Bike won't start, just need quick assistance

[NEONCHEST]

OK, so my bike has been in storage all winter, and when I came back from college I could not get the bike started. I did pretty much everything to winterize it, but I know now I didn't do it right. I did add stabile, but I never drained the carbs. I am guessing what I have here is a carb problem, but I would just like to make sure it is before I go taking it off.

To answer some questions, the battery is fully charged, spark plugs are good, and tried putting in fresh gas.

In the video below the first two tries are with choke, and second two are without choke where the bike does seem to start but stalls shortly after.

http://youtu.be/qfdYYCIYeoo

I'm sure it's just the carbs, but I would just like to make sure. I would appreciate any help. Thanks ladies and gents!

[BFisher244]

your carbs need to be cleaned

try some seafoam 1st

[csmith12]

Welcome Jason!

Keep at it, she will run and good luck!

[Motofool]

Originally Posted by NEONCHEST

.....In the video below the first two tries are with choke, and second two are without choke where the bike does seem to start but stalls shortly after..........

Was that all you tried?

I would expect more cranking to come out of hibernation.

[crazymadbastard]

def the carbs, nothing else has changed since you put it away.

[NEONCHEST]

Thanks guys, I'm gonna start with the Sea Foam, then pull out those carbs if I need to.

[dailowill]

In the video it looks like you are going from no choke to full choke. When you're at full choke, you might be dumping way too much fuel into the carburetors. This might sound stupid, but have you tried putting the choke at a quarter or half way on just to have it idle without dying?

[NEONCHEST]

Originally Posted by dailowill

In the video it looks like you are going from no choke to full choke. When you're at full choke, you might be dumping way too much fuel into the carburetors. This might sound stupid, but have you tried putting the choke at a quarter or half way on just to have it idle without dying?

I'm almost certain I did try that in the past week I have been trying to get it started, but I'll definitely try it again. Maybe it will have some success since there is some Sea Foam in there now

[Motofool]

Originally Posted by NEONCHEST

........there is some Sea Foam in there now

Although you did not respond my previous question, here goes the second one:
How did you do it?

Just pouring some Sea Foam into the gas tank will not make it reach inside the bowls; you will need to drain those bowls first, then crank the engine some more, so the SF can reach and wet the internal passages of the carb (if they are not fully clogged) driven by the vacuum of the engine.
Then, you will need to wait.

Also, are you sure that fuel is delivered by the petcock and that it is reaching and filling the bowls of the carbs?
After so long, the o-ring of the petcock and/or the float valves could be stuck in the closed position.
Again, draining the bowls is the only way to find out.

[NEONCHEST]

Ok to answer your first question, I had been trying 15-20 minutes every day for the past week to try cranking it with and without choke. I never got anywhere with it either, always ended the same with what happens in the video.

For the second question, I drained the bowls yesterday before ever thinking about putting sea foam in. Later on I went out and got some Sea Foam. When I did use the sea foam I added it and then spent at least 10 minutes cranking the engine to try to get some of the solution into the carbs. Should I maybe drain them again just to make sure? Again I appreciate your help.

[Motofool]

Jason,

You have done the right things before jumping into carbs' surgery.

Try again later today, but be gentle with the choke.

You could try some starting fluid through the air intake.

[dailowill]

Any chance you played around with the idle adjustment knob or idle screws prior to storing the bike for winter?

I had similar issues when I was riding in 40 degree weather, but I was fiddling around with idle adjustment.

[NEONCHEST]

To answer the last question, no I never touched the idle adjustment.

And as a status report, I have decided its time to take out those carbs and clean em. Do you guys recommend doing anything with any of the mechanisms in there as long as I have the carbs out? (Such as to increase performance or anything)

[beerhalffull]

Didn't read all the posts in full above, but I had the same problem recently. I know you said the plugs are good but double check the gap just to be 100%, leave them out when you try to start the bike twice to shoot out excess sitting fuel. Then put them back in, open air box, two squirts of starter fluid straight into the air box with no filter full choke and twist throttle on/off/on/off. That gets it going. Once it kicks you'll need to feather the throttle to keep her going for a few seconds and you're gold.

[NEONCHEST]

I cleaned the carbs and bike runs great, thanks for all the help.

[Motofool]

Originally Posted by NEONCHEST

I cleaned the carbs and bike runs great, thanks for all the help.

Great, Jason; you are welcome

[dailowill]

Originally Posted by NEONCHEST

I cleaned the carbs and bike runs great, thanks for all the help.

How bad was it clogged? Do you think it was attributed to not draining the carbs from last winter or possibly build up over time?

[NEONCHEST]

They weren't too bad at all. I still cleaned every part to be sure, but it shows that even the smallest bit of clogging could cause problems.