fouling plugs

[Gear Dog]

So I'm on my way home and right before the exit I start losing power. So I start looking for a safe place to pull over and the bike dies. After a few tries it starts up again but doesn't sound happy. I limp my way home, check the plugs and they are sooooo fouled. Now the bike has been running fine for over a month without a hitch. The same thing happened to me the end of last season. Every thing was cool then one day she quit running, but it was getting cold so I parked it for the winter. Changed the plugs this season and vroom.
I don't have any history on the bike because the PO barely did oil changes. I do know it has a V&H exhaust not sure if there is a jet kit or not. The carbs have numbers 1-4 written on the top of them so someone looked at them at one point.

At this point the bike is my only means of getting around. So I'd like to try and fix it myself before dropping it off at the stealer.

[trinc]

all 4 plugs fouled ? how long did you ride it last year ?

carb work can be time consuming -

your best bet would be to put new plugs in it and clean & reoil or change the air filter then find a dyno with a sniffer to get the air/fuel reading throughout the rpm range. that will tell you which part of the carb that needs adjusted - probably cost you $50.00
it will answer a lot of questions, because if the carbs are close you may have some electrical problem.


tim

[arsenic]

make sure the petcock isn't on prime. You may want to remove the carbs and clean them real well. If this only happens intermittently, it may be a jet needle sticking open due to build up along the needle jet. While you have the carbs out you can check the float height and thoughly clean the pilot circuit. to find out if you have a jet kit look at the jet needle and see if you can place the e-ring in different grooves along the jet needle, if you can then you have a jet kit. The stock needles only have one place to put the e-ring. Also if you have a jet kit the plugs over the pilot screw will not be there. if they are still there, drill them out with a #32 drill bit and turn the pilot screw until it lightly seats then back them out 3 turns. That should solve your problems.

[Gear Dog]

Also if you have a jet kit the plugs over the pilot screw will not be there. if they are still there, drill them out with a #32 drill bit and turn the pilot screw until it lightly seats then back them out 3 turns. That should solve your problems.

is this the plug you are talking about?

[Yellow]

Also if you have a jet kit the plugs over the pilot screw will not be there. if they are still there, drill them out with a #32 drill bit and turn the pilot screw until it lightly seats then back them out 3 turns. That should solve your problems.

is this the plug you are talking about?

That's the rubber caps that cover the fittings for carb synchronization.

The plugs he's talking about is on the bottom side of the carbs - check out his page about jetkits, it's all described there:

http://www.pacifier.com/~trinc/katana/jetkit.htm

[trinc]

Also if you have a jet kit the plugs over the pilot screw will not be there. if they are still there, drill them out with a #32 drill bit and turn the pilot screw until it lightly seats then back them out 3 turns. That should solve your problems.

is this the plug you are talking about?

no, that's the vacuum for sync'n the carbs. you have a little different carb than the 98+ but you can look at my page here

http://www.pacifier.com/~trinc/katana/jetkit.htm

tim

[arsenic]

no, that is the vacuum inlet cap, also where you hook up the carb sinc tool. he plugs I'm talking about are on the bottom of the carbs. the factory sets the pilot screw, which is your fuel/air adjustment to a certain setting. Then because of EPA crap they put a metal plug over the screw. It is cooper in color. When the carbs are jetted the plug must be drilled out and the pilot screw is adjusted. when you remove the carbs you will either see a flat head srew on the bottom of the carbs, or a copper looking plug. it should be pretty obvious what I'm talking about when you look at the bottom of the carbs. I'll get a picture if I can find one.

[arsenic]

http://houseofmotorcycles.bikebandit.com/partsbandit/oem_schematic_view~mp_id~~mscssid~L1VLQECX0B0K8KDVQSKWUH2AGB500439~schem_dept_id~1026104~section_dept_id~1~section_dept_name~OEM+%28Stock%29+Parts~dept_type_id~2~model_dept_year~1992~model_dept_mfr~Suzuki~model_dept_id~987282~model_dept_name~GSX600FN+KATANA.asp

The pilot screw is #43 and the plug is #44

[Gear Dog]

Thanks for the info. I pulled the top off of the carb and it does have a jet kit. The e-clip was on the 3rd notch. Didn't dare attempt to tear the carb apart since I have to use it to get to the train at 5:30 tomorrow morning. But while I had the tank off I noticed that where the wires for the sender is there is a hose barb that is not connected. There is a hose that isn't connected but it looks like a vent line and it doesn't fit.
here is a pic of that.

[The CyberPoet]

Q: Can you take pics of the old spark plugs and post them. It would go a far way into letting me know whether you're lean, rich, burned rings, etc., at least as a starting point.

If you can't host the pictures, email them to me and I'll host them.

Cheers
=-= The CyberPoet

[Gear Dog]

I only took a pic of one of the plugs, but I still have all of them in the garage. Took it to the train this morning and she wasn't happy. Died on me on the top of the bridge, the half way mark. The it felt like it was running on 3 cylinders. So I'll be taking her to the shop tonight.

Here is the pic

[trinc]

I only took a pic of one of the plugs, but I still have all of them in the garage. Took it to the train this morning and she wasn't happy. Died on me on the top of the bridge, the half way mark. The it felt like it was running on 3 cylinders. So I'll be taking her to the shop tonight.

Here is the pic

not a great picture but looks very dark (rich)
if you looked at my jetkit page there is a picture of my plugs


you still didn't answer the question if all 4 plugs look the same ?

tim

[Gear Dog]

Sorry yeah the all 4 plugs look the same. Just called the Stealer and they said they will look at it but it might not be until next week.

[trinc]

since ALL 4 are the same that would rule out dirty carbs ( in my book )
3 position on the needle is the base setting so thats ok.

check the choke plungers ( at the carb ) make sure the choke is off.
how's the air filter ?

tim

[Gear Dog]

check the choke plungers ( at the carb ) make sure the choke is off.
how's the air filter ?

tim

Well the choke works fine, when I shut it off the rpm's drop to like 1k.
The filter looks OK, But I'm not sure if it is stock or not. It looks like a K&N but a different color. I was tempted to clean it and spray it with the K&N oil. The only reason I didn't was I didn't wnt to cause another problem diagnosing another
Here is the filter