[farfromhome]

Make sure to have the headlights turned off. These little 250's don't like having any extra load on the battery when they're cranking. Also if you haven't already, charge the battery.
Whats the state of the petrol in the tank? Any idea how long the bike was sitting there and is it still the same petrol?
One other thing to check with a MC19 is the fuel pump there's a guide on shorting out the fuel pump to see if its working properly in the service manual,

I think I have all of this covered. The old fuel was removed and replaced with fresh Shell Vpower on Tuesday. I ran the fuel pump hose into a container and it pumped the old fuel into the container while I thumbed the starter. The headlight is off and I charge the battery after each session. If it starts to sound tired I put it on the charger and use the battery from my 900SS.

Does the fuel pump on the MC19 run continuously when the engine is running or is there some other means to regulate the pressure ?

I sincerely appreciate all suggestions and comments.

 

[farfromhome]

Well today I checked the coils and found the primary resistance on each to be @ 2.6 ohm which is just in spec.

The P.O. told me that he paid $15 each for new CR8EH-9 plugs but I found a U.S. supplier that I pass on my way to work who had them @ $6 each so I got a new set of CR9EH-9's.

Before installing the new ones I cranked over the engine for a few seconds with no signs of firing. I pulled the #4 plug, it was wet and quite sooty for a new plug. I cleaned it up a bit to see if I could get a spark at the gap but no go, however I actually got an arc where I was holding against ground and even a jolt while holding the plug! :blush: So that one is definitely fouled, all the others were wet and black when I took them out.

I checked the gaps on the new plugs and installed them, and also turned the pilot screws in another 1/4 turn. I gave it a shot of SYB in each carb and thumbed the button. It roared to life for about 3 seconds and then died. I thumbed the starter again and it tried but wouldn't catch. I tried just a little choke but got nothing so that seemed the wrong way to go. I recharged my temporary fuel supply (turkey baster), gave it 4 more shots of SYB and thumbed the starter.

This time it fired up and it kept running! :headbang: It went up to about a 9000 rpm idle which I quickly adjusted down to about 2200. The throttle response seemed almost too good for a stone cold (2C) engine with no choke. Blipping the throttle got a wonderful noise out of the pipe but also lots of not-so-wonderful smoke. Fortunately I had opened the garage door, even so I had to shut it down after about a minute and step outside. The smoke is likely all accumulated fuel and rich carbs and hopefully nothing else.

At this point I am still thinking it is jetted way too rich. I will likely ditch the airbox in favour of pod type filters but I will probably get new pilot jets as well. Keihin jets are easy to get locally but you have to know which type they are.

Based on the chart at this website http://www.motorcyclecarbs.com/Keihin_Jet_Identificaiton_Char_W56.cfm
can anyone tell me what type of jets I need?

 

[farfromhome]

UPDATE:

I actually got out for a ride today as the temp shot up to 16C ! I stuck a plate on, checked the tyre pressures and off we went for about a 30Km shakedown sortie.

It went quite well with no drama. Since my previous post I have only started the bike once and it started easily with the choke. Before starting I pulled the #1 plug and it actually looked a little lean. Today I pulled the choke , thumbed the starter and it fired up immediately.

It ran well with no stumbles throughout the rev range. The temp gauge took a while to move, it seemed happy between cold and half way. I never did check to see if there was a thermostat installed. I adjusted the idle down to about 1500rpm, it only stalled once as I was pulling in my driveway.

The handling is decent and I was somewhat surprised and pleased that it didn't feel undersprung with my 97KG weight. Brakes seemed OK. BTW the tyres are BT39's

I am used to big V-twins that pull from low RPM so this one is definitely different. I behaved in town but managed to wind it up to about 16000 on the highway. The pipe is LOUD, I will probably get a DB dawg to throw in the toolbox as some of the tracks here have noise restrictions.

It should be a fun track bike. I have signed up for 3 days so far, the first is May 13. I need to remove the lights, change the oil, replace the coolant with water/waterwetter and a few other things but otherwise I think the bike is ready to go.

 

[Aus_James]

Sounds good! Be interested to see what you think of the bike.

My bike is running great now, but I've decided a change of direction and will be getting an NC23 1988 CBR400 so probably won't track the MC19. Great fun little road bike, especially here where the speeding rules are insane. 250 works out just right!

 

[Angel_Fire]

Any update yet mr far from home ??? Sounds like its running well and ready for track fairings ??

 

[farfromhome]

Any update yet mr far from home ??? Sounds like its running well and ready for track fairings ??

Nothing really to add at the moment, the weather up here has gone for a crap. 1st track day is May 13, before then I will be changing the oil, flushing the cooling system and adding water/water-wetter. I've drilled a couple hose clamps for safety wiring and will do the oil plugs as well. For now I am planning to use the bodywork that came on the bike.

 

[farfromhome]

Any update yet mr far from home ??? Sounds like its running well and ready for track fairings ??

Nothing really to add at the moment, the weather up here has gone for a crap. 1st track day is May 13, before then I will be changing the oil, flushing the cooling system and adding water/water-wetter. I've drilled a couple hose clamps for safety wiring and will do the oil plugs as well. For now I am planning to use the bodywork that came on the bike.

I finally got to the track last week.



It was cold and windy, 2C during the riders meeting as we all tried to ignore the tiny frozen granules of precipitation. It "warmed up" to about 11C by lunchtime. I wore my longies under my leathers. This past weekend we hit 29C, ah, Canadian weather.

The bike ran well but was a little reluctant to start in the cold. On the track I had to adjust for the size of the bike, it is small, I am not. I tried to keep the revs up over 10000 and the response was good above that. It seems to make the best power between15-18K.

It handles very well, the fork works great but I am still playing with the rear shock preload. It seemed a bit soft during test rides so I bumped the preload from position 3 to position 7 and that was too much even with my lardy arse on it. No drama but it just felt too stiff for this notoriously bumpy track.

The BT39 tires were OK considering the temps but I didn't really push them. I'll see how they are next month as we should be into some really warm weather by then.

I mentioned in another post that after reading the homepage article about mounting a CBR600 F2 rear shock I stumbled across a Progressive Suspension unit on clearance. It was the last one on the companies web site and it was on sale for a ridiculous $59.95. I pulled the trigger and this is what showed up in the mail;



Its alloy bodied with 5 position rebound adjustment and an internal nitrogen bladder. I'll try it as is but if I have to throw a couple of hundred $ at it for a respring/revalve I won't cry too much.

 

[dansher]

looks pretty nice