mystery problems on my sp

[stevo400]

Hai Nick,
Valve clearance is done, I've done the carbs but there is a more accurate way I want to try, will let you know of the outcome.

[stevo400]

Good day to all!!
So just a quick update on my project, the bike would still sometimes just cut out and after a lot of searching and testing I found that one of the pins into my cdi actually broke off, I carefully removed some of the plastic around it and properly soldered it back and it's all good now, as for the noise, I got my hands on a yoshimura cyclone system and it's more than a thousand times better!! I've reset my float levels and it allready seems better, ill leave it on idle again tomorrow after cleaning the plugs and then ill pull them out to see how each one is burning and set it further from there. Can't wait to take it for a drive though!! I'm also busy repainting my fairings by myself and man is it gonna look nice when it's done!! Anyway, hope all is good!!!

[moforockband]

I personally wouldn't remove the plugs to check, loads of work. Take the bike for a gentle ride to check it runs nice on part throttle, let it cool and then set your idle. The reason I say this, is that if you're plugs are in any way slightly wet, or the bike has been running rich at all, it will be impossible to set the idle smooth. You have to start with healthy plugs, and the engine unflooded.
I've since given up with the infrared gun, and just set the screws on my RKSP to std (2 turns out) and it runs better than when I used the heat gun. I think the heat gun only good for diagnosis in hindsight.

[dobbslc]

Replace those mixture screw o rings asap, these bikes a VERY sensitive to the carbs being even slightly out.
An idle that goes up and down usually means an air leak or the mixture screws need a bit of tweaking.
I had an SP years ago that was very good, I even commuted into London on it! The long first gear is a pita though.
I had another one a few years ago that was a complete bstard and took months to sort out.
Then I had another one but not an sp this time and that was a complete bstard to sort out too....
Do you see a common theme here?
Did I mention they are VERY sensitive to the carbs being even slightly out?
Change the o rings.
Also check all the electrical side of things, did you put that diode in the right way round? They are polarity sensitive.
I would just ditch the diode for now. There is also another diode (3 pins) hiding in the wiring loom under the seat side panel that can cause trouble, they are all part of the side stand, clutch switch, neutral safety circuit and can cause loads of grief. You can just disconnect it all and that gets ride of loads of wiring, connectors and switches that will be worn after 20 years!

[stevo400]

Thanx for the replies! I'm gonna remove the diode. Only o rings I didn't replace are the ones on mixture screws. I got the new exhaust fitted and dang now I can drive the bike with no issue at all

[stevo400]

Another thing I noticed is that sometimes the bike won't start, check spark and nothing, so I hook up an external battery with jumper leads and it starts straight away with good spark, I'm using a brand new battery, it's a 7amp one used on the vtr1000 could this battery be to weak? Should go for higher amp battery? I know the manual says 9 but I cldnt find one and the shop said that the 7 will work fine

[moforockband]

Start with the correct charged battery. Measure your battery whilst cranking, a bike starter motor can take current around 80 amps believe it or not. Voltage needs to be at least 11/12 volts whilst cranking.
I had a cdi on a gsxr1100 slabby that would only start the bike here and there, but would bump start every time! It was not happy firing when the starter motor was engeged. I replaced the cdi and the problem went away, ie it would start every time.
Hope that helps.

[stevo400]

Cool, thanks alot. I'm gonna check it out and maybe I can find a cdi somewhere as I do suspect this one anyway. Cheers!

[stevo400]

Update!
I replaced mixture screw orings set them to 2 turns out, reset needle clip to 3d position and hay bike drives great, seems the battery was just a bit flat as it now starts after some driving. Now just to finish the paint work!
How does one upload pics??

[moforockband]

I use photobucket, then the link 'img'. glad you got it sussed!