My firestorm won't start!!!

[kev1982]

I bought my first firestorm on wednesday (25 July), and after only a couple of hours of riding it cut out and havent been able to get it running properly since! Any suggestions plz??

[VTRDark]

Gonna need a bit more of a description than that mate. Symptoms, how was the bike behaving before it cut out, Do you have lights etc. Does the bike turn over on the starter switch.

Things to check:
Is the battery fully charged and connections all good.
Check the engine earth from the battery
Regulator rectifier, Is it the original Honda non finned version. You will find this on the right hand side of the rear subrame behind the rear tail fairing near the battery. These are a common failure and should be changed to a finned type R/R if non finned.
Could be an electrical fault at the sidestand cut out switch, kill switch.
Are you getting a spark at the plugs.
Is fuel getting through.

Give us a better description of things and get back to us and we will go from there.

(:-})

[kev1982]

As i only had the bike a couple of hours, i can only say it seemed normal to me. I first thought i heard a rattle coming from the front end when i revved it up. It sounded like a fairing or panel had come loose and was vibrating when revved but i couldnt find anything obvious. I carried on riding to see if anything changed, and noticed it was a little down on power and the engine was a little noisier. A bit further up the road i pulled the clutch in to stop and the engine just died. After 10 mins of trying to restart with it sounding like the battery was flat, it suddenly fired up. So i tried to get it to the meet that i was heading to (Scotch Piper). Once again as i pulled the clutch in to pull up the engine died. This time it took about 20-30 mins before i could get it started.

So the symtoms are;

struggling to turn over or fire up
when it was running, it was down on power and very knocky

Checks done so far;

Battery is fully charged, even checked it on another bike.
starter relay is clicking as it should when starter button is pressed
visually checked wiring for breaks, bad conections, bad earths

[VTRDark]

It don't sound good to me. I don't wont to say it, but I'm wondering whether we have a CCT failure on our hands here. The rattling sound you heard concerns me and got worse as you revved and then it cut out.

When it restarted was the rattle still there and worse than before? Or it could be the timing is badly out?

See what others have to say, but I don't like the sound of it.

(:-})

[kev1982]

That is something that came to my mind, but it does have manual cct's and i have been told by the guy that fitted them who is on here, that it is definatly not them. Is it a possibility still??

[kev1982]

yes the last time i got it running the rattle was terrible!!

[lumpyv]

sounds a bit like cct,s are they auto originals?

[kev1982]

They are the modified manual's

[Wicky]

Are they bazza's Original CCTs converted to manuals or Original CCTs with a stopper gap mod?

Can you post a pic?

[lumpyv]

They are the modified manual's

oic? well i,ve no idea then . some brainy punter on here will put you right though mate. i would,nt keep trying to start though if it were mine.
hope you can get it going without too much expense. they really are top bikes

[VTRDark]

I'm hoping they are the Honda CCT's that have been modified with a fail safe stopper mod done to them. Do you have a thread poking out the end of them with a nut on the end of the thread, or do they have a small nut directly at the top of the cct with no thread.

If they have had the stop mod done they will fail without causing any major damage which could possibly cause some noise.

There is the possibility that someone has fitted full manuals but have got the timing 180 degrees out, this I believe could cause some noise and you would certainly have a loss of power.

(:-})

[kev1982]

I've no idea which type of manuals they are. I'm tryin to get hold of the guy that fitted them at the min.
They do have a thread sticking out with a nut on the end tho.

[VTRDark]

Sounds like they are full manuals then. So we maybe barking up the wrong tree unless of course they have not been fitted correctly.

The Haynes manual is not a reliable source for fitting manual cct's.

(:-})

[kev1982]

They were apparently fitted by someone who knows their stuff.
Thanks for the help guys. Anymore suggestions are still welcome

[AMCQ46]

I hope it's not the case, but with all the noises you describe, it sounds like the cam chain has jumped.

There is still a risk that the manual CCT has backed out with vibration. This can happen if you don't put loctite on the main bolt thread.

To check you need to follow the instructions in the workshop knowledge base for the CCT removal. Get to the rear tdc and also remove the rear cam cover, then look at the chain slack and feel to see if the rear tensioner moves easily, count the number of turns it takes to screw in and remove the chain slack and write this down. If the chain is already very slack the rear has come undone. If it is still about 7mm then the rear is ok,and you now know How many turns the front should be set at. Re set the cct back out by the same number ofturns and make sure to use loctite on the long thread.

Then rotate engine ACW 1 1/4 turns to the front tdc and see how many turns it takes to move the front tensioner in. If it is many more than the rear, the front has backed out. If it is close to the same, then put on loctite and reset back out to the same number of turns from tight chain.

Bit of a rushed answer , but I hope it makes some sense. If you need some help when you are looking into it, I can pm you a phone number