Lpain

Hi everyone, I finally got my first bike and sad to say it's been a lot of work just to ride it. After all the repairs to bike I got a chance to ride it for one day until the bike gave up on me. I took bike to mechanic and got the news that my bike had locked up. Got to use the bike for one day and now I have no idea on what I should do with bike? Before all this it took me months to get title for bike and now that I have title i am the only owner of it. Anyone have suggestions on what is a locked up motor and what I should do? I have a 1998 Kawasaki ZX9R. Thanks

Foxphyre

Just curious what kind of maintenance you did to the bike before you rode it? usually a motor will lock because of lack of lubrication or coolant. there are some other things that can cause it such as an incredibly lean fuel burn but that almost certainly would be impossible to accidentaly do just by riding it. also if the combustion chambers were hydrolocked by having a non-compressible liquid introduced but thats fixable. so tell us the whole story, we got time

Sev

Depends what broke... really best bet is probably too just buy a used motor off ebay and install it. It'll be cheaper than fixing the damage done to a "locked" motor.

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Of course I'm generalizing from a single example here, but everyone does that. At least I do.

Foxphyre

That's true but if he's just taking somebody's word for it or doesn't clearly understand what was said the motor may not actually be locked. Hell he might have taken it to a shadetree mechanic and the guy doesn't have a clue what he's talking about. . . I'd really like to hear the real story of this bike. hopefully it won't result in an engine swap since it sounds like this guy has put some effort into getting this far.

LarryJ

Locked = engine is seized or "stuck". This means it's fucked and needs rebuilt or replaced, the latter being the least expensive and time consuming. You can confirm this by manually cranking the motor, but if this shop is reputable, then they've likely already done that to come up with their diagnosis.

Like Sev said, check online for a used motor to swap out. Or I guess you could sell it to someone else that can take on the headache. It all depends what you're willing to do. Parting the thing out is a pain in the ass as well, especially since ZX9R parts aren't in high demand.

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Lpain

Well first off I need to say thank you everyone for responding so fast to this thread, it really means a lot to me to get help from people who know what they're talking about. So first off I bought this bike from a friends friend, who had the bike in his garage for 2 years or more sitting there. Apparently the person who lived with this guy had left to Japan and left the title to the person i bought it from. To make things short about this story the title was never registered in NY so i had to apply for a new one which took 3 months from the time i bought it.

After I finally obtained the title I decided to start working on the bike and the first thing that needed to be fixed was the carburetor since it was sitting for years needed a cleaning. After the cleaning the mechanic got the bike running and it sounded great, but then he told me i needed to fix the clutch because apparently every time i would switch out from neutral the bike would shut off.

Next I needed to get the strator fixed on the left side of the bike because I had dropped it ( I know stupid newbie mistake). Also there was a leak of oil coming from the front of bike which was leaking onto front brake pads and rim, i think it was the front strut or something. Also before i could take the bike on the road i needed to put gas so filled it up and apparently the new gas mixed with some old gas and clogged the gas filter, so that needed to be cleaned out and changed.

Once all this was fixed I then took the bike on a nice test run for a good 3 hours or so until the bike shut off on me and would not turn on. At first I thought it was the battery but remembered that I bought a new battery for the bike. When the bike shut off on me when riding I heard a really loud fan noise in the front of the bike even after the bike was turned off for a minute or so. When the noise stopped I tried to restart the bike but couldn't. All I could hear was a clicking noise coming from under the seat close to the battery.

Got the bike towed since it would not start (also tried to kick start it by running with bike in first etc. nothing) and next day mechanic tells me its the ignition fuse box (might be saying it wrong) had that changed and still nothing. After all this mechanic tells me the engine might be locked since the bike has not been used in such a long time. Also I forgot to add that when riding sometimes at a red light the muffler would make a fire cracker sound from time to time.

So that is my story on everything i have done on the bike from the time i have gotten it. It's sad because i bought this bike for my birthday as a present to myself and have not gotten the chance to use it except for the one time i rode it for several hours. Now I'm trying to sell the bike as a last resort or with a better alternative to hopefully get it fixed. Hopefully this helps enough to narrow it down to a better solution. Thank you so much everyone. Here's some better pics of the bike.

Sev

Your mechanic is a fucking retard.

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Of course I'm generalizing from a single example here, but everyone does that. At least I do.

williamr

Your mechanic doesn't seem to have a clue - or perhaps you know so little about bikes that you're not properly explaining what happened.

If you can put the bike in 3rd gear and push it, and the rear wheel doesn't lock solid when you drop the clutch, you don't have a seized motor. It might be worth trying to jump start the bike using a car battery to see what happens.

Clicking from under the seat could well be a result of a flat battery. Even though it's new, a three hour ride would leave it flat if your charging circuit isn't working properly. As you've replaced the stator this might be the case. With a seized engine you'd expect the startmoto engage, then stich as the engine refused to turn.

The shutting off when you move out of neutral is much more likely to be an electrical interlock - maybe the clutch lever microswitch. Perhaps that what your mechanic meant? The clutch itself would only cause this if it was stalling the bike because the plates were glued together by old oil.

All that apart, you'll live longer if you sell it and get a 250 until you've learned to ride properly.

Rob

Lpain

Well I am certainly thinking my mechanic is not certain on what is the problem. I am however going to take it to another mechanic. Also I want to give your idea a try, but I myself am pretty new to riding. When you say put the bike in 3rd gear wouldn't the bike lock up? Please forgive me with this response I am learning everything by myself. Also the shutting off from neutral to first gear has been fixed already. I know how to ride the bike, just not familiar yet with all the lingo and mechanics yet. But if you can give me a better break down on how to test if bike will lock it would greatly be appreciated, i would honestly rather the bike be fixable without having to buy a new motor or rebuild for that manner.

Wrider

Simple test to see if it is the motor or not... Use a car that is TURNED OFF!!! and jump the bike off of the car battery. If it works, the motor is not locked up and your problem is an electrical drain/non charging issue somewhere. If it doesn't, then either your motor is locked up or your starter is done.

I sincerely doubt after what you've said that the motor is locked up.

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