Hello all, I have a recently purchased 2004 Kawasaki kfx80, same bike as Lt 80, and I cannot get a cold start unless I get the battery charger/jumper on it and get the starter spinning really fast. Then it starts and sounds really loaded up. Get it unloaded and It will then start right up for the next few hours no problem cold or hot. Let it sit all night, hit the starter, make one fire and then nothing until I run the battery dead and put the charger on 40 amp charge and get it spinning fast. It Did it when I first bought it. Things I have done, Rebuilt the carb, new reeds, new plug, new battery, oil injection block off, compression 105 without oil in cylinder, 160 with 2 drops of oil in cylinder, spark plug is wet after turning over a handful of times, not overly wet. If I put finger over plug hole I have just a wee little fuel on it, not much. Spark looks good to me, not sure what it could be. Thanks!

 

I’ll add that I replaced the fuel petcock with an On, Res., Off model from Midwest minis. Plugged the prime line of the carb. It gets plenty of fuel to the carb. And, it will flood the bottom end if I hold it wide open while turning over.

 

I bet it's lack of compression. Best check it.

 

I got 160 psi with 2 drops of oil in the cylinder. Right at 100 without oil in cylinder. I sprayed brake parts cleaner around the Intake area, never made a difference in the idle. I dunno. Maybe the compression is to low. I keep hearing people talk about crank seals. Would crank seals being bad create that much of a lack of vacuum between upper and lower cylinder to make a difference in fuel being pulled up? And wouldn’t it have these issues all the time, if so, and not just when cold? And lastly, the top of the piston looks to have a thick layer of carbon. More than I remember my old two strokes having. At any rate, jump started it, and the boy ran it for two hours today. Not a hiccup. We r headed to camp this weekend, I’ll deal with it there and tear it down next week I suppose, not much else to try. Thanks Lt80!!!!

 

I think your piston is fine for now. 100 is OK.
Some think seals mean a lot for a comp test. I'm not so sure.
Could the exhaust be starting to get a build up/plugging up?
I'll think on it. Have fun at camp.

 

Well we ran it yesterday, Now it won’t start or fire at all. I spray 2-3 seconds of starting fluid in the plug hole and I got nothing. Im guessing I don’t have enough spark. Looking for a manual so I can start chasing this down. Any suggestions I’d appreciate! Thanks everyone.

 

I’ll pull the exhaust off, and See what’s up just to be sure. Thanks again Lt80. Looks we might be on two wheels for camp this go around! Here’s to hoping the weather holds out!

 

Literally walked down garage, thot I’d see if it would fire before I pulled the exhaust off, sure enough it started to fire and then ran after turning over for quite a while, and took some time clearing the build up or whatever and now it starts first flick of the switch. I’m really confused. Or am I putting off the inevitable? (Rebuild). Exhaust is blowing tons of black crap out just like every other time it takes some convincing (I have the plug out of the bottom of the exhaust). I’m taking the exhaust off here as soon as it cools back down. I want to clean the exhaust out regardless, any way to achieve this? Thanks again.

 

Exhaust is clear. I can blow right through it easy. I’ll add the bike is in near mint condition... doesn’t appear to have been ridin much at all. It fires right up for the moment now that everything is hot and expanded. I’ll leave you all with that for now. Looking more like rebuild! Thanks again!