Ok. My turn to represent the old-gens :rolleyes:.

Similar to Rynownd's problem. Except mine's an 06 and I was riding her everyday until I winterized her back in mid-december (with oil/filter change, fuel stabilizer, battery tender).

But with some warmer weather around, I wanted to go for a quick ride and she wouldn't start. Help me! :banghead: The only sound I get is like the sound of the starter cranking. That's why I initially thought spark... but no luck :(

So following Rynownd's thread I've done:

New spark plugs and tested for spark - ok
Checked air filter - looked ok, but I don't know what to look for :o
Drained bowls - not dirty, didn't see any water
Starting in PRI and making sure engine was de-flooded

I haven't tried a rolling start - weather sucks again now. And I know the carbs were dirty cause every now and then I would need seafoam to stop the hesitations... Would that stop the bike from starting though?!

Make sure you have fuel in the bowls, now. they may be dry after you drained them.


before that, though, did you try clearing the bike in case it's flooded? choke off, throttle wide open, crank for 5 seconds... repeat... repeat.

then try starting it the normal way. choke on, no touch throttle, crank.

Ok I'll check the bowls now. I assume I just open up the tap a little to make sure stuff comes out?

But ya, I've tried to make sure it wasn't flooded.

Thanks kkim. Checked the bowls and fuel was coming out so I don't think they're empty. But I tried de-flooding the engine again 3-4 times and when I tried full choke it sounded like it almost caught :(. But I've deflooded it soooo many times. Is it possible that it's that flooded?!?!

So now I've got the bike back on the tender to get her fully charged and I'll try again tomorrow when it's warmer. I might have a chance to push start too... any other ideas?

There's a link under the DIY section on cleaning carbs. It actually goes to another external link and talks about using the Yamaha carb cleaner. I also found the following, which you may wish to try, since you have experience with seafoam:

http://www.webbikeworld.com/t2/carb-adjustment/

It's possible that the float bowl needle/jet or passage ways are gummed up.

Let us know how it goes!

Tim,

Okay on the clearing the flooded engine drill. Next you need to check if the bowls are actually filling with fuel.

Once you emptied the bowls, you got rid of all the fuel in the carbs. To flow fuel through the gas petcock, it must be "on" and there must be vacuum applied to the back of the petcock supplied by a smaller black hose. I've seen where after the bowls were dry, people couldn't start their bikes because of not enough vacuum at the vacuum hose during starting, which comes from the carbs.

To insure you are getting fuel to the carbs, take the small hose on the back of the petcock off, stick a smaller house on there and gently suck on the hose to create a vacuum to the petcock. This will allow fuel to flow from the tank to the carbs. The best way to insure this is working is to remove the fuel line where it enters the carbs and see if gas pours out of the gas line when you suck on the vacuum hose.

Once you confirm that gas is indeed flowing, put the gas line back on the carb and as you are providing vacuum to the gas petcock, try and start the bike. You will need to plug the vacuum hose you originally took off the fuel petcock, otherwise the bike may not start or idle very rough with it left unplugged.

Often overlooked point - make sure the kill switch is not on! :D

Definitely see that your getting gas to the bowls by doing what KKim is saying. I would also consider draining the tank and starting this whole process with some fresh gas. It eliminates at least one issue from the equation. Maybe that stabilizer you put in was junk or your last fill up had a bad batch of gas.

Well adding stabilizer to the tank is a good thing to do. Now the question is did that stabilizer make its way to the bowls? If it was poured in there and the bike was never cranked over, with the non-stabilized fuel in the bowls, it is possible they are a little gummed up in there, limiting fuel flow. Low fuel flow means not enough a/f ratio to fire off the bike.

If the carb's were not drained prior to putting it up for winter, then that could just be your problem.

Often overlooked point - make sure the kill switch is not on! :D

bike wouldn't even crank, then.

bike wouldn't even crank, then.

Forgive the new guy (to bikes anyway)! :(

lol... the only way I know that is I've hit the kill switch by accident when working on the bike and when i go to start it after I'm done, nothing happens. For a second, I'm scared **** less that I've screwed up my bike until I realize the kill switch is in the "off" position. Whew!! :o

lol yes the kill switch was off :rolleyes:

and SUCCESS! Thanks for the help guys. It most definitely was the bowls for me as well - though my overdue spark plug change may have contributed as well :o. The reason I think it didn't work yesterday was because my battery was drained through all my cranks. Left her on the tender overnight and the second try today with full choke had her up and running :thumbup:

It is running a little rougher than usual when she's warming up, but nothing a nice can of seafoam won't fix :D (i love that stuff)

I blame stabil and the fact that I didn't drain the bowls in December... but I thought running the bike with stabil for a couple minutes was supposed to negate that :confused:

ah well. All's well again. My 06 is up and running and the 09 I just picked up today is sitting right beside her :D

Thanks again! And as rynownd discovered as well, I think we can say that if your bike ain't running after a winter spell, check your bowls! Old and new gens!

lol yes the kill switch was off :rolleyes:

and SUCCESS! Thanks for the help guys. It most definitely was the bowls for me as well - though my overdue spark plug change may have contributed as well :o. The reason I think it didn't work yesterday was because my battery was drained through all my cranks. Left her on the tender overnight and the second try today with full choke had her up and running :thumbup:

It is running a little rougher than usual when she's warming up, but nothing a nice can of seafoam won't fix :D (i love that stuff)

I blame stabil and the fact that I didn't drain the bowls in December... but I thought running the bike with stabil for a couple minutes was supposed to negate that :confused:

ah well. All's well again. My 06 is up and running and the 09 I just picked up today is sitting right beside her :D

Thanks again! And as rynownd discovered as well, I think we can say that if your bike ain't running after a winter spell, check your bowls! Old and new gens!

So wait.... Your starter cranks even with the kill switch off (or on, however you look at it)... I have an 07' and if the switch is off, it won't crank.... strange

No if the kill switch is ON then the bike shouldn't run. So you're bike's fine, just different terminology.

Gotcha :o Misread your thread. Glad your up and running again!!

wait, so when you pressed the start button, nothing at all happened? if so, this is nothing similar to Ryowned symptoms. :confused:

edit- sigh... never mind... misread your post. glad you got it up and running. I would dump all the gas in your tank, (put in the lawnmower, put it in your car) and fill the bike with nice fresh gas. I bet the symptoms improve as you run the bike.

:confused: Now you got me confused! lol jonb and I were just talking about the on/off terminology of the kill switch. Not related to my now ex-problem.

Anyways, the starter was cranking the engine for me but it never caught until everything was up and running today.

but to answer your question, Rynownd's problem was, indeed, a little different in that he actually had it backfire and run a little bit...

edit- sigh... never mind... misread your post. glad you got it up and running. I would dump all the gas in your tank, (put in the lawnmower, put it in your car) and fill the bike with nice fresh gas. I bet the symptoms improve as you run the bike.

lol thanks. and good idea. I was trying so hard to think where I could use the gas if I drained it cause I use a push mower :rolleyes: lol totally forgot there's a car sitting in the garage as well.

lol yes the kill switch was off :rolleyes:

and SUCCESS! Thanks for the help guys. It most definitely was the bowls for me as well - though my overdue spark plug change may have contributed as well :o. The reason I think it didn't work yesterday was because my battery was drained through all my cranks. Left her on the tender overnight and the second try today with full choke had her up and running :thumbup:

It is running a little rougher than usual when she's warming up, but nothing a nice can of seafoam won't fix :D (i love that stuff)

I blame stabil and the fact that I didn't drain the bowls in December... but I thought running the bike with stabil for a couple minutes was supposed to negate that :confused:

ah well. All's well again. My 06 is up and running and the 09 I just picked up today is sitting right beside her :D

Thanks again! And as rynownd discovered as well, I think we can say that if your bike ain't running after a winter spell, check your bowls! Old and new gens!

Hi Nemy, where can i get seafoam? i did not drain my float bowls.

Look in any auto parts store.

Wallmart is now carrying seafoam.

Wallmart is now carrying seafoam.

Not sure if they have em on this side of the border. HID - the only place I know of that stocks it regularly is NAPA. You mentioned you were in Markham so there's one across from Markville mall on Heritage Rd.

Ok. I Will Get Some Sea Foam today. Thanks. Rob,