Why wont my 1996 kawasaki ninja ZX-6E bike start?

I had a similar problem with my zx7r ! It is probably worth making sure that the battery is fully charged , as it turns out that if it is slightly low it will seem to try and start but wont fire on account of there not being enough umpf to kick the fuel pump into life at the same time. Did my head in for a couple of days

Agreed. My 00 zx6r would struggle to start if ever the battery was less than fully charged. I would recommend getting a new battery.

Hi, i think you need to replace te fuelpump

Hi, i think you need to replace te fuelpump, youre battery isn empty because it starts. Check the fuel lines filter sparkplugs etc

Open the fuel tank and close it; it could just be a matter of equalizing the air pressure in the gas tank. if the pressure air pressure changes in the tank like if there is a drastic drop in ambient temp, it could potential be enough of to create a vacuum that is strong than the what the fuel pump can work against.

Next I would check the plugs, check the gap widths, look for signs of burning to rich or to lean and make sure the plugs are firing, review the manual for instructions since I am not sure the way I do it is still applicable since the last time I tested plugs for if the fired was many many many winters ago, the bike had carbs, no fuel injection, so no computer or other sensitive electronics.

What we would do would remove the plug then reattach it to its respective cable, turn the starter and look for a spark. If no spark then there is a electrical problem to narrow down, if there is the spark then check the if fuel pump and so forth.

The computer on that bike does have a self-diagnostic mode that can help narrow down the problem. The owner's manual and the shop manual explains how to enable this mode.

I have a '04 Z1000 which use a lot of the same parts. And I have experienced the problem you described, which always in winter, after work, on a Friday night and it was always just a matter of opening the fuel tank to equalize the pressure.

HTH,

Sean