my baby is sick

[Blackwidow]

I haven't turned on my bike for almost two months, its been sitting in my car port for that long. Yesterday I went out to turn it on to show it off to my cousin and it had a hell of a time starting, once I got it to turn on, keeping it on was impossible. Now I can't get it to stay on, when I roll the throttle it dies on me. What happened?

[rceezy]

Poor baby. She might be mad at you. Could bad gas be a culprit? (I am by no means an expert, I just hear stuff from around the way)

[Alex]

The two most likely candidates are low battery causing hard starting and potentially weak running until it charges back to a reasonable level; or your carbs are gummed up from the gas deteriorating in the tiny passages (often in the pilot jet). For battery, the fix is to fully charge it with a battery tender or similar gadget. But unfortunately, that's the less likely scenario. The more likely scenario is described to a T right here in kkim's thread.

/moved to new-gen tech

[randomwalk101]

follow kkim's guide to clean out carb.

[HKr1]

Would try new gas before tearing stuff apart.

[Alex]

Originally Posted by HKr1

Would try new gas before tearing stuff apart.

Doesn't hurt anything to try the easy stuff first.

[petiteninja]

This may sound like the obvious, but did you have the choke on?

I once went into a panic when my bike wouldn't start and my husband asked if I remembered the choke...oops!

[kkim]

trying some fuel system cleaner before ripping the carbs apart is mentioned in the DIY. The assumption is (and maybe it's a bad one) that the fuel cleaner would be used in a fresh tank of gas.

Originally Posted by kkim

There are a few remedies such as a fuel cleaner/additive (seafoam, berryman's) that you might be able to get by with that will clean the clogged jets, if you're lucky, but if not, removing the carbs and cleaning out the jets is the only way to be 100% sure your jets are clean and crud free.

[randomwalk101]

Put your bf to work...bike no run = no sex. Woot!

[TenaciousD]

Did you put any stabilizer in the fuel before you parked the bike? Welcome to one of the major downsides of carburetors.

[arnette]

Same exact scenario is happening to me. I dumped a can of that Seafoam in there but haven't seen much improvement. I can ride around with the choke full bore but that will have me idling at 6K!

This is Seafoam with half a tank of 'bad' gas. Perhaps I'll try topping off with fresh gas.

[Cuongism]

Originally Posted by arnette

Same exact scenario is happening to me. I dumped a can of that Seafoam in there but haven't seen much improvement. I can ride around with the choke full bore but that will have me idling at 6K!

This is Seafoam with half a tank of 'bad' gas. Perhaps I'll try topping off with fresh gas.

Did you dump a whole can in there? I think the ratio is 1 oz Seafoam per 1 gallon gas.

[kamikaze]

even with stabil in the tank and a battery tender all winter mine was tough to get going this spring. what I did was get it going with the choke until it would run without stalling, and then just let it idle for about 15-20 min. don't touch the throttle at all. starts up every time now with no issues.

[CC Cowboy]

Let this be a lesson not to neglect the things you love.

[Snake]

Originally Posted by Blackwidow

I haven't turned on my bike for almost two months, its been sitting in my car port for that long. Yesterday I went out to turn it on to show it off to my cousin and it had a hell of a time starting, once I got it to turn on, keeping it on was impossible. Now I can't get it to stay on, when I roll the throttle it dies on me. What happened?

I have a hard time believing that you can't turn anyone or anything on let alone keep them turned on.

[arnette]

Originally Posted by Snake

I have a hard time believing that you can't turn anyone or anything on let alone keep them turned on.

[Blackwidow]

Yes I had the choke on the whole time, it starts up and i let it run for a few minutes, as soon i rolled the throttle it died. I think i'm going to have to take things apart and clean it out. I just have a hard time believing within two months crap could build up so quickly.

[TnNinjaGirl]

Mine did the exact same thing at the beginning of the season. I ran it around the neighborhood a few times and put some fresh gas in it. She runs like a champ now!

[HKr1]

Dam, its only been 10 days

[headshrink]

Mine always starts a little harder after only 2 days of rest.

[Blackwidow]

Originally Posted by TnNinjaGirl

Mine did the exact same thing at the beginning of the season. I ran it around the neighborhood a few times and put some fresh gas in it. She runs like a champ now!

its hard to run it around town when i can't even roll the throttle without having it die

[kamikaze]

Originally Posted by Blackwidow

Yes I had the choke on the whole time, it starts up and i let it run for a few minutes, as soon i rolled the throttle it died. I think i'm going to have to take things apart and clean it out. I just have a hard time believing within two months crap could build up so quickly.

how long will it run with the choke full on if you keep off the throttle?

[RedCromwell]

Curious... why'd you let it sit for two months?

Now, another silly question. When you rolled on the throttle, were you doing it slowly, gradually bringing up the RPMs versus trying to do quick WOT twists?

Maybe your baby just needs to be gently coaxed to wake up fully. Once she's wide awake and purring, then you can get her to roar.

[Havok]

So does this mean you are going to start riding her?

[thurt88]

Mine did the exact same thing at start of the season. Problem was gummed up carbs compounded by the seafoam I used to stabilize my fuel.

Two lessons were learned from that:
1- Start the bike at least once a week.
2- Do not use Seafoam, use a dedicated fuel stabilizer.

I should add a third:
3- Buy a bike with FI.

[Blackwidow]

Originally Posted by kamikaze

how long will it run with the choke full on if you keep off the throttle?

between 30 seconds to a minute.

[Blackwidow]

Originally Posted by RedCromwell

Curious... why'd you let it sit for two months?

Now, another silly question. When you rolled on the throttle, were you doing it slowly, gradually bringing up the RPMs versus trying to do quick WOT twists?

Maybe your baby just needs to be gently coaxed to wake up fully. Once she's wide awake and purring, then you can get her to roar.

We were having crappy weather here, when the ground is even slightly wet I won't ride. Also, I had back problems. So I didn't want to risk anything.

I tried both, I rolled the throttle slowly and gently, it dies..when I open the throttle full blast, it dies.

I was going to take apart the bike using KKims DIY this past weekend but again, the weather sucked.

[nattygirl]

If you're going to take your bike apart anyways, shim the carbs at the same time. You'll like the improvements.

[ally99]

I hope your baby feels better soon! I get pissed when mine is sick for a single day!

[Blackwidow]

Originally Posted by nattygirl

If you're going to take your bike apart anyways, shim the carbs at the same time. You'll like the improvements.

took your advise girly..

http://www.ninjette.org/forums/showt...321#post308321

[RaceBikeRentals]

Cali gas will plug your pilot jets after sitting for about a month. As others have said, you really need to start it once every week or two and let it idle for 5 minutes or so. If not, you're going to have to tear it apart and clean the carbs. I've found no way to get around that.

[armatt06]

I work on a lot of atv's for people and I get this a lot. I always remove the carbs, disassemble them, soak all metal parts in a gallon of carb cleaner (you can get it at NAPA for $15 and its reusable and has a basket to hold your parts in), reassemble and they fire right back up everytime. Just be sure not get any gaskets, seals, or rubber parts in the carb cleaner as it will deteriorate them. Its a little bit of work, but it'll run great and carbs should be cleaned every once in a while anyways.

Also, when you do it, keep track of how many turns out your jets were and it'll save you a headache later.

[Blackwidow]

i think i spoke too soon!!! i'm so pissed! My bike keeps freaking dying! it starts and gets going, but as soon as I click it to 3rd gear it dies..i mean literally dies!! everything shuts down and I have to restart it again. i'm so freaking irritated already. i cleaned the jets, i cleaned the entire carberator, i even shimmed the needles, now what could be wrong with it?

[Snake]

Is the bike still under waranty? If so I would take it back to the dealership and have them troubleshoot it and fix it.

[Blackwidow]

i was thinking about that, but now what i'm nervous about is them knowing i took apart my bike thus making my warranty null and void.

[headshrink]

Dies like it originally did when you rolled on the throttle, or instantly when you click into 3rd (as if 3rd were a kill switch)?

It may be a long-shot, but I was wondering if the safety switch on your tranny & kickstand were somehow malfunctioning (like when you put it in gear with your kickstand down). Like I said, a long-shot, but thought I would brainstorm a bit.

[Blackwidow]

initially it would die when i would pull the clutch in at 3rd to down shift, after the first incident everytime I pulled in the clutch it died. so getting out of 1st is impossible.

[Blackwidow]

i'm thinking maybe I didn't fasten something tight enough.

[headshrink]

Hmmmm.... that would make me wonder about those switches. You may want to go through the trouble-shooting steps in the service manual for them. If nothing else, it may rule them out as the culprit.

[Alex]

Originally Posted by Blackwidow

i was thinking about that, but now what i'm nervous about is them knowing i took apart my bike thus making my warranty null and void.

No warranty becomes void just because you did your own work. If a problem is discovered, they need to link the problem directly to the work performed (i.e. - did you break it), in order to deny any warranty claim.