QuestionQUESTION: Mr. Blake, I have a '94 Kawasaki ZX 11. I recently bought it with 31,000 miles. Its the bike I wanted when it first came out but I couldn't afford 2 bikes back then. So this is my dream bike. The bike will start, warm up and runs great! But then I may only go 15 or 20 miles and it just dies on me. I once went 133 miles before it died but most of that was on the interstate. I've been checking for answers on the internet and so far I've replaced the junction box, jumped the sidestand safety switch, the.clutch switch, checked out the kill switch, checked the gap on the pickup coil, checked to make sure my plug wires are on tight and I now have a new CDI/ignitor ordered. When I bought the bike, I expected to make some repairs, this is after all, my dream bike. Am I on the right track? Any suggestions would be appreciated. Oh, almost forgot, I did put it in a dealers shop and had the carbs all cleaned and syncronized, plus new brakes and such. $600 worth.
ANSWER: Mike, Its hard to correct a intermitant problem but here goes. It looks like you had to spend a lots of money to correct this but it still plagues you. Try something first,the fuel tank has a built in vent system to keep it from vapor locking. It may be worse at different levels of fuel. The vent hose is at the rear on the right side of tank and goes down behind the engine to the bottom of the bike. Some times the lose is plugged sometimes its melted shut and sometimes the tube in the tank has rust in it restricting the air flow in as the fuel goes down. A tube is made at the factory along the inside top of the tank up to the fuel cap and can corrode shut and you would never see it. Try driving the bike with the fuel cap unlocked and loose to let air into the tank to see if it helps. Leave the fuel level low so it wont blow out and give you raw crotch. If this helps then we are on the right track. The vent tube may need to be cleaned out.
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QUESTION: Mr. Blake, I just checked and the vent tube is clear. Can blow or suck through it easily. Reckon I should have told you, after the carburetors were cleaned and sync'ed, the bike ran great, no problems, for about 3 weeks, then this problem started. Sometimes I can feel it start to die and I can shift down 2 or 3 gears, keep the rpms up over 5K and it will clear up. But not always. Sometimes before it totally dies, it feels like its only running on 2 cylinders. Will maintain speed, but not speed up. Your suggestions are appreciated and will not be neglected. I'll try almost anything to get it going again. Thank You.
ANSWER: Mike,try this. Take the tank off and pull the fuel petcock off and see if its restricted with rust or debris.If it can be disassembled clean it or replace it. The tall tube is usually the main and the short tube or the hole in the valve is the reserve and sometimes can let gunk in and slow the fuel flow. Put the tank back on and hook everything back up and try again.
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QUESTION: Mr. Blake, I've tried your suggestions, and put my new (used) CDI/igniter box on and still have the same problem. When I started riding this moring it was very cool. As it got warmer, I experienced the same problem. I got to thinking it may be heat related. Anyhow, I finally got back home and put the bike in the garage. I started taking parts off and checking them out as per my manual. {Paying a lot more attention to things this time.) I cleaned my spark plugs (which looked open) and checked all the wiring connectors I could get to for continunity. I then pulled the ignition coils off and started checking them as per my manual. I discovered I have no resistance on the primary side of either coil. The secondary side was showing resistance but since I had found none on the primary side, I didn't check to see how much as I had believed I had found the problem. A personal moment of joy. Anyhow, in your experience, could the coils cause the problems I'm experiencing? Thank You,
AnswerMike, yes they can and can be heat related. Some coils will work when cool but as they heat up from use and engine heat they can fail. If you find a shop that will test them for you they will hook them up and fire them across an adjustable gap and give them a work out. If they fail then go and get new ones.
