My exotic VTR

[leroy]

You would think spark plugs would be easy to find. Well not in Rocky. Went to Repco, Kwaka, Yammy and of course Honda and no-one had the plugs I needed, not the cheap ones or the iridium ones, so its a two hour round trip to Gladstone to find some in store at 26 bucks a pop so I can get them today, and to save the shops from ordering a box of 10 for, apparently, the only bike in Rockhampton that needs them. I hope that's what the problem is after all this running around..

Didn't know VTR's were so exotic...

[meander]

Bet you wouldn't have that much trouble finding glow plugs for a Toyota ;D

[leroy]

Make it a three hour round trip, and with $52 worth of prime spark in my pocket I got home a little excited.. but it turns out the spark plugs weren't the problem.

I recently had the back end off the bike after reading the odd post about sub frames, and thought it time to give mine a dose of wire brush and paint. Reassembled it, got about 2k down the road and it started to bog and become ignorant of the efforts of my right hand. Eventually I surrendered, parked it and trudged home.

I thought I might have pinched a fuel line, or the vacuum hose came off because I had the tank off as well. I checked all the hoses and they were okay. I started it up and rode it home.

I figured then that the bike, and I, needed a good ride so I rode it to the servo, filled it up, and rode off in the direction of the beach. Got about 7k from home all up and it bogs again until I pull over and turn it off. I turned around and limped it home in about 1 k installments.

It seemed to me that she was trying to run on one cylinder (in the shallows of my mechanical experience).

This all lead me to The Spark Plug Adventure which was all for naught. I have rechecked all the electrical connections in the back end and can't see any issues. I rechecked all the tank hoses for the hundredth time and can't see a problem. My brand spanking new iridium plugs can't be the problem, so I am completely stuffed. Now, it won't start at all.

Anyone got some ideas?

[shayne]

The vacuum line on the back of the fuel tap. It goes on the BACK, not the bottom. You will see when you look closely. The bottom fitting is a drain hole and has no hose on it.

The tank vent. If the hose is blocked/kinked the bike will run until the vacuum builds up stopping the fuel flow.

Check those things out first. If you have no luck post up a thread in Tech Stuff.

[leroy]

Thanks Shayne, I'll check the tank vent - it did let out a puff of air when I disconnected it trying to solve things which kinda suggests it's building up pressure, and also explains why it runs well for a bit before choking.

Got the vacuum hose right (made that mistake before )

[leroy]

You're a genius Shayne - the tank vent hose was completely blocked courtesy of some black crusty stuff (probably a dead insect or hornet nest), got it cleared out and everything looks and sounds good now. Test ride tomorrow - I may be a very happy man.

Cheers

[2k4vtr1000]

Good call Shayne !
I keep that one handy for future reference !
thanks

[hargs]

Mine does the same. But only on very cold mornings or when im cruising on the highway for about ten minutes