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Hello all - I posted this under "what I did today with my katana" but thought that it would get a better reply here --- so reposting.
The bike is an 06' Katana 750 - with 2,000 miles - burgundy - pretty clean except some rash where it fell off the kickstand (I would guess more than a few times). i paid -- $2,650 -- So I think even if I have take it in for a real repair I should still have a good ride for a good investment. And, for the list - yes, I have both the Haynes and the actual service manual for the bike - in .PDF form on my mac.
I bought this one on craigslist. When i went to look at it, the guy tried to start it and it hesitated and then revved unevenly and spat out and then leaked out about a gallon of gas out the airbox (or maybe it was mostly from the drain tube) --
I left and came back a few days later -- he said he had cleaned it up and tried it again -- and it did the same thing. He had totally cleaned it up again and had all the fairings off of it. He dropped the price considerably - more than I was going to try to bargain him down to. So I bought it.
I have spent a couple of days trying to get it ready to run.
So I did what any rank amateur mechanic would do -- googled my way to this forum and several others --
I'm no real mechanic, but the price and the newness of the bike (right at 2000 miles) - I decided I could get it running or as a last resort take it somewhere.
And it seems that:
yes, the guy left it on PRI most all winter - till he noticed a puddle of gas - then he just disconnected the gas tank - so when he put it back on recently -- after a few days -- hey, it leaked all the gas out again -- still on PRI
then he tried to start it and it blew and leaked most of the gas out the airbox (maybe the drain tube too?)
So, as per advice on what to check out on the forums ---
yes, when I checked, the oil was full of gas -
yes, I checked the plugs - the 4th one was a bit carboned over - the others were clean but a bit moist w/gas - but just no name standard plugs -- So I put in new NGKs - "9's" to resist fouling.
yes, as suggested, i drained the carb bowls blew them out a bit (but not a thorough clean yet) -
yes, I ran three sets of oil changes with two filter changes (I turned the motor over briefly several times with no gas attached and without the plugs)- to get the gas out (I also let it sit a day in between the first and second change). As an aside - I am thinking about using the half-oil/half-synthetic 10W30 Castrol Oil -- any thoughts?
So late yesterday afternoon I put it all back together and gave it a rip -- with the fuelcock set at ON (after 20 seconds of PRI) -- it immediately started -- but zoom - immediately upwards toward 14,000 RPMs.
i jumped to shut it off (But boy it sounded good going there) --
Then I played with the idle knob (didn't know where it was set or if the guy had played with it) --
After several minutes and googling again -- and trying to reset the idle --
I hit the starter -- zoom up towards 12,000 -- well, I cut it off on the way off the tachometer -- some more tinkering and tried again -- still zooming up to higher revvs.
It has a fairly new scorpion muffler and I wondered if it needed new jets for that and doesn't have them yet --
I think I did a good job of getting everything sealed -- hoses, breather, boots to carbs, etc -- (but haven't gone back and sprayed WD40 to check for leaks)
I really would like to try riding this thing instead of just pushing it around my garage making oil and gas spots. It wants to run and I need it to soon - before my wife shoots me and buries me and it in the backyard!
What's my next step -- pull the carbs and go at them seriously?
Thanks in advance for any and all advice.
The bike is an 06' Katana 750 - with 2,000 miles - burgundy - pretty clean except some rash where it fell off the kickstand (I would guess more than a few times). i paid -- $2,650 -- So I think even if I have take it in for a real repair I should still have a good ride for a good investment. And, for the list - yes, I have both the Haynes and the actual service manual for the bike - in .PDF form on my mac.
I bought this one on craigslist. When i went to look at it, the guy tried to start it and it hesitated and then revved unevenly and spat out and then leaked out about a gallon of gas out the airbox (or maybe it was mostly from the drain tube) --
I left and came back a few days later -- he said he had cleaned it up and tried it again -- and it did the same thing. He had totally cleaned it up again and had all the fairings off of it. He dropped the price considerably - more than I was going to try to bargain him down to. So I bought it.
I have spent a couple of days trying to get it ready to run.
So I did what any rank amateur mechanic would do -- googled my way to this forum and several others --
I'm no real mechanic, but the price and the newness of the bike (right at 2000 miles) - I decided I could get it running or as a last resort take it somewhere.
And it seems that:
yes, the guy left it on PRI most all winter - till he noticed a puddle of gas - then he just disconnected the gas tank - so when he put it back on recently -- after a few days -- hey, it leaked all the gas out again -- still on PRI
then he tried to start it and it blew and leaked most of the gas out the airbox (maybe the drain tube too?)
So, as per advice on what to check out on the forums ---
yes, when I checked, the oil was full of gas -
yes, I checked the plugs - the 4th one was a bit carboned over - the others were clean but a bit moist w/gas - but just no name standard plugs -- So I put in new NGKs - "9's" to resist fouling.
yes, as suggested, i drained the carb bowls blew them out a bit (but not a thorough clean yet) -
yes, I ran three sets of oil changes with two filter changes (I turned the motor over briefly several times with no gas attached and without the plugs)- to get the gas out (I also let it sit a day in between the first and second change). As an aside - I am thinking about using the half-oil/half-synthetic 10W30 Castrol Oil -- any thoughts?
So late yesterday afternoon I put it all back together and gave it a rip -- with the fuelcock set at ON (after 20 seconds of PRI) -- it immediately started -- but zoom - immediately upwards toward 14,000 RPMs.
i jumped to shut it off (But boy it sounded good going there) --
Then I played with the idle knob (didn't know where it was set or if the guy had played with it) --
After several minutes and googling again -- and trying to reset the idle --
I hit the starter -- zoom up towards 12,000 -- well, I cut it off on the way off the tachometer -- some more tinkering and tried again -- still zooming up to higher revvs.
It has a fairly new scorpion muffler and I wondered if it needed new jets for that and doesn't have them yet --
I think I did a good job of getting everything sealed -- hoses, breather, boots to carbs, etc -- (but haven't gone back and sprayed WD40 to check for leaks)
I really would like to try riding this thing instead of just pushing it around my garage making oil and gas spots. It wants to run and I need it to soon - before my wife shoots me and buries me and it in the backyard!
What's my next step -- pull the carbs and go at them seriously?
Thanks in advance for any and all advice.
You can see the holes easy. Open the butterflies by hand. Look at the bottom of the bore. Right above where the pilot jet goes in the float bowl. Those are the three little holes. They are tiny, but easy enough to see.
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