Hello From Melbourne (Kawasaki F11B)

[JADERD]

ok i pulled the baffle out of exhaust and put needle back on stock 3 position.

took it for a ride, no diff, worse actually as needle was back in position 3 so felt it earlier in the rev range slightly etc.

took carby apart again and as Tony had mentioned and i thought in bed the other night i didnt actually remove the needle jet last time, i didnt read that it was able to be pushed out from the bottom then slid back in from the top.

Put the bowl and main jet, needle jet and afew other bits n pieces in the ultrasonic cleaner, seemed to do an ok job.  I also put the top part of carb in cleaner in a few different positions to clean that out.

then checked everything and blew it all with compressed air, held all jets and other things up to the light to ensure they were perfectly clean etc.

Put it all back together and will test it tomorrow night....fingers crossed it was the needle jet, it did have some scaly gunk around it...and prob some within it prior to the ultrasonic cleaner.

cheers

[Doc]

really hope the little scaley stuff in the carb is the issue Simon..it doesn't take much to semi-block things when the main jet sits right on the bottom. I feel this may be the cure as all along your plug colour looked well in the ballpark in regards to overall jetting and mixture.

[JADERD]

fingers crossed

[JADERD]

ok put the carby back in, needle back to stock position 3 and identical to before

so far i have checked / tested.

adjusted choke, ensured was closing off properly.
adjusted needle, tried in position 3,2,1
took off trailtech vapor tacho to ensuring not grounding spark lead some how
took airfilter in and out
took baffle in and out
took carby completely apart and ultrasonic clean and back together.

ppl say the plug looks fine re ok mixture (autoloube working etc)
if while going along i put choke on even a little it replicates the stammering/sounds like its flooding and dies off in power.

Seems to me it must be rich some how ? though needle on clip 1 does same thing just further on in the rev range due to needle height change etc.

im stumped....need to organise someone to look at it....anyone here keen ? have a ride see what you think / advise etc..

tricky part is its not really practical or safe to ride it on road to anywhere as up hills its unsafe and slow etc.....clincher is i live in doreen just past greensborough....anyone out this way ?

any other simple checks i can do at home ?

cheers

[JADERD]

Doc would next easy test be to trial your carby ?

cheers mate

[Doc]

yes..process of elimination..will get it in the mail pronto

[JADERD]

ok, straight to garage after work i did the following

wire wheeled to bare metal on

• battery neg to frame at top left of oil res bol
• bottom left bolt of oil res that a part of loom earths at
• coil mounts

I also removed the coil and looked at the new plug and what i had...if im not wrong what it had was home made, dad remembered doing something once, anyway the end had bare wires sitting there then what looks like a peg spring was pierced in at two sides hitting wires in the middle ..WTF seems so backyard...not stock is it ?



then the new one has ends to waterproof / insulate well, as tony said the new one has an inbuilt screw and just screws into the end....too easy then as for the end to clip onto the spark plug for it to occur i had to remove the tip off spark plug as internally it has a hole and a piece of wire that grips the thread as you push it on, nice tight fit is this correct ? and the rubber boot seals it nicely.




worked perfect and fitted up well.

Took bike for a ride and zero different in performance

One bonus though is that the tacho did not register at all on trailtech dash, prior even with no tacho wire connected at all it was still registering and way too high, so i think this new setup has insulated very well and i think now when i connect the tacho wire it will prob work perfect....will test it tomorrow night.

Ok final test just then was lights out in garage and test spark, spark was a nice strong purple / blue centre and orange amber outside, def working fine, which from reading means the condensor is still working fine.

this is ticking alot more boxes.

So that leaves i think points or carby still, any other simple tests ?

Cheers again for everyones input

[Doc]

Simon..If I'd remembered the F11 had points ignition then I would have pointed you there as well (excuse the pun). all along I was wrongly thinking it had cdi so I never thought anymore of it. I mentioned earlier it sort of sounded electrical, I don't normally associate an engine missing and stammering or stuttering when under load with jetting problems.

A bright blue spark is good yes, an indication the bike should run but it doesn't give a complete picture. Under actual operating conditions things may change. Give the points a bit of a file, even a nail file will do if you don't have a points file. Medium sand paper folded over is also another option.

To adjust the points look at them through the holes in the magneto whilst turning the engine slowly clockwise by hand..you will see a position where they are open and then turned a little more they will shut again. They operate via a little cam type lobe inside the magneto so you need turn the magneto slowly until they are at their widest opening (i.e. on the highest point of the cam) the holes in the magneto are placed so you can see this position. If you look close you will see a small mounting screw on the points. Loosen this slightly and adjust the gap until you have a gap of 0.40mm If you have feeler (thickness) gauges then using the correct one you will have a light drag when sliding in and out of the gap. As a rule I set my points gap and my spark plug gap to 0.40mm and 0.80mm respectively. Therefore the points are set at half the gap of the plug. A regular hacksaw blade is roughly 0.80mm so the points gap should be half that thickness as a visual guide.

Also running the engine in the dark and looking inside the spinning magneto could give another clue..if you see any sparking there when revving the engine then you may find the condenser needs replacing. A poor condenser will definitely cause a stammering/stuttering effect when riding. Check these things I've mentioned. Contact cleaners are okay but they don't always remove all deposits, especially if the deposits are caused by points that have been burnt due to a faulty condenser. Never spray the contact cleaner onto the points while the bike is running..it will ignite the vapour and all hell will break loose  

[JADERD]

awesome, another brilliant instruction write up for me doc.

I will do that tonight / over weekend, i have a feeler guage and checked my spark plug last night, its at .65mm so i might take your advice and bend it out to .8 ish mm.

nice surprise in the garage this morning all over the floor...prob around 500-600ml of 2 stroke oil yesterday while sanding back the battery earth i noticed a little weeping from the new oil guage eye thing, so i tightened it a little, obviously enough that it was just on the verge of popping open from being too tight then go out this morning and what a mess....cleaned up most of the oil with rags b4 work but i had to go so i will tackle the proper clean up when i get home, i cleaned any oil off frame (hardly any) and tire before i left.

Best way to clean up oil / minimize stain on concrete....its covered prob 1m2

cheers

[Mike52]

looks like a peg spring was pierced in at two sides hitting wires in the middle ..WTF seems so backyard...not stock is it ?

A lot of things had that spring idea JADERD mowers/chainsaws/whippersnippers.

[JADERD]

yeah seems very simple and basic yet obviously effective.

The way i have it now where i unscrew the top knob bit off is that how most ppl have their bikes with new caps ?

cheers

[pancho]

 dry portland cement sprinkled onto oil spill, leave till it soaks it up [10mins] then sweep off. cheers pancho

[JADERD]

ok pulled off fly wheel case,

started the bike in the dark, only spark you can see is the faint blue tiny spark at the points...guessing that is normal ?

even as revving up etc no other spark anywhere at all.

i then set the points, set at .4mm and did a few small strokes of 1200 grit sandpaper between the points, went for a ride and worse...stammering throughout the rev range not just mid to top end.

Very happy as this i think means that it is the points or somewhere there related.

then realised my feeler guage is a little "tall" so it was actually causing the points to be open more than the .4 due to it sticking straight up whilst point touch at a slight angle etc.

put in a .28mm feeler guage and set and went for ride, same problem, back to original feeling of problem happening higher in revs.

finished for the day after that as was hot in garage etc.

points looked fine, not black or anything, should i keep fiddling with points gaps? or buy new points ?

cheers for any advice guys

[Doc]

This too kind of tells me the problem is ignition related Simon. I'd say the best thing maybe remove the flywheel and have a good look at the points they maybe worn beyond serviceable limits. For what they're worth a new set would certainly eliminate this probability. They do wear out, both the contact area and also on the actuating arm that runs on the cam inside the flywheel. Have even had issues with some of the plastic insulation around the terminal cracking which allowed the current to ground when revved hard or in damp weather. A pain I know but a new set of points wouldn't go astray regardless. A new condenser might also be worth the few dollars, again this will eliminate the probability of a suspect condenser. These items don't last forever and are part of a normal service routine.
 

[JADERD]

yeah i thought as much, to me the points look fine, for the sake of points and condenser for around 20$ or bit more ill just get a set.

ill leave the bike for a bit till the points come etc then ill ask more questions regarding flywheel removal and reinstall / timing to be redone then i guess ?


ill have another go at setting the points during the week with a piece of wire measure to the .4mm, the feeler guage is too large (blade type).

seem to be afew types of condensers stating for F11B, two distinct ones with diff shape ends etc, so ill look at home before i guy off ebay etc.

If you could still send the carby Doc that would be great and atleast fully rule that out