Strange behavior, also new member intro.

[scooterqualified]

Hi, my name is Vlad im from NY and I recently aquired a '92 Bandit 400. I got it as a running bike which needed some cleanup for a steal. When I got the bike it was running decent albeit a bit rough to idle but it started with half a crank and ran strong. I decided to repaint the bike and repair the plastics to get ready for the new riding season. So I took off the tank and plastics, drained the gas, took off the petcock and blew some compressed air on it and put it aside. I repaired and repainted the plastics and the tank. I also put some clubman bars on the bike. So now the real mystery. I reassembled everything. Get a gallon of gas, put a bit of seafoam in it and stir it up, refill the tank, set the petcock to prime ( arrow facing up) let it fill the bowls a bit, give it some choke and let it crank, and crank some more, long story short  the freaking thing wont start, then I did someting I never do to anything I like, I gave it a short shot of starter fluid, it actually caught and started for a bit, I ran the bike up and down my block, but then it wouldnt Idle properly, it would surge and drop and no matter how much I played with the idle screw it wouldnt stay anywhere. after it shut off, I was unable to start the bike again. I took apart everything, checked operation of the petcock, made sure if I gave it vacuum it would flow gas, checked spark on all 4 plugs ( a little wet) but good equal visual spark on both, checked flow through gas inline filter, made sure choke cable wasn't bound and mechanism actuated good. triple checked hose fittings actually are connected to where they are supposed to be. I basically assembled and reassembled the top of the bike a thousand times for 6 hours and gave up. So frustrating considering I got plates for the bike that day. SO today is a new day. Please help me get my bandit on the road.

[gsxr400 racer]

sea foam, sea foam will never do for a good ole carb clean

[gsxr400 racer]

welcome 

[pmackie]

Welcome to the site scooterqualified,

Based on what most of the 400 guys talk about, your description and also the age of the bike, you are likely looking at a good carb cleaning, and possibly rebuild. GSXR400 racer can point you in the direction of a good o-ring kit.

Welcome. Lots of good info here.

[gsxr400 racer]

oh and mo than likely you need to look in your tank with a flash light see if there is any rust and get a good fuel filter. if there is rust then you need to adress this with some tank Kreem comes in a 3 part kit for like $60.00 i think

[scooterqualified]

heya got the bike running!! and actually idling consitently at 1400. the problem was bad connections to the spark plug boots from the wires. and the bad backfire I was getting was from mismatched coils. Awesome! the other problem was a filthy air filter, I washed it in some mild soap and reoiled, !boom! the bike runs way smoother. Also replaced the gas inline filter with a new one and noticed way better flow. One thing left to do is to synch the carbs because I think theyre slightly off, though I can ride for now! The previous owner said he recently went over the carbs but when I get my ultrasonic parts cleaner from my other garage I'll probaby go over them again myself. Pics of bike coming soon

[SRwitt]

Welcome  , glad you got your issues fixed, my 400 is in for a good bit of maintenance over the next month.  I've got my carb rebuild kit ordered thanks to mr GSXR400 racer, and hearing about your problems with the spark plug wires, I may just replace mine, they are I'm sure the factory wires, and looking a little ratty.  Other things you may want to look into would be the spark plugs again, in the 3 years I've owned my bike, I've had to replace the plugs every season, like GSXR400 said kreem your gas tank, I did mine, takes approx 24 hrs because you have to let it set up, once done you shouldn't see rust problems from the tank for a good few years. I also replaced my petcock with a pingle, it is no longer vacuum controlled so I have to remember to shut it off myself, but it flows way more fuel, it does use a larger fuel line.  After installing the petcock, strangely the dead spot between 4 and 6k dissapeared, I also followed the petcock with a rather large for a motorcycle, fuel filter.

[Banditmax]

which pingel and fitting block did you use for it?

[gsxr400 racer]

The mount holes are 44mm apart ....go with the 1702C adapter I reckon and the matching dual fuel tap 32GSXR-D-AH.

[gsxr400 racer]

sorry the tap is for dual fuel lines but they have one that is single but same adaptor plate

[Banditmax]

Cheers jay

[SRwitt]

which pingel and fitting block did you use for it?

I think the others got ya covered.  The fittings are pretty universal, you tell them bolt hole spacing and the options you want.  On/off, On/Off/res, they have dual fuel line models, single fuel line models, different shapes and sizes.  Find them on the web and check them out.  The one I got is a simple hexagon shaped on/off/res, single fuel line.  All you have to do is unbolt the old petcock, bolt up the Pingel flange for a test fit, see if the petcock fits, if not you undo the flange, and grind open the hole in the bottom of the gas tank until the valve will fit up in the tank.  Clean up the bottom of the tank, apply sealant and then reinstall the flange.  The valve just screws into the flange from there, attach your fuel line and filter and you're good to go.

You may have to modify the handle on the valve.  Mine had a big chrome knob on it that I was having clearance issues with, I just cut it off and was done with it.  It's a little harder to open and close the valve now, but it is easily done even with gloves on.

[gsxr400 racer]

i had the same problem but i just turned my valve a bit and still got to use the chrome nob. As for sealant in a few months to a year when that gasket that they sent you starts leaking Wit just cut one out of a old inner tube and it will last many years

[scooterqualified]

As promised some pics of the Bandit without sidecovers on though, pics are crappy garage pics with crap camera.


Another option may be to put the petcock on Prime, and buy a $25 small fuel pump from auto zone and run it inline. It will turn on when you key the bike on, I did this on two scooters I had with very poor operating vacuum fuel valves.

[gsxr400 racer]

let me see you keep the carbs from leaking when you do that with the fuel pump if you figure it out  cause i gave up