New VTR purchase, bike stopping after 1 minute riding.

[Denzil]

Hi all,

I have been wanting one of these beasts for years. Finally purchased a good second hand one locally.
Comes with 12 months mot, manual cams done 1997 vintage in red and looks really good.

Started it at the guys, took it up the road left it idling loaded it in the back of the van got it home, took it down the road and chug chug to a stop. Got it home, started eventually took it out again and same thing.

I was told by the owner that it has to be full of petrol all of the time else it bogs down.

I discovered the low fuel light was not working last, it is the sensor as bridging the gap on the connector makes the light come on.
Do the sensors go wrong, are they easy to fix.
I drained out around 3.5-4 liters of fuel out of the tank. Would only this amount of fuel in it cause the problems.

It sounds to me like its a fuel problem as everything else works as it should.

All of the pipes look ok, i have no splits in them or fuel leaking so all good here. I want to get the low light working.

The next job is to fill up the tank as much as possible to hopefully eliminate the above.
Sorry for the long message but wanted to paint the picture.
I am a newbie so any help you can give me will be appreciated.

Denzil.

[Varastorm]

Hi Denzil & welcome to the forum

Any pickys?

Cracking time to join too, as a few of us are having problems also

I've not got a Storm but I'm sure we'll/you'll get it sorted

[alanfjones1411]

Hello and welcome to the forum.Maybe the vac tube is on the wrong spigot.

[MacV2]

viewtopic.php?f=31&t=42689

[kenmoore]

Torn diaphragm in the fuel petcock.

[Cadbury64]

The low fuel sensor is one of the most overworked components on a VTR...I've never removed mine but it looks like a float-activated switch in the parts fiche, something like US$36 to replace. Maybe yours is jammed.

To expand on what you are being told above, there is a vacuum operated fuel tap located under the tank. If you pull off the seat and the two tank bolts at the front you can pivot the tank up for a look.

There is a small diameter vacuum hose coming from the rear intake port to the fuel tap, the vacuum of the running engine acts on a rubber diaphragm and opens the fuel valve so it can flow. No vacuum or a damaged diaphragm, and you have no or low fuel flow. It is possible to buy a repair kit for the diaphragm without replacing the whole tap.

That vacuum tube should connect to the rear-most spigot; the other small spigot is an open drain. I you suck on the vacuum line to the fuel tap, fuel should start to flow very freely.

There is also a manual tap built-in to the fuel tap, the square post projecting forwards can be rotated with an 8mm spanner, make sure that is not partly closed off.

[Denzil]

Hi Guys,

Thank you all for the replies.

Quote............
The low fuel sensor is one of the most overworked components on a VTR...I've never removed mine but it looks like a float-activated switch in the parts fiche, something like US$36 to replace. Maybe yours is jammed.

To expand on what you are being told above, there is a vacuum operated fuel tap located under the tank. If you pull off the seat and the two tank bolts at the front you can pivot the tank up for a look.

There is a small diameter vacuum hose coming from the rear intake port to the fuel tap, the vacuum of the running engine acts on a rubber diaphragm and opens the fuel valve so it can flow. No vacuum or a damaged diaphragm, and you have no or low fuel flow. It is possible to buy a repair kit for the diaphragm without replacing the whole tap.

That vacuum tube should connect to the rear-most spigot; the other small spigot is an open drain. I you suck on the vacuum line to the fuel tap, fuel should start to flow very freely.

There is also a manual tap built-in to the fuel tap, the square post projecting forwards can be rotated with an 8mm spanner, make sure that is not partly closed off.


This is a most excellent reply, i have taken the low fuel sensor out last night and checked it. All seems good with nothing broken off. I gave it a wipe over with a cloth, placed it back in and the light now works. It takes about 45 seconds to come on but it works.
Which way is the tap opened or closed. it points upward at the moment.
I pulled of the main tank pipes and everything is all working good.
Would it be wise to buy a new diaphragm kit and replace or is just suck on the pipe and watch fuel flow then it is working??

Is there a club shop to buy new parts in ??? or is it all ebay if you need something.
sorry for all of the questions......

I am live in Staffordshire of the UK around the Middle of the Country.
I have just bought the VTR Firestorm in red but has been used as a daily hack and is filthy. I am looking at cleaning everything and replacing rusty bolts with new over the next few months with a major strip down over the winter.

Cheers guys. loving it already.

[Wicky]

Try Frank the Spider who runs a VTR sweatshop ;-) / David Silver / Wemoto / eBay

Use the search facility to locate threads relating to parts you need and there could be leads - for instance: Workshop > The Workshop Knowledgebase > *** IMPORTANT*** Swingarm and linkage bearings servicing***

For carb related bits try

https://www.wemoto.com/bikes/honda/vtr_ ... repair_kit

http://www.nrp-carbs.co.uk

*** Read Me for New Members *** > Bike Maintenance and Upgrades/Modifications

[tony.mon]

To find out which way the fuel tap works, disconnect a tap to carb hose, place a container beneath.
Then suck on the vac line, if it flows its open. Turn fully the other way for off.

[Cadbury64]

This is a most excellent reply, i have taken the low fuel sensor out last night and checked it. All seems good with nothing broken off. I gave it a wipe over with a cloth, placed it back in and the light now works. It takes about 45 seconds to come on but it works.
Which way is the tap opened or closed. it points upward at the moment.
I pulled of the main tank pipes and everything is all working good.
Would it be wise to buy a new diaphragm kit and replace or is just suck on the pipe and watch fuel flow then it is working??

Is there a club shop to buy new parts in ??? or is it all ebay if you need something.
sorry for all of the questions......

I am live in Staffordshire of the UK around the Middle of the Country.
I have just bought the VTR Firestorm in red but has been used as a daily hack and is filthy. I am looking at cleaning everything and replacing rusty bolts with new over the next few months with a major strip down over the winter.

Cheers guys. loving it already.

Sorry mate, I can't remember which way the fuel tap goes. I do think it rotates through a full half turn from off to on, but don't ask me which way. As long as you get it to a positive stop you know if is either full open or full closed.

You can take the tank right off and flip it upside down, the cap should not leak at all (but better if its not 100% full). Then take the fuel tap off and disassemble, not hard and you can then eyeball the diaphragm. Still easier to do the suck test and see if fuel flows happily from the tank when it is still on the bike.

[Peeb]

Hello, Welcome! These bikes are a blast.

I think you may have the same problem(s) I did.

Here is a run down from easy to hard.

The clue is that the previous owner says it only runs right on a full tank. This tells us that head pressure created by a stack of fuel is necessary to push fuel past an obstruction someplace. It may be a stuck float/float valve in one carb or the other or both. Before you dig into the carb, validate fuel flow from the tank. Remove the fuel tank. Using a bit of vac line and two extra fuel hoses apply mouth vac to the vac fitting and observe the fuel gushing out of the two hoses you have attached to the two fuel outlets. If fuel does not gush out, check for a torn fuel diaphram. If that's not it, remove the fuel valve from the bottom of the tank and check/replace the fuel screen and o ring. We have cruddy corn alcohol laced fuel in the states that is murder on rubber and plastic bits. By-the -way, be very careful sucking on the vac line. If the membrane is torn, FUEL WILL COME OUT THE VAC LINE into you mouth. If you have a brake bleed tool, this is a safer way to apply vac.

If you have good fuel flow and the bike runs well but quits or gets very rough on the way to quit then I'd bet one of the carb floats is stuck. The float valves are inexpensive, have a rubber tip that can stick in the seat or even a small bit of sand can keep the float from opening fully. In my case, the rear float valve was mostly blocked such that the bike would idle indefinitely and would develop full power for a mile and then run very rough then quit. The rear carb bowl was getting enough fuel to idle and the bowl inventory was enough to run at good power until consumed. This can be diagnosed by running the bike at a reasonable speed until it gets rough. Keep going for a few hundred meters then shut down, brake to a stop, hop off and feel which exhaust pipe is baking hot and which is just warm. The just warm cylinder is the problem.

In the states we have www.partszilla.com for exploded view diagrams and Genuine Honda parts. There are lots of aftermarket solutions too. Don;t forget to deal with the cam chain tensions. It's a sad day if one lets go...and they will. The site moderators and senior members on this forums know everything about parts access and trouble shooting.

Please let us know how it shakes out!

Peeb
1998 VTR1000 Super Hawk (much cooler sounding than Fire Blade)

[fabiostar]

if your looking at your tank from the front, turn the 8mm stub to the left as far as it goes,thats it turned on.

[Denzil]

Thanks to all who have commented.
I tried the petrol tap last night that is fully on.
i have a small in line filter each side to each carb, is this normal as its got a filter in the tank. i have checked them and they are mega clean. i have tried the blow test petrol in the tank two outlets in a jar and once sucked oh err misses! petrol flows so guessing everything is good here.

Things are pointing to the same problem as PEEB had. Is there a link on here to carb strip down to check the float bowls all over ??

Is it best to buy a Haynes manual to tackle the carbs, i need to take them off as per PEEBs advice.
I have a Honda workshop manual but imo its not very good, it does not show you what to do rather just tells you what needs to be done. I think Haynes are better.

PEEB, thanks for the reply, the cam chain tensioners have been replaced all ready so all good on that bit.

[Cadbury64]

Its easy enough to pull the carbs out, then just take the float bowls off and pull the jets out for a looky.

You can download a Honda service manual here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/wnh696qph5f11 ... F.pdf?dl=0

My suggestion is that if you do pull the carbs, get yourself some new carb inlet rubbers and replace these at the same time, they're not expensive and the old ones will likely be pretty stiff and new ones will make the reinstall easier, as will a smear of silicone grease.

[bertye]

I'm with the "vac tube is on the wrong spigot" in the vacuum tap. Made the same silly mistake my self some time back and put the vacuum pipe on the vacuum tap drain. If left a wile it would run fine then conked out as it ran out of fuel, only to restart again a few minutes later.