1990 CB1 - Engine sounding weird on startup then died and won't start... :(

Hi Guys,

I wonder if you can provide some pointers on my problem;

Tuesday morning my bike started ok - as usual.

I rode it out of the garage to the end of the drive and put it on the stand to go and close the garage door - as usual.

I noticed it wasn't sounding right, instead of the usual sportsbike rumble it sounded more like two mopeds idling. As I increased the throttle there was no change in the sound so I turned it off.

I tried starting it when I got back from work but it wouldn't fire - got some noise which sounded like misfiring but nothing else.

What I have done so far;

1. On opening the airbox and removing the air filter there was a small quantity of watery mayo in one of the recesses of the plastic near what looked like a breather pipe going to the crankcase (there are 2 small ones either end which then union to one larger pipe). With airbox cover off I hit the starter got a couple of blue flames out of no 2 but no more.

2. With coolant cap removed (no mayo on the cap) I turned the engine over, no bubbling or movement in the coolant.

3. I removed the spark plugs (from left to right sitting on bike)
plug 1 - normal, plug 2 - oil around base of thread core normal, plug 3 - slight traces of oil on metal rim around core, plug 4 - sooty/normal (normal = brownish/light black deposits, tip of core clean). They all had that lovely petrol aroma..

4 . I connected up plug 1 and turned the engine over, got a very weak spark which travelled from the side of the core (electrode) down the insulator. I tried another ignition lead but didn't see a spark.

The current plugs are denso - is there a better brand to use on this engine?

What should my next step be?

Thanks,

Mark.