Author Topic: My K6 is beating me up...engine woes  (Read 1253 times)

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K6CBNV

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My K6 is beating me up...engine woes
« on: May 03, 2010, 08:10:57 PM »
Hi all, I'm new to the site and need some of your advise help.  My K6 750 is in good stock shape and running smooth, that is, I ride her nearly every day without issues, and I perform all my own maint. I've insalled a dyna-s and performed a complete tune up, valves, cam chain, timing, plugs, oil, (no carb maint.) about 300 mi/3 months ago. For the winter I put her away and installed a 4 to 1 pipe on her.  Now that I'm ready to be ridding again, I fired her up on Saturday and rode her for about 20 minutes around my neighborhood.  I practiced all throttle positions to test out the new pipe and the possibility of rejetting.  The bike ran smooth and I deemed jetting unnecessary until I can test her on a highway
 
Sunday the bike started up and while warming up, suddenly she stumbled, shook, was running not on all four cylinders, then died. 

She wouldn't start up again.  The motor cranks, but that's it.  It's like, as soon as she warmed up she shut off.  I drained float bowls, gas and bowls were clean, plugs looked gray/tan and when I held them against the motor they sparked every time.  Bowls don't leak from tuber or bowl seal.  I didn't adjust anything from Sat to Sun, so what gives?  Today I went out, reviewed everything was ordinary, started her up and she did the same thing:  Starts ok, then slows, stumbles, dies, all in about 5 minutes.  I try all combinations of air screw settings +/- 1/4 turns, choke in various positions, but she wont start back up.

What can I try next?  I assume tomorrow when she has cooled totally off she will do the same again, and that makes me sad:(  I'd love to hear of any procedure I can do to get her going.

Thanks for your help and if I can better explain my situation let me know how.

Offline GammaFlat

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Re: My K6 is beating me up...engine woes
« Reply #1 on: May 03, 2010, 08:29:58 PM »
The Dyna-S may be failing when hot - they've been known to do that.  Do you have the old points plate?  You may want to go back to the points and run a HondaMan ignition which works great on these old bikes.  The HondaMan ignition is a hybrid which allows the points to do the switching at very low loads (they're normally very high load) and manages the real switching with transistors (does the heavy lifting that would normally beat up points). 

I'm sure others will jump in with their thoughts as well. 

Good luck,

John
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K6CBNV

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Re: My K6 is beating me up...engine woes
« Reply #2 on: May 03, 2010, 08:47:58 PM »
I'll go see if I can find and install the points plate right now, I'm happy for this new lead!

K6CBNV

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Re: My K6 is beating me up...engine woes
« Reply #3 on: May 03, 2010, 10:53:46 PM »
Well, the points plate didn't change anything.  I reinstalled it and gapped the points at .012 and static timed and got not even a hiccup from the bike.  Then I re-gapped to .016 and got no response from the engine there.  Any other ideas?  I'll keep the points plate on for now.  BTW, I know the points worked when I took them off the bike and they look good.

Offline Hush

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Re: My K6 is beating me up...engine woes
« Reply #4 on: May 03, 2010, 11:20:28 PM »
Hows your oil looking? If the bike has been tucked away for the winter she may have developed a blockage in your oil feed.
Hey I'm no expert on the 750 but if my bike stumbled once warm I'd be thinking a possible sieze scenario!
You sound like you know what you are doing with your bike so it wont be something newbie like leaving the choke on. :D
I'm surprised that you do not need to rejet after fitting a 4 into 1 on a stock bike?
I think the thing I most like about motorcycling is the speed at which my brain must process information at to avoid the numb skulls who are eating pies, playing the ukulele, applying make-up etc in the comfort of their airconditioned armchairs as they make random attempts to kill me!!!!!!!

Offline andy750

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Re: My K6 is beating me up...engine woes
« Reply #5 on: May 04, 2010, 05:21:20 AM »
If electrics are in good order which you seem to have checked then most likely its a fuel issue. Fuel tank gas cap venting can cause the symptoms you describe (check pinholes in gas cap are clear) or even carb overflow tubes being blocked or as Hush mentioned check your crankcase breather tube as it may be blocked at the bottom.

good luck
Andy
 
Current bikes
1. CB750K4: Long distance bike, 17 countries and counting...2001 - Trans-USA-Mexico, 2003 - European Tour, 2004 - SOHC Easy Rider Trip , 2008 - Adirondack Tour 2-up , 2013 - Tail of the Dragon Tour , 2017: 836 kit install and bottom end rebuild. And rebirth: http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php/topic,173213.msg2029836.html#msg2029836
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3. Yamaha Tenere T700 2022

Where did you go on your bike today? - http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=45183.2350

K6CBNV

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Re: My K6 is beating me up...engine woes
« Reply #6 on: May 04, 2010, 06:25:31 AM »
Thanks for the input so far....

How should the oil look?  Don't overestimate me!  I know there are things I can learn from you all.  Oil looks black, not like honey when new.  Oil is at the right level with bike vertical, and the bike doesn't leak or burn any.  Should I change the oil just for good measure and look for metal flakes/debris/water in old oil?  How do I test for a blocked passage?

I didn't understand why the bike ran as well as it did without rejetting either.  I even bought +1 and +2 size jets so I could dial it in, but it ran fine and without any flat spots.  I thought, "why will I need to supply more gas through the mains if the same amount of air is entering through the stock airbox?"  I put seven miles on her with the 4 to 1 exhaust and she pulled strong.  At any rate, now I can't even get her to run at all, so rejetting seems out of my league right now....do you think I should anyway?

Possible sieze scenario? Yikes!  What can I check?  I've never checked compression, should I try that?

I'll check my tubes and tank vent today.  I'd like to eliminate all other possibilities before I pull and go through the carbs; if it is a fuel issue.

Thanks again.

Offline chrislib

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Re: My K6 is beating me up...engine woes
« Reply #7 on: May 04, 2010, 07:59:37 AM »
Might have a poor contact on one of your fuses, my old 75 used to do that, a little cleaning of the fuse contacts fixed it.
Chris...closet Idlefiddler
#1975
1973 CB750K...CANDY BACCHUS OLIVE

K6CBNV

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Re: My K6 is beating me up...engine woes
« Reply #8 on: May 04, 2010, 08:28:50 AM »
Cool, thanks chrislib, I like trying the easy fixes first! 

K6CBNV

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Re: My K6 is beating me up...engine woes
« Reply #9 on: May 05, 2010, 09:27:42 PM »
FIXED!

Don't ask me where in my process I failed, but at some point I made the proper change to the bike, based on the comments here ( i did them all), but I never knew it until I decided to turn the petcock to the reserve side because I had run out of fuel on the ON side.  Duh!  ::)

Offline scottly

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Re: My K6 is beating me up...engine woes
« Reply #10 on: May 05, 2010, 09:55:10 PM »
Your bike wasn't beating you up; she was pleading "Feed me, please feed me. I need fuel!!!".
Glad to hear you got it sorted out, and had the courage to admit to a "duh" mistake: we have ALL made them....
Don't fix it if it ain't broke!
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K6CBNV

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Re: My K6 is beating me up...engine woes
« Reply #11 on: May 05, 2010, 10:00:49 PM »
True scottly!

Now I feel like I can tackle big tasks because I've already got my "Duh!" mistake out of the way!

And after I got her started I pranced her all around town for about 25 miles just to say "sorry" to her.

Offline Spanner 1

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Re: My K6 is beating me up...engine woes
« Reply #12 on: May 05, 2010, 10:42:44 PM »
Another case solved by the SOHC sleuths.... actually by the owner  !!
If your sure it's a carb problem; it's ignition,
If your sure it's an ignition problem; it's carbs....

Offline Milkman666

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Re: My K6 is beating me up...engine woes
« Reply #13 on: May 06, 2010, 12:27:23 PM »
I, for one have never done that (except maybe 5 or 6 times).  ;)

It's the most relieving embarrassment ever though, isn't it?
Milkman
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1975 CB750F
2006 VTX 1300C