03 Bandit 1200 running on two cylinders

[smearig]

My bike has been down for the last 5 months due to some crash damage.  After finally getting all that repaired, I tried to fire it up and it was running terribly on two cylinders.  I could barely get it going long enough to figure out which cylinders were firing, but it wouldn't fire at all when I disconnected the right hand ignition coil.  I figured that the left coil must have been bad and ordered a known good part from Ebay.  While waiting I replaced the plugs to make sure that wasn't the problem.  Tonight I put the coil on, fired it up and realized that it is definitely running on cylinders 3 & 4, which aren't controlled by the same coil.  What could be causing this? 

The bike is completely stock with 17k miles, a new stock air filter, no jet kit and an intact air injection system.

Thanks in advance.

[Red01]

First things I'd do is see if the #1 & 2 cyliders have the essentials...
Spark
Fuel
Compression

[smearig]

I haven't checked compression, but I have a compression tester so I could do that.  The plugs smelled like fuel when I replaced them, is there a better way to see if those cylinders are getting fuel?

[StangMATA]

Tonight I put the coil on, fired it up and realized that it is definitely running on cylinders 3 & 4, which aren't controlled by the same coil.

How did you determine this?

The best thing to do IMO is to pull the plugs (one at a time is probably best), hook the plug up to theplug wire, then lay the plug on the cyl head to ground it. Turn the bike over and see if it has a good strong spark. Do this for all 4 cyl's.

When you went down was it on the right side? I'm just curious if you knocked the carbs around a bit and maybe messed something up in the fuel department.

[pmackie]

The first thing I would do is drain the float bowls of ALL carbs, and see what you get out of them. It is possible you need to pull them and give them a good clean. Since the bike sat for 5+ months after a spill, I'm assuming you didn't put STABIL in the fuel to help preserve it.

So...before you get carried away with other stuff:
1. Drain the carbs
2. Dump all the old fuel and replace with fresh stuff.

[smearig]

I took the carbs off and cleaned them, reinstalled and it was still running on two cylinders.  I let it sit a day, then came back and realized the spart plug wires were switched on cylinders 1 and 2.  Turns out that one wire is supposed to be pretty tight and the other has a lot of slack.

It runs great now.

 

[pmackie]

Well yea...that would do it

Glad it working well now

[Red01]

Damn! I hate it when that happens!

I know I've made my share of chuckleheaded mistakes before.  You can laugh at them easier as they fade into history.  They are valuable educational tools though.

Glad you got it fixed. 

Hope you don't mind if I laugh with you now. 

[PitterB4]

Gotta love an easy fix, right?  It's not as easy a my fix, tho!  (Hope that makes you feel a little better!)

[smearig]

Hope you don't mind if I laugh with you now. 

Ah yes, but you should see how clean my carbs are now.