Just got a 00 Bandit 600S! need some help lol

[RedRidingMan]

Hi guys, i was told about this site on ADVrider.com! I've owned a few different bikes, most carbed, some FI and i've always done my own work on them although i don't consider myself to be much of a bike mechanic 

So here is the deal...

Bike : 2000 Bandit 600S

What it does:
Bike starts no problem when cold, will run without the choke on at idle. giving it gas will kill it (it does climb RPM slightly ~ 100-200 RPM  ) with or without the choke on. The choke does increase RPM as it should. When the bike warms up it will not start at all till it's cooled down a while (20 mins or so) then it fires right up. It will kill when warming up after 5-10 minutes of idle time, running for a shorter and shorter time each restart till it refuses. A quick hit of starting fluid and it will fire up instantly and run for a second even when it refuses to start.

History:
bought it after being told it sat for 8 months. it backfired a little when idleing and the gas smelled horrid, refused to rev up. felt confident it was dirty carbs.

What i've done:
0. Fresh gas.
1. Cleaned the carbs (twice) i feel pretty good that they are not the problem
2. Corrected the firing order (this solved backfiring issue)
3. Dropped new plugs in it (no change)
4. Carrested it lovingly and wispered sweet nothings into it's intake...


What i Havn't done is drilled out the mix screws and tried directly cleaning them, as carb cleaner seemed to flow freely past them.  I have been told the vent for the tank could be plugged so i'm going to check that too. Is there anything specific other than that i should be looking for? I can't work on it again till late tomorrow but then i will update this thread with what i find 

Looking forward to riding with some of you! 

[txbanditrydr]

Mere scatter-shooting with suggestions here....

Check air filter... replace if dirty or something nested in there.

Check float level heights in carbs (yeah, sucks to have to take them out again).

You don't mention whether it has a jet kit or aftermarket pipe - might be wise to check the installed jet sizes and while you're there drill out the A/F screw caps and re-set those.

Double check your carb boots for cracks or leaks... seems like I remember someone suggesting spraying (some sort of fluid) on the carb boots and see if that changes anything while running - indicating a vacuum leak.  Also, over-tightening of the bands around the boots can cause vacuum leaks.

Do report back when you can.  There's usually something simple involved with the Bandit engine when it acts up like that.

Oh... BTW....  to the forum - glad you found us.

[RedRidingMan]

  For the warm welcome!

It does have a kirker pipe, i think it's a slipon. the main jets are 192, i didn't check others. I've checked the filter, ran it with and without with no change. I also made sure the exhaust was clear - it was pushing hard out of it.

The manifolds are cracked a little but the cracks don't seem bad. I could pull them out and attempt a seal with RTV or something. i have shot WD-40 on them while idleing with no change in the bike noticed, so i assumed them not to be a problem. i'll look into them again if i hit a wall here.

[pmackie]

Welcome RedRidingMan

Great site here, glad you found us.

1. Cleaned the carbs (twice) i feel pretty good that they are not the problem

Based on all of your descriptions, I would feel pretty good that the carbs ARE the problem, or at least fuel supply is the problem. Start checking a few simple things...
a) make sure you are getting fuel to all the carb bowls. You can pull the drain plugs from each, and make sure fuel runs out,
b) check that all of the vacuum ports on the carbs are either plugged, or connected to something,
c) make sure the petcock passes fuel properly, both on and reserve should pass fuel when vacuum is applied, on PRI (prime) fuel should run all the time.
d) if you have an in-line fuel filter, make sure it is not plugged, or restricting flow.

Just curious, how did you go about cleaning the carbs? Did all the o-rings as well as the vacuum diaphrams look in good shape?

The good news is that it starts and runs...now you just need to find out why it won't rev.

[RedRidingMan]

OK! update. i pulled and cleaned the AF screws, they did have a slight amount of varnish, but it made no difference. Further messing around and at some point i decided to run it without the tank on it, but with the bowls full of gass at the point it wouldn't start. It ran the starter for a few seconds and just when i was about to give up it fired up and ran fine. Turns out the floats are set wrong. i noticed earlyer the tank had drained into the oil but just thought the petcock was bad - i still think it needs a rebuild, it drips gas "on" one of the gaskets inside the thing is ripped i found when i pulled it apart, seems ok when left in res.

I also found the manifolds leaked air by spraying carb cleaner on them while idling well, it would race up and down for a while, then settled untill it hit it with carb cleaner, instantly reving way up.

I tried for a while to set the floats right, i couldn't do it. Going to look around online tonight and find a good how-the-hell-too on it. getting closer! too bad i can't actually work on it again till next weekend. 

[txbanditrydr]

There's a Stage One Jet Kit Install pictorial in the download section that shows float height adjustment - might be of some help to you.   

[RedRidingMan]

OK! further updates!

good news: i rode it on the street tonight.

Bad news: it wasn't happy.

Actually it was running fairly well on the stand and did good around the yard then i put more gas in and some seafoam that was so old the bottle was rusted like crazy (too much of it too). it ran down the street about 75 yards decently then started the hesitate by time i turned around it wouldn't run without choke. Does seafoam go bad? It ran better after i deluded the mixture as much as i could but still wasn't happy.

With any luck tomorrow i will have it running decently.


I've always done minor stuff to my own bikes like filter changes oil changes tire changes and some light carb work, but i've never undertaken anything this large. I thought this would be a simple 3-4 hour deal and i would have a great running bike, that's quickly turned into 15-20 hours and i still don't  but i've learned a LOT about the bike in that time and i've learned about a lot of stupid mistakes i made (like not leaving the bike on PRI long enough and wandering why it won't run..........). I would still buy this bike over again knowing it would take all this work, next time i do this hopefully i can get it done in 10 hours  . Although i'm really pretty sick of pulling the carbs off this bike, i'm going to have nightmares about it.