Hi guys, I'm new to the forums. I've got an '89 Hurricane I've been wintering in a friend's garage. Unfortunately, when I put it away I was a bad, bad owner and neglected to read any advice on the proper procedure for winterizing a bike. Meaning I put it away with a full tank of gas and 2500-mile old oil in it. I even left the battery in... *hangs head*

The good news is, the garage doesn't get very cold since my buddy keeps it heated for his snowmobiles. When I went to try starting it this past weekend, the battery had a full charge, and it cranked over strongly. However, despite a lot of trying, I wasn't able to get it started. Now I know I'm gonna have to drain the gas at the very least, but is there anything else I should be looking for before I try to start it again? I haven't done the usual gas/spark/compression checking cause I figured it was just water in the gas, but now that I think about it, I wasn't smelling any gas after all that cranking. I need to drive it about 50 miles back to my place before I can do any major work on it, but if it's something minor I should be able to do it there.

Needless to say, I've learned my lesson about winter prep. Thanks for any help guys!

-Fisher

 

the carbs couldve easily gunked over in that short amount of time with out any fuel stab or draining the carbs

 

Try new fuel first, you may be surprised. Then I would look to the carbs.

 

Did you turn the fuel on? I know Ive made that mistake before (especially if you havent ridden for a while).

 

Fuel was on. I've never really used the petcock, so I didn't even think about turning it off when I put it away. If it turns out the carbs are clogged, what's the easiest way to clean em out? I've never taken the carbs off before, and I don't know anything about resyncing/ etc. when I put them back on.

 

Easiest way to clean carbs, lol. Take them apart, clean, re-assemble.

...sorry, just wanted to make sure you knew I wasn't ragging on you. Just thats the only way. I mean, I guess you could try some carb cleaner or something similar, but if they are dirty and preventing the bike from starting, they should probably be cleaned manually.