Update...decided she was ready for a start tonight. Battery was still strong and the starter works, but no start after several attempts. I tried with full choke, no choke, and with cracking the throttle slightly. I checked over all hoses and connections to the carbs (3 for air, 2 for fuel), TPS connected, etc. and I can't see anything that I missed. Does anyone know of any common pitfalls I may have overlooked?

 

Oh and I double checked the wires were all well connected. Plugs are brand new.

 

Back to basics...getting spark and fuel?

 

Thanks for the suggestions guys. It's was driving me crazy all last night while I was laying in bed going over everything and what I could have missed. This morning as I was walking downstairs to leave for work I had an epiphany and realized my mistake.

It was entirely my fault, and I'm ashamed to admit that I left wadded up paper towels in the velocity stacks!!

I guess I got a little over-excited to start the bike and just slapped it all together without using my brain. Before leaving for work I pulled the 6 screws for the air filter cover and lifted it enough to get my fingers in and pull the paper towels out. Problem solved! She started right up and absolutely purred like a big, sexy Kawi green tigress. My wife witnessed it and said I looked like a giddy schoolboy.

I also forgot to mention that when I replaced the plugs I found the source of my strange exhaust note and richness. Plugs 2, 3, and 4 were actually in good condition, maybe tending slightly towards lean. Plug 1, however, was totally black and covered in carbon. With the new plugs, the exhaust note is silky smooth and doesn't reek of un-burned fuel.

 

well at least you found it, and it didn't even cost anything extra.
At least you had some very clean air entering the bike

 

Oh yeah...air too.

 

Yeah, that will make it just a teeny bit harder to start

Seriously though, don't feel bad, we all get a bit excited when it's time to start the bike after doing some work on it.

Easy to miss things, just make sure the wheels are bolted on properly and the brakes work!

 

Update on Chloe. Fork seals replaced, new brake pads and brake lines, and lots of minor stuff like repairing the mirrors, adjusting the steering damper and suspension, etc. So today, I finally took her out on a real ride! To recap my first experience on a 600 (coming from a Z125)...holy HELL does she pull! I got up to 65 in a real hurry. I had my wife follow me with my daughter so she could finally see daddy ride and she snapped a nice pic





Unfortunately, after a half hour, she just turned off and wouldn't start again. I was close to home and at the top of a hill so I just coasted as far as I could and pushed it another 200 yards or so to the house. I got home and looked everything over externally and saw nothing out of the ordinary. Went in and got all my gear off, had a drink, then came down to troubleshoot more and she started right up.

Anyone have any insight? I'm inclined to think that it's electrical in nature since it appears to be intermittent or based on temperature. Beyond my initial guess, I don't know where to start.

 

Pushing a bike home - I know the feeling all too well

Could be loose battery terminals, or maybe a loose/broken wire elsewhere on the ignition circuit. If it died suddenly with no warning, it points to an electrical fault/bad component/switch on the ignition system

Given enough time, a partially broken wire will get hot (it acts like a resistor) which will make the wire brittle, and can even melt the insulation. Those are easy to spot visually, but other electrical problems can only be found with a multimeter and a bit of luck. Fortunately in your case, only a few circuits would be able to shut the whole bike off mid-ride, so the list of suspects would be relatively short

If nothing jumps out, you may need to go through the ignition system troubleshooting (should be in the manual)

 

It could just be a faulty kill switch or a loose earth.

Years ago I had a Ducati 600SS, stopped for a cup,of tea and the bloody thing wouldn’t start. Chap with a Moto Guzzi came over and knew instantly what it was. Put his hand under the tank and pushed the solenoid cable back in to the socket and it started instantly. It’s usually something really simple!