NNNNNEEEEWWWBBBIII!!! with small probs

[Shaft]

WWAAZZZAAAA!!!
I'm new from Nova Scotia, Canada.

Just picked up a 86 ZX10
26,000kms on it.

SO i'm glad to be here.. read alot on this forum after my purchase last night and this place is BUMPIN!!!

Anywhoo.. it was insanely cold last night to ride my new purchase home for a couple of hours.. so we loaded it on the back of the 1/2ton.

Upon arival home, the throttle grip has INSANE play in it. The rope we tied it with was probably the culprit. I can only get 1/4 throttle after all the play. Any advice here?

Biggest problem, I hit my high beam during a ride last night, once i went to low beam, BOOM.. headlight went out, and all gauges stopped working. Well not sure about coolant Temp, but the Tach does not move. Fuel gauage seems to work. Is this all related as far as the headlight is concerned?


Thanks again.. and looking forward to hear from you guys! cheers!

[GREENISBEST]

Welcome

I would check where you attached the rope at the bars/switch area to make sure there is nowt that has come to harm giving you your problems

[jninja]

You may possibly have an electrical problem that needs to be traced out. As far as the throttle, try to adjust the throttle cable tighter, if that doesn't fix it then you may either have an extremely stretched cable or could have possibly cracked the throttle sleeve, which is an extremely thin piece of plastic under the grip. Straping down with a rope might have been the culprit. They make a special harness called canyon dancers or just bar harnesses depending on who you ask, they slide over your grips on each side then have a strap coming down from each side that you connect to your straps. A excellent investment if you trailer your bike alot.

[Shaft]

Thanks for the info guys.. I'm pretty ****ed at the guy who sold it to me. I got no manuals or owners manual.. this is my first ninja.. so I have no idea where to begin to start tracing this stuff. I ordered manuals.. gonna be a few weeks before I see them. Where is the fuse box on this bike?

The guy who i bought it from strapped the bike down.. should almost get him to pay for all this hassle.

Its an 86, can i find most of the wires by removing the gas tank? How do i go about removing the tank? Sorry for these dumb questions, but i'm left in the dark for a lil while. Your help is greatly appreciated.

[Shaft]

Fixed my problem guys.. except for the throttle.. how much of a twist do our throttle grips have?

I think i'm missing about 1/2 my throw.

[itjstagame]

I went through what you are last year with my first bike and no knowledge and no manuals. I can only speak to my bike, but bikes around that genre if you look around the bolts/screws holding the fairings/tank on are pretty obvious. I remember the first time I was going to tank the tank off I was worried and thought it was so involved, no I'm under there every other minute.

On my bike you first take the seat off (mine is designed to unhook with the key to access underseat storage), at the base of the tank (under the seat) are two bolts to the frame and then I had 1 bolt on each side of the tank to hold the side fairings to the tank and that was it. Maybe look in front of the tank and make sure there aren't any there. Before removing the tank, unhook the fuel line from the petcock and unhook the vacuum line to the petcock (if it's a vacuum petcock), also the petcock is the fuel selector switch, make sure it's set to 'off' and disconnect the tubes to it. You'll also want to unplug the fuel guage, You should see a wire coming off the bottom of the tank, it should trace to a plug fairly easily.

Just work up on the tank a little bit at a time and make sure it's loose as you move it. I would remove it to work on your throttle cables.

The fuse box should be under the seat near the battery somewhere (but again that's my bike).

As for throttle, with the tank off, trace the 2 cables (most likely 2) that leave from the throttle grip, they'll lead all the way to the actual throttle which is probably wedged in the middle of the bank of carbs. You probably won't be able to fit your hand in there, but if you actuate the actual throttle on the carbs it will be clear where 'closed' and 'fully open' throttle are. You should feel the throttle grip 'stop' if you know what I mean.

Now while watching the throttle on the carbs, move the throttle grip and you'll see what moving the grip is actually doing, moving one way is pulling one of the wire to either open or close the throttle (while the other will loosen) and moving the other way the opposite happens.

These cables (the ends heading to the carbs) should not be loose. If you twist the grip and you realize the first 1/4-1/2 turn is just eating up slack before the actual throttle (by the carbs) starts to move, then you know your cable is way too long. In the middle of the cables somewhere should be length adjusters, you unscrew these and it makes the outer shell around the cable longer, which in turn shortens the cable.

My bike had a slightly loose grip, I'd say no more than 1/20th of a turn, but by adjusting this out I now have a very precise throttle (of course I also need to learn very precise throttle control) and moving the throttle even a small amount will have it scream almost to redline.

I think a little 'slop' is good to keep the throttle from being over twitchy especially for a beginner. Also, remember there are two wires, adjust them both a little bit at a time, if you think about it, you could always leave the throttle at the point with all the slack already eaten up, that is slight twist moves the throttle, but it's so loose it will twist away from this point, adjust the other cable to the point that it will hold the throttle wear you want.

I'm sure as you play with it you'll realize how it works. It's also possible you may have a completely broken cable (my closing cable was rusted through and broken).

[NinjaGirl]

Welcome!

[Shaft]

itjstagame.. thanks for your post.. great info. I did take the tank off last night before I read your post and I seen the adjustments for the cables between the carbs. I definitly have slack and I adjusted it as far as it could go.. still got slack BUT..... How much grip action do we actually have on these bikes? 1/4 twist from closed to full open throttle? 1/2 twist? 3/4? I'm lost.. seems like i'm only getting 1/4 twist of throttle action. Reason why i think i'm not getting enough throttle.. bike feels really sluggish. Past 7K still nothing.. in 6th she will only pull to about 160kms/hr and then struggles to go more. I think its throttle not opening all the way.

I want to figure out this problem as soon as I can, then its on to the mysterious oil leak dripping on my exaust.

thanks guys.

[Shaft]

Thanks Ninjagirl

[forest1000]

A few of us have an 86 zx1000/GPz1000RX/Ninja1000R including me and sliver240

Welcome.

[Shaft]

Awesome, good to hear. Are these bikes common for oil leaks around the oil pan, water pump?

[Tod]

Welcome Shaft.

It's also possible that given the age of your bike, the cable could probably stand a good lubing to let it slide smoothly.

[Shaft]

Hi Todd, the cable does move back and forth pretty quickly. Its pouring now for 2 days straight.. i'll have to wait another day or 2 before this rain lets up.. Dying to work on this bike!!!

[Shaft]

WOOT!! Fixed my throttle problem.. the whole bracket holding the cables to the carb assembly was loose, which moved a little forward, which also cause the throttle not to open all the way. So thats all good. But how the heck do you tighten the phillips screw that holds that bracket??? such a tight spot!!

thanks all.

[dsmack]

Originally Posted by Shaft

WOOT!! Fixed my throttle problem.. the whole bracket holding the cables to the carb assembly was loose, which moved a little forward, which also cause the throttle not to open all the way. So thats all good. But how the heck do you tighten the phillips screw that holds that bracket??? such a tight spot!!

thanks all.

As a returning bike owner after many years off, I had forgotten how my XL size hands don't fit the spaces very well around motorcycles! I'm currently looking to make friends with the Japanese fellow who lives down the street and is sized just right to get his hands in there!

[Shaft]

LOL.. schools out.. so all the Foreign students are gone.


I need a small 90 degree phillps to get in there. Or else you'd have to remove a carb to tighten that screw.

[G]

welcome to the site ..

[dsmack]

Originally Posted by Shaft

LOL.. schools out.. so all the Foreign students are gone.


I need a small 90 degree phillps to get in there. Or else you'd have to remove a carb to tighten that screw.

I know just the thing for you... I have a small, ratcheting Phillips, larger on one side, smaller opposite that is only about 1.25" thick overall. If I remember correctly, I got it at Sears. It looks cheap as h*ll, with a pressed handle about 4" long, but it works pretty well in tight quarters. Picture a very small ratchet handle with a Phillips driver sticking out top and bottom, large and small size... There you go!

[Ericthejet]

I would give your new purchase a good "looking-over" before putting any more miles under the wheels. Most Kawai dealers sell the Haynes manual for about 20 bucks.

[Shaft]

Nice!! thanks for the info about the phillips. Ya I looked it over pretty good. Just gonna iron out this oil leak. I think its right at the pan gasket. No biggie.

It makes great power right now, what kind of plugs u guys use? DR8EA?

anyone using the Iridium Equiv?