New here and already confessing my sins

[justdreamin]

Hi,
My name is Karen and I have a fully stock, black, 2001 600vlx. I bought it with 2800 miles on it in 2002 and now it has 4200.

I learned everything I know from lurking in this forum over the past several months and now I realize that I've really neglected some basic things.

I've never had any problems with my bike...until this summer.

So, here are my sins. I let my gas tank rust. I let my carb get gummed up by not draining it before the winter months set in (for years) and not shutting off the petcock while it sat. I've killed a couple of innocent batteries by not keeping them on a trickle in the winter. I hauled it out of state to ride this summer and let someone "fix it" and then hauled it home without testing it out.

This is where the fun begins...more in the next post.

[justinmahn]

Oh boy this is going to be a good read.

[finjoey]

Anybody care to guess what is coming next...smile

[SuperboyX]

Welcome to the Forum Karen. Iv'e never drained my carbs either. I'm also on my fourth battery.

[Sgoatley]

Welcome Karen.....we all have done stuff. Your among friends here.


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[justdreamin]

Thanks for the welcome everybody!

So, on with the story.

Like I mentioned, I hauled my bike 700 miles to ride in Utah this past summer. It ran rough, but it ran. The main thing (I thought) was that it really needed new tires and since the tires looked so bad, tubes as well. I had tried to get it repaired before I left, but all the shops were months out, so...

The guy who fixed it said that besides tires and tubes it needed the carb cleaned out, the gas tank needed to be cleaned and coated, oil, seals, filters, blablabla....

He kept the bike my entire trip so I never got to ride it and basically picked it up on my way out of town. He told me he was going to use a test tank to run it because he didn't think my tank would be dry in time, but he didn't. Should you still get rust on your finger when you swipe it around the fill hole after it's coated? Hum

When I got home, I rode it around the block and it stalled out about half way, I put the tank on reserve and made it the rest of the way home. I had warmed it up, but wasn't able to push the choke in without it stalling, so it didn't run smooth...

I ran down to the gas station and got about 3 gallons and put it in the tank and tried to start it up. No go. It would turn but not start. I knew the battery was weak so I put in on the charger for a couple of days and tried again. It did the same thing only this time I noticed little puddle of gas under the crank case. I just figured I'd flooded it. The the battery completely died. In fact, I though I had blown a fuse or something because none of my lights even came on. I checked them all. All. good. I gave up. This was the first part of August.

More in next post...

[justdreamin]

My brother has ridden (is that a word?) a bike for years and so he said he'd help me trouble shoot while he visited this week. We bought a new battery and charged it up and everything lit up like it was supposed to, but this time the starter just clicked, no cranking.

Fortunately, when we tried to push start the bike we didn't blow it up....(the back tire would not even spin in gear, just skidded)
Back in the garage I checked the oil...full of gas. We pulled the stator cover, full of gas. Took out the plugs, wet with gas. Turned the engine with a wrench and it would go forward a little and stop, then back a little and stop and gas was coming out of the exhaust. In fact, there was no gas left in the tank.

After reading a bunch in the forum I figure that maybe the float was stuck, but I'm surprised the whole tank would drain out. I don't know if there's supposed to be a vacuum that inhibits this, or that it will just happen if the petcock isn't off.

In fact there's a TON I don't know!! lol

It's such a nice bike. I really want to ride it again. I'm 50. Do you think it's fixable in my lifetime?

[gdb069]

Originally Posted by justdreamin

...It's such a nice bike. I really want to ride it again. I'm 50. Do you think it's fixable in my lifetime?

Hi Karen, It sounds like you have significant issues with this bike up to the point where it may be considered a mechanical hobby in restoration. If you are looking for a hobby/project to learn from and are willing to invest the time and money in parts, tools, training, manuals, etc then go ahead. If you are now looking to enjoy riding I would seek a replacement that has a better maintenance record or newer bike. Personnaly thats not the type of bike to be an interesting restoration so I would replace.

G.

[Shadowhoss]

What was your bother's advice?

If you were able to get the engine to turn after you drained the gas from the cylinders (un-hydrolocking the engine), then you might be okay with a carb rebuild, an oil change, fuel filter; new fuel lines and a tank liner.
But if the engine is really seized, then not a good situation...Good luck.

[Carl722]

I don't drain my carbs, shut off the fuel, or put a trickle on the battery. I ride it when its cold too to avoid that. Now I did just replace the battery in it. The most my bike sits is 3 weeks while I am gone on my frequent Navy trips. I don't know how old the battery was because I bought the bike in May and it was 13 years old at the time. It has been weak since I bought it. Get some warm riding gear and make a few rides in the winter on the warmer days and you won't need to treat the fuel system that way but a trickle charger wouldn't hurt. I rode my Ninja in the PA winters. The OK winters are not quite as bad.