GSX400RR Riders

[ben2306]

Hi , I'm getting a gsxr400 , wad should I look out for so as not to be conned

 

i would say it really depends on how u determine being conned...if the owner selling darn cheap..most prob bike got major problem so if u get a faulty bike..its kinda expected..if the owner selling damn expensive...do a thorough check to see if there's any fault so as not to be conned

like that i'm selling mine for 3.5k, you want to buy??

[yoshitei]

Hi , I'm getting a gsxr400 , wad should I look out for so as not to be conned

 

If you have to ask a question like this, you're gonna be conned!

 

Bikes this old need owners who know how to maintain them well as per factory recommendations. Unfortunately, the owner's manual is usually lost after the first couple of transfers and hence most of them are poorly maintained. Largely because of owners on shoestring budget, ignorance or bike shops out for an easy buck.

 

Don't think many of such bikes actually had their valve clearance and timing checked. Checking the floats for the carburetors and the bearings is just as alien to most until something breaks! And there is lot more then what I just mentioned simply because any engine damage would be costly to repair and parts aren't readily available and most owners would end up sticking in reconditioned parts based on a bike shop's advise that it's cheaper.

 

A sports bike is only worth it's salt if it is well maintained as per the factory's recommendation and worked on my experienced hands and no individuals out there to earn a quick buck at the expense of the ignorant and gullible.

[Gr4vity]

like that i'm selling mine for 3.5k, you want to buy??

 

lol..i'm trying to be as polite as possible to the person asking the qns..honestly its really hard to ans that kinda of qns that he posted..just like what bro yoshitei said..there's just too many things to look out for..how izzit possible for bro zanpaktuo to determine whether he is being conned or not..if the seller say fork working well..end up when bro zanpaktuo buy the bike and then the fork leak...like that = being conned?...i think wear and tear is bound to have...instead of saying whether he is being conned or not...its better to say if what he is getting is worth the $$$ that he is paying

[ben2306]

i feel been conned only when given a false answer... other than that, if i'm happy with the price, i'll just pay. to me, there's actually no market price for bikes. dont tell me a gonna scrap bike can sell like a fully overhaul bike just becos of "market price"

[adnoh]

bought the bike for 2k.. got lots of problem.. let me fix until no problem until 1 fine day when i was booking out from my camp.. i was too excited to see my baby.. dint warm it up properly b4 moving off.. i wack!... 1 gear.... 50-60... 2gear... PIANG!.. i have broke the gear box.. and the thing cost me around 1k ++ A total of 16 teeth from gear 1 and gear 2 broke and the gear holder.. i cant engage neutral or any gear

 

fully overhaul at toh guan heng motor... serves me well for more then half a year.. until i itchy hand again tried to follow my friend and there's this taxi driver who keeps blocking my way nt letting me over take him.. so i decided to wheelie pass him to scare him.. and this time.. i blew my piston and con rod ... to repair it already cost more then the bike i buy at first.. so i decided to let it go..... i am damn sad to leave my G4 its a rather good bike, plenty of torque and it respond to u when ever u give the throttle a twist

 

Thought its an old bike.. there are bound to have wear and tears.. on the wiring part and fork, cylinder any anywhere that moves ... but its a good powerful budget bike.. for 2A.. if u are planning to change for a bigger bike in the future

[yoshitei]

I'm still keeping a '95 Suzuki at my retirement home up North.

 

It had 7 transfers and if I recalled correctly, over 100k on the odometer but no accidents and factory paint when I first laid hands on her. Did a full service as per the factory workshop manual and it's not given me any issues this far. I've covered 100k since I owned her and she's brought me from Singapore to Chang Rai, Thailand within 3 days; racing a bunch of friends on 750s most of the way up, but rode easy all the way back.

 

From time to time, when I'm back, I take her out and ride her the way the way she was designed to. Never had an issue or surprise. So I really find it hard to comprehend when I hear of transmission or engine failures.

 

The transmission should be pretty hardy unless you're popping the clutch to pull wheelies and if you're doing this, it would be advisable to check your gears for wear before something serious happens, A jammed transmission could lock the rear wheel and bring about serious consequences.

 

As for the engine breaking, discussed this with Ben before, it's usually the engine timing, else the valve clearance. Again, if your bike sees high revs on a regular basis, discipline on having the timing and clearances checked is crucial, Jammed pistons are as good as a jammed transmission, possibly locking your rear wheels and sending you onto the tarmac and I believe most of us are not suited up for that. Even so, it's usually not the impact that hurts, it's the other vehicles present that will do serious damage.

 

Back to my earlier comment, it may sound harsh, but it does bear some truth to it. When buying a bike, it's hard to really judge if the answer provided to a question asked is the truth or is it just because the owner him/herself doesn't know. You really need good integration skills to know if the subject is lying or ignorant, even if you do, chances are usually a combination of both. Your best bet still is to to know what to look out for when procuring such a bike. Honestly, most of us only sell a vehicle if we're eying another make/model or perhaps the cost to maintain/repair is just getting much higher the what we're comfortable with.

 

Electrical faults are very common to bikes of this age, finding a new harness is a challenge being these items aren't readily in stock and may need to be shipped from Japan provided they're still manufactured and will cost easily above $500. As for the engine, they are well built, but I suspect most of them have not seen a replacement of timing chain or had valves clearances checked. Having a bike with over distance over 100k clocked, this is something you'll have to budget for else, you're looking at a rebuild somewhere further down the line.

 

A new set of pistons with rings would set you back $600 easily, cranks with con-roads in excess of $1000, transmission is no longer in production but you can get a OE equivalent manufactured, I'm estimating $1500 just for parts, valves/camshafts would cost in around $1000. There are of course, other stuffs which could need replacements, fork seals, bearings, carb seals but these are the cheap ones costing a couple of hundreds.

 

There may be reconditioned parts available at a cheaper price, but I wouldn't go down this road simply because if I'm going through all that effort to strip and rebuild, I may as well throw in spanking new OE parts else better stuffs.

 

But that's just my thoughts... Having a 150kg bike break down in the middle of nowhere especially in Malaysia is my idea of a challenge.

Edited June 4, 2011 by yoshitei

[yoshitei]

bought the bike for 2k.. got lots of problem.. let me fix until no problem until 1 fine day when i was booking out from my camp.. i was too excited to see my baby.. dint warm it up properly b4 moving off.. i wack!... 1 gear.... 50-60... 2gear... PIANG!.. i have broke the gear box.. and the thing cost me around 1k ++ A total of 16 teeth from gear 1 and gear 2 broke and the gear holder.. i cant engage neutral or any gear

 

Good to check for wear on the teeth of the gears when you're popping the clutch...

 

fully overhaul at toh guan heng motor... serves me well for more then half a year.. until i itchy hand again tried to follow my friend and there's this taxi driver who keeps blocking my way nt letting me over take him.. so i decided to wheelie pass him to scare him.. and this time.. i blew my piston and con rod ... to repair it already cost more then the bike i buy at first.. so i decided to let it go..... i am damn sad to leave my G4 its a rather good bike, plenty of torque and it respond to u when ever u give the throttle a twist

 

Valve timing issue?

 

Thought its an old bike.. there are bound to have wear and tears.. on the wiring part and fork, cylinder any anywhere that moves ... but its a good powerful budget bike.. for 2A.. if u are planning to change for a bigger bike in the future

 

I still prefer 2-strokers in this area, simpler engines, lighter, just as powerful if not slightly more, better power to weight ratio. Might be less reliable requiring more attention to be paid to the piston and rings but easier, faster and cheaper to replace. Lesser parts has it's advantages in weight and cost. :-)

[ben2306]

bro yoshitel, check with you. i just did my carb service. the guy told me he unscrew the idle mixture screw 6 turns. i read about tony sleep, he said 1.5turns is according to suzuki manual otherwise will be too rich. now, i'm thinking of taking out the carbs & adjust the screws, thinking it might be the reason why its running rich & spoil my plugs. so if after i adjust the screws, do i need to retune the carbs again? if so, i'll just have to send to workshop again as i dont have the gauge for balance carbs. & what are readings supposed to be on the gauge? is there any readings or numbers to follow? i hope to get it right this time. pls advice.

[yoshitei]

bro yoshitel, check with you. i just did my carb service. the guy told me he unscrew the idle mixture screw 6 turns. i read about tony sleep, he said 1.5turns is according to suzuki manual otherwise will be too rich. now, i'm thinking of taking out the carbs & adjust the screws, thinking it might be the reason why its running rich & spoil my plugs.

 

Really, the only way to be sure is to do a plug chop. If your plugs look black and oily you're running rich. I know you had some work done to your carbs in the last 6 months, but it's really hard to tell if your jets or float heights are done correctly.

 

so if after i adjust the screws, do i need to re-tune the carbs again? if so, i'll just have to send to workshop again as i dont have the gauge for balance carbs. & what are readings supposed to be on the gauge? is there any readings or numbers to follow? i hope to get it right this time. pls advice.

 

If you're tinkering with the screws, it would be wise to do a plug chop just to be sure. And you have to work on all 4 screws of the carbs to achieve the balance you're looking at.

 

The carburetor balancing tool consist tubes with steel balls inside, when balanced, all steel balls should be centered.

[ben2306]

my plugs are confirm black, carbs running rich. sometimes, i really hate going to workshops, when you told them your bike's running rich, they only know about the needle jets problem where i've changed. other than that they dont have abit knowledge about it. like the float height. i read that it should be 20mm in height. if only i have a carb tuner on hand, i'll ripe out the carbs & do it myself. rather than paying some1 who only knows how to dismentale it, wash with petrol then fix everything back. what the hell?? the problem is still there... anywhere i can get the tuner locally, maybe 2nd hand?

[yoshitei]

my plugs are confirm black, carbs running rich. sometimes, i really hate going to workshops, when you told them your bike's running rich, they only know about the needle jets problem where i've changed. other than that they dont have abit knowledge about it. like the float height. i read that it should be 20mm in height. if only i have a carb tuner on hand, i'll ripe out the carbs & do it myself. rather than paying some1 who only knows how to dismentale it, wash with petrol then fix everything back. what the hell?? the problem is still there... anywhere i can get the tuner locally, maybe 2nd hand?

 

Hey, we had this conversation before via PM. I recommend you head to the bike shop I visit when I'm lazy. Not the cheapest in town, but sure knows what he's doing.

 

Getting the carb tuner is an easy task, you still need to know what jets to use, and how to identify wear on your jets. Some screws require Loctite 1303, others require Loctite 1342 and that's not all, you'll need 1333B, 1360 too. Too much of a hassle if you asked me.

 

You'll also need a host of Viton seals. I would have replacement floats on hand just in case.

 

By the way, he has a dyno machine and can work out the power on your bike after the tuning.

[ben2306]

Hey, we had this conversation before via PM. I recommend you head to the bike shop I visit when I'm lazy. Not the cheapest in town, but sure knows what he's doing.

 

Getting the carb tuner is an easy task, you still need to know what jets to use, and how to identify wear on your jets. Some screws require Loctite 1303, others require Loctite 1342 and that's not all, you'll need 1333B, 1360 too. Too much of a hassle if you asked me.

 

You'll also need a host of Viton seals. I would have replacement floats on hand just in case.

 

By the way, he has a dyno machine and can work out the power on your bike after the tuning.

erm, ok. but who to look for to do it? the boss do or the mech? you know, alot shops WERE good becos of the boss's workmanship. when you go there cos its famous, but its just a mech who knows nothing much do your bike cos you are not a regular, they dont care a ****... sorry but i've encountered these too often. sometimes i'm fed up visiting new shops cos you pay the same as others but they getting a better job done as they have spent alot & are regulars... sticking to the same shop gets me to nowhere now. so sourcing for another shop to do up the final faults in the carbs. maybe i'll pay them a visit this month end but i really like to have a name to do my bike.

[adnoh]

nope not valve timing.. over rev... hitting the red for quite sometime.. otherwise its a very good bike..and maybe i dint change my EO for sometime..

[yoshitei]

nope not valve timing.. over rev... hitting the red for quite sometime.. otherwise its a very good bike..and maybe i dint change my EO for sometime..

 

Typically a piston would blow only if it came in contact with the valves around TDC position.

[adnoh]

Typically a piston would blow only if it came in contact with the valves around TDC position.

 

ya it came into contact with the valve.. but the valves have no problems.. the only problem lies with the con rod...

[ben2306]

think will organise a meet up in 2weeks time. any of you got any ideal place? anywhere in spore is fine with me. pls do suggest places. i very seldom go out in the night already so count me out in naming a place. thanks.

[Zanpaktuo]

hi i jus got a gsxr400rr today . new clutch cable , clutch plate .new chain,rewired hi beam low beam switch , change wheel front bearing , change foot brake pump, changed ignition.(cost all beared by previous owner)

mech says engine oil no need change yet and the stock air filter still new.. oil seal leaking but nvm can ride.

when i was riding . gear 4 or 5 maybe about 70kmph,i clutched in and let it roll. the engine rpm jus died off without me knowing .upon realising .before bike came to stop i release clutch and throttle abit to "push start" the bike and everything was good. happened 3 times. already today. any kind soul know the possiblecause?

[Zanpaktuo]

hi i jus got a gsxr400rr today . new clutch cable , clutch plate .new chain,rewired hi beam low beam switch , change wheel front bearing , change foot brake pump, changed ignition.(cost all beared by previous owner)

mech says engine oil no need change yet and the stock air filter still new.. oil seal leaking but nvm can ride.

when i was riding . gear 4 or 5 maybe about 70kmph,i clutched in and let it roll. the engine rpm jus died off without me knowing .upon realising .before bike came to stop i release clutch and throttle abit to "push start" the bike and everything was good. happened 3 times. already today. any kind soul know the possiblecause?

[Zanpaktuo]

and causes and effects of a leaking oil seal are?

[Gr4vity]

and causes and effects of a leaking oil seal are?

 

fork oil seal?...if its leaking ur front suspension will just get softer and softer...and eventually u'll get uneven wear on ur front tyres..once there's uneven wear on tyres..even if its new..most prob u'll need to replace it..and since gsxr400 is using an inverted fork..meaning oil will continue to leak even if the fork is uncompressed..unlike non-inverted fork

[ben2306]

hi i jus got a gsxr400rr today . new clutch cable , clutch plate .new chain,rewired hi beam low beam switch , change wheel front bearing , change foot brake pump, changed ignition.(cost all beared by previous owner)

mech says engine oil no need change yet and the stock air filter still new.. oil seal leaking but nvm can ride.

when i was riding . gear 4 or 5 maybe about 70kmph,i clutched in and let it roll. the engine rpm jus died off without me knowing .upon realising .before bike came to stop i release clutch and throttle abit to "push start" the bike and everything was good. happened 3 times. already today. any kind soul know the possiblecause?

 

and causes and effects of a leaking oil seal are?

my fork was leaking too, went planet, looked for a tall m'sia dark guy. he managed to repair for me. now its always dry, no oil leak. he has a good tech to put the seal in swee swee. as for when you clutch in, bike die, could be due to the carbs tunning. maybe after i google around then let you know. before that, dont waste your $ @ shops. when you clutch in, rpm should go down but not all the way till die. btw, which shop you went? pm me? Edited June 7, 2011 by ben2306

[ben2306]

hi i jus got a gsxr400rr today . new clutch cable , clutch plate .new chain,rewired hi beam low beam switch , change wheel front bearing , change foot brake pump, changed ignition.(cost all beared by previous owner)

mech says engine oil no need change yet and the stock air filter still new.. oil seal leaking but nvm can ride.

when i was riding . gear 4 or 5 maybe about 70kmph,i clutched in and let it roll. the engine rpm jus died off without me knowing .upon realising .before bike came to stop i release clutch and throttle abit to "push start" the bike and everything was good. happened 3 times. already today. any kind soul know the possiblecause?

whats your idling @ when bike start & warm up? how much free play is @ your clutch? alot? try adjust idle @ 1k when bike start, 1k+ when warm up. if your clutch is very loose, racer type, try to tighten by adjusting the knob. see whether it still stalls.

[Zanpaktuo]

my free play abit only. rpm very low not hitting 1k sometimes when freeplaying

[ben2306]

try adjust to 1k+ when is fully warm up. best its after you ride for some time then park @ carpark, netural, adjust to 1k+. hope this help. know how to adjust?

[Zanpaktuo]

no, i dunno how to adjust.can advise?