starting East Coaster

[merlin]

Where do I begin.My 4T powered East Coaster has never been an easy starter but it always started until now.Went out on it a few times lovely.Then two weeks ago went to the garage show signs of starting but does no.Have a spark and fuel,checked plugs and points all correct.Going to check silencers tomorrow for any obstruction i.e gunge.All ideas welcome.
thanks.

[John Wakefield]

Where do I begin.My 4T powered East Coaster has never been an easy starter but it always started until now.Went out on it a few times lovely.Then two weeks ago went to the garage show signs of starting but does no.Have a spark and fuel,checked plugs and points all correct.Going to check silencers tomorrow for any obstruction i.e gunge.All ideas welcome.
thanks.

If it was starting & running ok previously then it it most likely to be stale petroil.
Modern petrol does tend to 'go off' but usually only after a couple of months or so, although you used the bike a couple of weeks previous, you dont say how old the fuel is in the tank. So before you go looking at other things, drain off the petroil & replace with new. Other than that just check points, plugs & carb.
One thing it could be is the pilot jet in the carb, (the long tube that goes through the float). it has a very small hole and it can block. Unscrew it & use a piece of 15 amp fuse wire to clear it. The silencers wont be the problem.

[merlin]

Thanks John will try the carb problem in the morning.

[Brian Magee]

It may be worth removing the drain plugs in the crankcases and kicking it over to to remove any build up of fuel.

Brian.

[merlin]

Thanks Brian would kicking it over with spark plugs removed not do that?

[John Wakefield]

Thanks Brian would kicking it over with spark plugs removed not do that?

Yes an alternative way of clearing excess fuel, but if its been firing then I would not think its that. As I said before strip carb & make sure pilot jet (& main jet) are clear, if it wont go then drain tank & put in fresh fuel.
Apart from that its difficult to diagnose. The 4T can be temperamental to start & is critical of mixture both hot & cold
If I have this problem I usually bump start it, that does the trick.

[merlin]

update

Carb off found some crud in the jets.New petrol for good measure will be back together on Wednesday,fingers crossed for a result.

[merlin]

Going to start a complete strip and rebuild to cure several problems. Along the way will get the paintwork sorted.

[merlin]

East Coaster

Help. Before my winter strip down thought would like to have a few last rides. After cleaning carb,new plugs and condensers. All gapped and timed started 1st/2Kick for about seven days.Ran really well the all stop back to square one. Any ideas while I still have some hair left.

[John Wakefield]

Sorry no further ideas, without actually seeing the bike its difficult to diagnose, you seem to have checked all the main things, strange it ran OK for 7 days then played up again. Maybe rust or something out of the tank blocking carb jets.
These 4Ts seem to be temperamental. Mine has an occasional problem of missing on one cylinder (the LH one) after starting from cold but after a short distance comes back on the LH pot & is then ok again & runs fine till the next cold start. Cant seem to find the problem. Fitted new NGK BP6HS spark plugs but still does it. With 50 year old electrics I suppose these things are going to happen.

[merlin]

Thanks John will continue and let you know any successes.

[John Wakefield]

I have sorted the misfiring on my bike, it was the contact breaker points. They had eroded after 9000 miles & although the gaps looked ok the contact faces were badly pitted. So cleaned them up with an oil stone, re set the gap at 15 thou. & the bike now starts on both cylinders & seems to run much better. Its also worth cleaning any oily residue from the points as this can attract metal partials which can cause voltage to leak to earth.

[merlin]

Thanks John, I did that some time ago. Rechecked everything and started first kick,then left it for three hours started first kick again so now will leave it until Monday. I have had these faulty starts before so here's hoping.