bike won't start

[turbopseidon]

i have my bike in the garage out of the elements. i took of my stock exhaust and put on a custom yoshimura TRS and now the bike will not run im not sure if its because its freezing out or not but i put the choke on and try to start it and it turns over and thats it and ocasionaly back fires like a shot gun any help would be great.

[JZ67]

same thing happened to me last year during winter storage. Turned out that I had fouled the plugs because I would start the bike and not let it get to temp.

Did the exact same thing you are describing.

[The CyberPoet]

Sounds like it's not getting enough good fuel in the mixture. Whether that's because the fuel is old, or because the smaller passages in the carbs are clogged with dried fuel residues (or frozen with ice), or because the bike was jetted really lean to begin with (and the new exhaust made it even leaner) is beyond me based on your statements.



(A) How old is the fuel? Did you add any stabilizers to it before storage?
(B) How cold is the garage at night?
(C) Did you try turning the fuel selector to prime for 30 seconds before starting (to refill the carbs of any fuel they evaporated)?

Cheers,
=-= The CyberPoet

[Black_peter]

Between those two answers you have about a 1/2 hours work and probly your answer. You can fill the carbs with good fresh gas, feed the carbs with a squirt bottle. Once it starts the carb bowls should last you a few minutes. By then it should be warm enough to burn the old gas.

[turbopseidon]

i took out the plugs and they are all black and wet with fuel so tomorrow i will change them out and see what happens

[nathan]

I've got the same problem.

I just bought a 96 600f and aside from having a slow fuel leak from the petcock, the bike won't start and I think it hasn't been ridden all winter.
The tank was nearly empty so I put a couple gallons of premium in and I've been keeping a battery tender on it since I keep draining the battery so hard trying to start it... I was spraying engine starter fluid in the intake thinking that would do the trick since the guy said it just has a hard time starting in the cold and that's what he used, but after reading all this I'm afraid it might be the plugs The longest I got it to idle was about 20-30 seconds.
I guess there's a chance that I'm just ignorant since I've never ridden before, but I don't think that it's just me.

[md86]

Re: I've got the same problem.

I just bought a 96 600f and aside from having a slow fuel leak from the petcock, the bike won't start and I think it hasn't been ridden all winter.
The tank was nearly empty so I put a couple gallons of premium in and I've been keeping a battery tender on it since I keep draining the battery so hard trying to start it... I was spraying engine starter fluid in the intake thinking that would do the trick since the guy said it just has a hard time starting in the cold and that's what he used, but after reading all this I'm afraid it might be the plugs The longest I got it to idle was about 20-30 seconds.
I guess there's a chance that I'm just ignorant since I've never ridden before, but I don't think that it's just me.

Could be , but I'd bet YOU will need a thorough carb-cleaning . If it's been sitting for that long , you should do THAT , new plugs , check tank for rust , ......basiclaly ALL the tune-up type stuff you CAN .

[DreKat]

try boosting it from a car, mine wont start in November on its own, but that extra kick from a car battery makes a whole world of difference.

[Black_peter]

Re: I've got the same problem.

I was spraying engine starter fluid in the intake thinking that would do the trick since the guy said it just has a hard time starting in the cold and that's what he used, but after reading all this I'm afraid it might be the plugs The longest I got it to idle was about 20-30 seconds.
I guess there's a chance that I'm just ignorant since I've never ridden before, but I don't think that it's just me.

Could be , but I'd bet YOU will need a thorough carb-cleaning . If it's been sitting for that long , you should do THAT , new plugs , check tank for rust , ......basiclaly ALL the tune-up type stuff you CAN .

Try and avoid starting fluid.
The kat can fouls plugs really easy. Esp. if you have any carb issues.
Remove the plugs and clean them well. I clean the whole plug not just the gap. MD uses a knife and I have tried that ( I used a razor blade) with good results, I have also used scotch-brite. You want the plugs to be silver. Once you get a kat running it is important to not only let it get to operating temp but also ride it IMO. If you just let it idle you might have rich idling carbs and you just end up fouling the plugs again. Fouled plugs may not stop it from running but prevent it from starting or running from cold long enough to get warmed up.

[nathan]

Well, I have absolutely no experience working on a bike, but I can't imagine taking out spark plugs requires years of experience; hon the other hand, do I need any special tools to remove them?
To check for rust in the tank, do you mean removing the tank entirely or just pointing a flashlight in and check for visible rust?

[The CyberPoet]

It's not brain surgery to take out plugs, but you have to be real careful about how much force you put on them putting them back in -- the metal of the block is softer than the metal of the plugs, and it's easy to get enthousiastic enough to tear up the threads in the block (not a cheap thing to fix). A beam-style torque wrench and the maintenance manual are your friends in that sense -- I think the spec is 8 lb-ft, but double check the manual.

Yes, you visually inspect the tank for rust using a flashlight. In addition, I would suggest putting a bit of hose on the petcock's fuel outlet, running it into a glass jar (like a mason jar, spaghetti jar or old jelly jar) and switch the petcock to prime to let some fuel flow into the jar. You should be able to visually spot if there is flaking rust, water, algea or other contaminants in it.

Cheers,
=-= The CyberPoet

[nathan]

So now I think I know a better reason why my bike wasn't starting. The choke cable wasn't connected. I just drained the tank and it was full of rust, and the petcock I'm afraid is worse off than a rebuild kit can fix. The not so solid metal of the petcock has seemed to deteriorated. So now it will be a new petcock, a coating job on the tank, a new choke cable install, and fresh new spark plugs. Hopefully with that and a good cleaning, and I'll be a happy rider.

[The CyberPoet]

So now I think I know a better reason why my bike wasn't starting. The choke cable wasn't connected. I just drained the tank and it was full of rust, and the petcock I'm afraid is worse off than a rebuild kit can fix. The not so solid metal of the petcock has seemed to deteriorated. So now it will be a new petcock, a coating job on the tank, a new choke cable install, and fresh new spark plugs. Hopefully with that and a good cleaning, and I'll be a happy rider.

Well, you pretty much have most of it right, but you need to add thoroughly cleaning the carbs and installing a fuel filter into the list. If the tank was full of rust, the carbs will be too.

Good Luck!
=-= The CyberPoet

[Sasquatch]

i took out the plugs and they are all black and wet with fuel so tomorrow i will change them out and see what happens

so, what happened??


That same thing happened to me this morning. My plugs were not all black, just wet with fuel.

[nathan]

...you need to add thoroughly cleaning the carbs and installing a fuel filter into the list. If the tank was full of rust, the carbs will be too.

Good Luck!
=-= The CyberPoet

Ahh, yes. I forgot to mention carb cleaning as part of the plan.
I'll make sure to get a fuel filter too though, thanks.