So I'm screwed

[wvukat1]

The guy at the bike shop calls my ignition which i tried to install myself was installed for 59.50 great...........but there's more replaced the blown fuses and connected the wires.......that was a freebie apparently leading into telling me that my number four cyclinder isn't firing. He's gonna be out tomorrow and give me a call back on Thursday. So what do you guys think how much am I going to get screwed out of for not bringing a bike mechanic with me when I brought this thing.

[NiteMare]

is he putting new parts on ??

is he having to trace electrical faults ??

has he gotta open the carbs and clean/set them ??

was the bike cheap ??

how much are his hourly rates ?

and finally why aren't you learning to do these things yourself ??

cheap bike means plenty of opportunity to learn, or you saw shiney and didn't think about learning ....

i'm self taught, been stripping engines since i was 18 and taught myself to sort electrical gremlins from about the age of 22, carbs are still my struggle point...

buy a good manual (Haynes or Clymer) and spend some on some decent tools as you go along, a few here and there and looked after will more than pay for themselves ....

don't whinge about no garage to work in, i built my 650 Bonneville and my 500 Daytona in my fourth floor flat, there's always a way around a problem

[wvukat1]

the problem

is that I just don't have enough time to do it myself, I'm a college student with twelve summer credits which means two hour classes on average and four of them for most of my summer. I also work 35hrs a week. If I had time I'd love to tinker with it so I know what is goin on ya know.
is he putting new parts on ?? And to answer your questions

is he having to trace electrical faults ??
yes, and that lead to this diagnosis

has he gotta open the carbs and clean/set them ??
he's gonna call me before he does anything, so he can explain what's he's doin.

was the bike cheap ??
nope, because I'm an idiot $1,800 and apparently rolling. I liken this to buying my 1985 300ZX ........I just wanted to go fast, and it cost me some dollars.

how much are his hourly rates ?
$60

and finally why aren't you learning to do these things yourself ??
Don't have enough time

[Billy Mac]

Think positive, you could just be looking at a bad coil!

[arsenic]

no he doesn't, if it were a coil, 1 and 4 would be out. It's CDI box IMO, yeah your pretty screwed, hope the shop buys you dinner first

[DumbLuck]

you might get lucky and it's just a bad plug, plug wire, cap, etc. something simple.

Most of the rest like carbs really aint that tough with a decient Clymer or factory service manual. IMHO Haynes sucks. Workin on the skoot is almost as good as riding for a wind-down from school and work. Most maint items on your "punch list" of stuff can be done an hour at a time, cept for the carbs, they're prolly an hour each plus the time to pull and reinstall

[BravisD]

Well do we have an answer yet?

[Kfreak]

no he doesn't, if it were a coil, 1 and 4 would be out. It's CDI box IMO, yeah your pretty screwed, hope the shop buys you dinner first

What makes you look at the CDI box? I'm only asking because that is the only item I didn't check yet. I'm still chasing my #4 cyl. problem.

[NiteMare]

What makes you look at the CDI box? I'm only asking because that is the only item I didn't check yet. I'm still chasing my #4 cyl. problem.

check your compression on that pot along with the plug/cap/ lead ....

is the plug coming out "wet" ?

if the compression is low it might be tight valves (little or no valve gap)

[newride]

Believe or not, My Kat had two cynlinders not firing, Hmm, not wonder it ran like crap.
it was something minor. I want to say it was dirty carbs. But it ran great after I got it out of the shop.

[Kfreak]

check your compression on that pot along with the plug/cap/ lead ....

is the plug coming out "wet" ?

if the compression is low it might be tight valves (little or no valve gap)

The bike runs fine. # 4 doesn't fire until around 2500 rpm's. That's why I'm asking why the CDI box?

[black93]

I've got plugs coming out just about dripping wet, and compression way down on one cylinder - you figure valves? Can you work on them without pulling the motor out? One mechanic says you can - but he's busy. The other one I saw who has time to do the job, says he needs to pull the motor out - AKA way more time/$$$. Help?

[Kfreak]

Many do their valve adjustment with the motor in place. I don't see why you need to pull the motor for that. I haven't adjusted mine yet. That is the winter project.

[wvukat1]

And the winner is ..........

Dirty carbs, with everything he has done so far including inspecting it and installing an ignition and cleaning the carbs, I'm gonna end up spending like $350 or so ........really it doesn't matter I just want to ride man!!!

[wvukat1]

oh but wait !!!

add in the fact that three of my floats are shot, and apparently somebody was in there to replace at least one