Looking for advice/help. Was out riding last night. I was in 4th gear and ran the bike up to a good speed (130+) before hitting the rev limit in 4th gear. When I hit the rev limit I shifted to 5th. The bike started to feel like it was sputtering so I slowed down and broke it down to 1st before stopping. In every gear it felt like it was sputtering. As soon as I went to take off again the bike made a clunking sound before cutting off completely. I pulled to the side of the road and checked for leaks, smoke, rods bursting from engine walls (OUCH!!) or anything that I could see. Everything looked ok but bike wouldn't start. When I turned the key everything lights up but it wouldn't turn over when I hit the ignition switch. I think I eliminated it being a bad battery because I checked the battery this morning and actually swapped it out with another battery from my wife's bike (also a ZX-14). Nothing.

I'm not a mechanic but I do all my own basic stuff on schedule according to the book (oil changes, chain adjustment). Bike has 14,000 miles.

So my question before taking it to a mechanic......what does it sound like I might be dealing with? Could I have messed up by hitting the rev limit in 4th gear?

Any advice would be appreciated

You'd have to move so much out of the way to get to the crank cover. So if no race stand for the back wheel to be off the ground, tilt the bike on the side stand so the back wheel is off the ground, the old lady holds it up at the pivot point where it neither goes back down or falls over, you are on your knees, spin the back wheel forward and pull the shift lever up so it goes into second gear.

Then drop the bike down, roll the bike back and forth and find 6th gear. See if the engine turns over as you roll it either backwards or forwards in 6th. It might be locked up. Having the bike in top gear makes it easier to turn the engine statically.

Or, or, you can sit on the bike, run down the driveway with the old lady pushing from behind and then pop it in second with the clutch lever in. Then with lever out, foot shift to 6th and either the engine turns or you drag the wheel it ain't moving. That, or pull the whole side off or whatever it takes to turn the crank at the right engine cover so you turn the engine over that way.

* Last updated by: Hub on 8/26/2020 @ 12:43 PM *

Thanks Hub. I was able to get the bike to roll back and forth in 6th gear so hopefully that means that the engine is not locked up. I also tried to pop the clutch but the bike wouldn't start. So off to the local service shop I went. Fortunately I purchased the KPP extended warranty when I bought the bike, so we'll see what the mechanic has to say.

Thanks for the suggestions. I've been lurking a little bit and it seems like you're a guy who knows a lot about this kind of stuff.