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Bike wont start!

Started by flyinbike, May 07, 2009, 11:46:05 PM

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flyinbike

hey, bad news..... I just paid $700 dollars to get my bike tuned and running good and the first time i take it out it ran pretty good, started up nice and everything. Now i ride it around for 20 minutes then it sits for 20 minutes and i come back and the battery is DEAD and the starter is clicking. So I push it down to my shop and put the charger on it, thinking it will start right up because it is still worm and has full charge, but no fire. Took me about an hour of cranking before the bike barley came back to life. I checked there is fuel in the tank...

What could be my problem?  :(

thanks

akvision

Start by checking the fuses.  You need three things gas, compression, spark.  You are missing one of these.  Most likely SPARK. If it is missing because of a blown fuse, find out WHY before proceeding.  Maybe a short, frayed wire, etc. causing an electric leak.  Maybe the battery was faulty from the get go.

hope this gives you a place to start.
1960 BMW R-50 "Hanz" reborn April 24, 2009 , Ketchikan
1982 "V" AKBluv, Denver, traded for BMW R1100S
1977 BMW R75/7, "Gertie"
1977 BMW R75/7, Green Lantern Cafe Project
Deep In the INSIDE PASSAGE, Alaska

don_vanecek

Would interesting to know what all the shop did. You could have done something as minor as leaving your key in the position where it leaves your tail light on (I've done that-my son-in-law did it) and then of course you come  back to a low battery (you can remove the key in this situation).

Just in case, put your fuel tab to prime, but I tell you I have had times when these things have been very stubborn to get fuel to flow again and they will vapor lock, Certainly if you get it running see what a volt meter tells you.

I 'm hoping you just had an incident and not a problem, before we get too serious here it would be interesting to see if it starts the next day or not. fully charged battery, fuel on prime, chock on, two twists of the wrist, what does it do? 

QBS

Make sure you've got at least 2 gallons of gas in the tank.  If uncertain about fuel flow/availability, put the petcock in "Prime" position and open one of the carb drain screws.  There should be gas hitting the ground.  No gas on the ground means (for whatever reason) no gas getting the the carbs.

flyinbike

hey, i got my bike started today! I took the battery to school and topped of the fluids then  recharged it.

Going riding tomorrow!

thanks

akvision

hey Flying,

You have got to resolve the problem.  They don't fix themselves.
It will repeat at an inconvenient moment.  Pull the maintenance!
1960 BMW R-50 "Hanz" reborn April 24, 2009 , Ketchikan
1982 "V" AKBluv, Denver, traded for BMW R1100S
1977 BMW R75/7, "Gertie"
1977 BMW R75/7, Green Lantern Cafe Project
Deep In the INSIDE PASSAGE, Alaska

Rick G

#6
Old Yamaha fuse boxes are notoriously unreliable . do your self a favour , go to an auto parts store and buy a similar one and replace it. They can cause the bike to stop running at a "inconvenient" time, like in traffic.
Rick G
Go soothingly on the grease mud, as there in lurks the skid demon
'82.5 Yamaha XZ550 RJ  Vision,
'90 Suzuki VX800, 1990 Suzuki DR350.
'74  XL350   Honda , 77 XL350 Honda, 78 XL350 Honda, '82 XT 200 Yamaha, '67 Yamaha YG1TK, 80cc trail bike

JDArgonaut

QBS,
You mentioned at least 2 gallons in the tank. Why do you need that much? I have never let the bike get that low on fuel, but if I go on a long road trip, I would like that info!
JDA
All in,
JDA

QBS

V tanks are weird.  Below about 1.5 gallons they won't flow on Prime and have a very difficult time flowing on Reserve when starting from cold.  Probably because the float bowls are empty and under that scenario you're dependent on the vacuum operated fuel pump to get gas to the carbs.  For me, it's almost to point that a cold V with less than 1.5 gallons in the tank just won't start. 

But, it will start and run well on reserve when hot.  You can run the V down to the point where it will take 4.2 gallons to fill it up.  Remember, it is supposedly a 4.5 gallon tank.

The bottom line:  Be aware of this idiosyncrasy and have at least 1.5 gallons (2 is better) in the tank when starting from stone cold.  Having said this, you'd probably be OK with less than 1.5 gallons if you're starting from stone cold AND the bike had been ridden within the past 24 hours, because in all likelyhood there would still be enough gas in the float bowls to fire it off and then operate the vacuum fuel pump.

One of our Vnary bros. (maybe Brian) runs an electric fuel pump he sourced from another model Yamaha.  He throws rocks at the V vacuum setup.  In the overall scheme of things, I think he's probably right.