XJ600N not starting...

Hi guys, I've been lurking on this site for a while now and you seem to be a good bunch of head cases! I bought a 1997 XJ600N in July & passed my DAS (full bike licence) this weekend & am eager to get on the road. I’ve got a few issues I’d like to run past you guys as I’m only a learner when it comes to monkey wrenching so any help would be greatly appreciated.

1) It ran fine when I purchased it but now it doesn’t want to start (I kind of left it alone between purchase & now instead of starting it weekly ). It’s got a full charge on a good battery & the starter turns over but it just doesn’t want to play. I’ve drained the fuel tank and put in fresh & I’ve cleaned the sparks (which were quite tatty). The fuel flows though the petcock when set to prime so I know that works. I want to get into the airbox to check for blocks & give it a squirt of some of that ignition stuff. I reckon the airbox is probably blocked as the previous owner worked on a limestone quarry & the bike was caked in the stuff. The Haynes guide (groan groan) says in order to get to the airbox I have to remove the petcock knob by removing a screw (to prevent it getting snapped off when I lift the tank). However, the screw in the knob doesn’t want to play & I don’t want to round it off, any suggestions on how to encourage it out? I’m going to replace the sparks as they weren’t that great so hopefully that’ll help & also I guess I should give it an oil change as I don’t know when the previous owner did it last.
2) I’ve got a Puig Raptor screen I’d like to fit to it. I undid the bolts mounting the headlight to the bracket and heard a clunk. Arse! It’s not a self tapper which I hoped but had a nut on the other side. Now to reattach said bolt to it’s counterpart I need to remove a couple of screws holding the front cover of the headlight in place. However, these have been chewed a treat & I very much doubt any of my drivers will budge them. I guess it’s a case of drilling the screws; however I’ve never done this before. I guess I just need to try & match the diameter of the tread then go careful. Then fit with a slightly larger self tapper?
3) Somewhere on the bike is a Meta immobiliser however the battery in the key is dead (I guess) as it doesn’t respond when I press it. I’m just intrigued as to where it might be on the bike. I’ve checked the tail end & it’s not there & under the plastics. Any guesses for favourite spots? I just wanna check it out & make sure the electrics are in decent condition, and then get the battery replaced.

Sorry for the long post but I thought it’s best to give a bit of detail than to be vague. I’ll get some pics up in a sec.

Cheers,
Si

 

Hello Si and welcome, quite a list you have. For 1 and 2 there are a couple of answers. Sear sells a micro extractor set that is worth it's weight in gold. It should be able to get your screws out. You can also try a trick posted elsewhere here. Take a nail set and make a nice divot in the nail head then drive the screw in the loosen direction with the nail set and your new divot. Works like a charm...

For #3 no guesses - sorry

 

Just an update for you:

I replaced the old spark plugs with shiny new ones, gave the battery a good charge then slaved in a car battery. the bigger battery was enough to bring life to the old girl, now she purs like a kitten

I bit the bullet with the screws in the light and carefully drilled them out. Luckily I didn't damage the thread so I re-tapped it for safety then replaced it with some stainless screws. The inside of the lamp was rusted to hell (someone's dropped her and the rim is slightly wonkey, allowing water in). I've cleaned it out, treated the rust & I'm spraying the inside with hammerite.

Still no sign of that elusive immobiliser but the old girl still has loads of gunk all over her so I've taken this week off work to clean her up and make her presentable

Cheers for the advice bill, I'll have to try the screw trick & I'll definately get that extractor kit I've yet to build up the courage to try that screw in the petcock so I'll try it on that.

I'll keep you posted on the progress.
Cheers,
Si

 

Good luck - great to hear you got it running...

 

On the screw extractor the best one that I have found is at www.4grabit.com I got mine at ACE Hardware. The cheapers ones don't work. But I got mine for about 20 dollars. It definatly saves in frustration. You can use them for almost anything that you break off.
Also if probably would be a great Idea to get a new air filter and a new battery. Lots of luck . Make sure to put some pictures up.

 

Update for you:

I phoned the local mechanics to get her booked in for an MOT tomorrow morning. Fantastic I thought, I can get her on the road.

Afterwards, I decided to give her a quick blast around the area to make sure everything was running smoothly. Started her up, poped the clutch, changed into first..... she lurched forwards and stalled!
No probs, she's been sat for a couple of months, I expect she just needs freeing up... got her to the top of the hill, started her up, got her rolling, changed into first and hey presto she runs along.

However I get to the end of the road, feather the clutch and get no response! Luckily there's no traffic so just carry on around the turn. I keep on trying to change up a gear and she won't budge. I finally get her into second & realise I'm gunna run out of road!! trying to change down is just as bad & I end up stalling her. messed about trying to get her into neutal, started her up & limped her home in first.

WHAT THE HELL?

I've checked & lubed the clutch cable which seems to be working ok, I've got her pouring oil into an ice cream tub at the mo & will change the oil filter as well for good measure.

Any Ideas as to what else it could be? I don't want to break her open if I can get away with it but I need to find the fault quick! I've got about 2hrs daylight left to work in today plus a couple before she's due at the garage. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Cheers,
Si

 

Si I think you are saying your clutch does not disengage fully? Search out clutch cable adjustment on the forum it could just be an adjustment issue.

If not you can try a seafoam or marvel mystery oil treatment of the oil. You will need to change it again to remove the treatment but it's worth a try.

From your description it sounds like some sort of clutch issue.

 

Well I've played with the cable adjustment & even with no give in the leaver it will not do the job.

I've just had a friend of mine who's a dab hand at this sort of stuff & he reckons that one of the clutch plates is stuck. Recommends sticking the oil back in, warming it up & riding it in second whilst throttling on & off to try & free it...
I'll give it a go as soon as another matey turns up with a wrench for my oil filter.

will keep you posted....

 

If your buddy is right the oil treatment might help loosen things up too. Good luck with it.

 

Right, update for you:

Plonked it onto the centre stand and tried revving her in 2nd with the back brake on & off.... no joy.

Tried it being a little more...aggressive. no joy, no more daylight either.

Then the neighbour pops his head over the fence (big burly bike nutter) and points out that the clutch plates must be fully fused together & that we'll need to open her up to free them off.

So into his garage she goes & into biker heaven (snap on tools everywhere ). He also knows pretty much everything about pulling bikes apart & quite soberly states that the case can come off without draining the oil first if she's on her side stand (yeah right! well it's your garage so whatever). Anyway, he pops the case off & low and behold not a drop of oil comes out & the gasket stays in tact! Must be my lucky day!

out came the plates & sure enough 6 out of the 8 plates had binded with the fibre plates. Prised them apart & oiled them up nicely & put them back in. Case back on, messed with the clutch cable a bit and hey preso I have a clutch again!

Looks like she's ready now for the mot. I can't say enough how good it is to have blokes like him around who are willing to throw in an hours time & some experience to get things done. I'll be sure to make sure his beer supply is topped up for a while!

Cheers,
Si

P.S it wasn't until afterwards that i thought about taking pictures, I guess i was preoccupied with worrying about whether 3 litres of oil was about to pour onto the deck! I'll get some next time I do something on her...

 

P.S bear in mind when I say that the case can some off without draining the oil, this is on a XJ600 divvy, I'm not sure if this'll be the same for the american versions...

 

Very cool - nice to have good neighbors. I was afraid your clutch was frozen but was hoping you could at least get it freed for the inspection. Amazing you could get it to shift at all.

Now the second half - are you sure the plates are in good enough shape for long term use or should you be replacing them? If they came apart clean I would think you would be ok but I have not had the pleasure of pulling a clutch yet so I'm definitely not an expert. Sounds like your neighbor could offer his opinion since he has observed them first hand.

 

Sory, computer had nast trojan in so have not had the chance to reply.

Matey cleaned up the plates nicely so they're like new (he also checked for any warping while he was at it).

I took her to the petrol station on the morning of the mot and she worked fine. Filled her up, turned the key, hit the button and....nothing! lol the battery is a dead'un. I ended up bumping her to get her going.

Got her to the mot and she passed fine! I've put a new battery in her now and she hasn't skipped a beat. I've done 200 miles on her in the last two days to clear out the cobwebs. I'll stick another 100 on her tomorrow

It's just a case of cleaning her up now (and maybe tune the carbs)

cheers,

si