniter unit need power (that's it though!)

doesn't that come from the stator not the battery?

my 560 has no battery, in fact, it has no DC electrical system (yet) but i'm pretty sure it runs...