mid special died, very long story

[fritz1966]

Help, I have not been here for awhile, I bought a new fz1 this summer because i could not be without a ride till i got the mid special running, I have 3 of them.

Anyway i took my bike in this spring to get valves adj, It has 33000mi on it, rode bike home ran fine 15mi, i put a new jardine 4 into 2 on i also put kreem pipe kote inside exh, started bike up was running what seemed like it was running on 2 cyl, i did have some header leaks due to old gaskets but i did not think it would hurt motor? went for a ride for about 10mi bike died while i was turning around. I took it to a dealer they rebuilt carbs still would not run they did a comp test only 30 or40lbs across a 4 cyls, A friend says they did not open throttle to get these readings

Things I've done, put new pickup coils on, note I could not find clearence measurements, checked pipe for blockage, I have spark to all 4 cyls, changed out black box, I had clear fuel line on and it seemed to be getting fuel, I'm rebuilding petcocks now, I have a problem there now its very hard to turn petcocks, going to pull filters out this week but I was able to drain tank so I don't think thats the problem either, I found a new vacume pump or whatever its called that sits in front of carbs but i have not tried it yet, I was wondering if i sprayed some starting fluid into intake would that tell me anything about what might be wrong if engine would fire.

Thanks inadvance for any tips, Fritz

[fusionking]

HMMMM

Jumping time could affect all 4, Or maybe they need a new timing light..... sort'a wierd....maybe not

[Ken Talbot]

Before you get too far along with more changes, I would suggest backtracking a bit to get more or less back to the state it was in when it quit running. Put the old black box and pick-up coils back on so you can eliminate any possibility of them introducing another fault on top of the original problem.

Assuming the first shop did not completely screw up when they did the valve shims, and that may be a real leap of faith, it sounds like you may have a fuel delivery problem. It could be something as simple as being out of gas, or it could be more involved as the petcocks and the 'octopus' on a special have a fairly bizarre way of delivering fuel. It depends a lot on whether or not the motor is running, the condition of the octopus, the level of fuel in the tank, and what position each petcock is in. Start your research by plugging the word octopus into the search box at the top of the page and read over the various articles that come up. You'll gain a better understanding of how fuel should be delivered and what to do for any particular situation that is not right.

BTW - compression readings that low are not impossible if the throttle is not held wide open while performing the test.

[TopCatGr58]

Hey there Fritz,

Several folks have replied with very good advice. With the Specials, that octopus is a real pain. Yes, you could see fuel in the fuel lines, but was it actually flowing into the carbs, or just sitting there? You can test the fuel quickly by putting the petcocks on PRIME(after you rebuild them!), this bypasses the octopus and feeds the carbs directly, then if you can get the bike to run and all four pipes are hot, then you know it's the octopus, and you can direct your attention there! Good luck, let us know what you find!

T.C.

[Ken Talbot]

I should have given you a shortcut to the routing diagram - things will make more sense once you can see where things go.



In OFF', nothing should flow from either petcock.

In ON or RES, fuel flows down hoses 1 and 4 to the octupus. It then flows from the octopus to the Ts on hoses 3 and 2, but only when there is engine vacuum to open the diaphragm. From these Ts, fuel continues to another set of Ts between the left or right pairs of carbs. ON draws fuel from the top of the filter stack, RES draws from the bottom of the filter stack.

In PRI, fuel flows via the petcock end of 2 and 3 to the Ts again, then down to the Ts between the carbs, entirely bypassing the octopus.

You test the operation of the diaphragm by disconnecting the vacuum supply from the motor and sucking on it either with your mouth or a vacuum pump.

Disconnect the hoses from the Ts between the carbs, use a couple of cans to catch any fuel, and test away.

[fritz1966]

Thanks for all the tips guys, i also supected the octopus, I ordered one from bike bandit this summer, well when i get tank sorted out I will test octopus.

fritz