well i just bought this f3 2weeks ago and it ran great sounded good , seemed like a great bike. well i loaded it,took a 4 hr drive back and unloaded it. i tried to start it but it just turned over.... been working on it since then with no luck. this is my first bike and i was so excited to get it. any help would very much be appreciated... i went through the clymers book no luck ps i read these threads for a week and tried them all and the noob mistakes too gas spark im yet to buy a batt since autozone said its good thankx

 

I wAs reading blues5 post, when i pulled carbs to check bowls there was no gas in them. Could that be caused by no vacuum to petcock?

 

If you have a stock F3, there is not supposed to be a vacuum to the petcock. The petcock should feed right into the fuel pump if it is stock. If it's gravity feed that's a different story. If you had no fuel in the carbs try setting up a gravity feed system with a funnel and a fuel like directly to the carbs (no filter or pump) and running it like that.

 

Thanks for clearing that up for me. Ill try gravity feed today. Would a bad cell in batt really keep it from starting. Even if there is spark?

 

A weak battery could keep it from starting but a motorcycle charging system is not as strong as a car so it will drain rather quickly with repeated tries of starting and you would notice. I say +1 on Cinderfella's idea. I've been having problems with my 96 F3 and the fuel cut relay. Right not I have bypassed all that and ran a like from the petcock straight to the carbs and she runs just fine! Let us know how that works out

 

i tried the gravity feed but gas wont go down. tried to put gas in carbs but no luck. it sounds like it wants to start but just wont.. gives of a weak backfire. i even tried blowing in gas line to carbs but it seems block.. should gas flow in easy? and what is that sensor that air hoses hook into right above floats? it gets hot. any help at all will be tried. one more the bike started twice and ran fast down road, reved up with no problem then i get it home and now this.. help please

 

I really can't think of any reason for gas not getting into your carbs on a gravity feed type set up unless the floats are stuck. Inside your carbs there should be white plastic floats. These control the flow of the fuel into the carbs. Take a flathead to the pin holding the floats in on the one side to push it out on the other, once you push it out on the other grab it with a pair of needle nose and pull it out. Then you can pull the floats out and the little metal things attached to them that control the flow. See if these are sticking. If so there's your problem, if not... I don't know what the hell would be causing the fuel not to get into the carbs. With these little things taken out try blowing through the fuel lines or running compressed air through them, there should be zero resistance.
This is strange though because I don't think they would instantly freeze up or get stuck, and it the bike was running before they were obviously working. Good luck man.

 

Thanks cinderfella, i will take carbs out again and check that. Im stumped too bike was running!

 

Well i figured the no gas to floats. It was full already! Floats closed gas flow. But still cant get it to start. So i change plugs. Old ones looked good but wet. Still no start. Got spark but i dont know if it just strong enough. Maybe i should get a new batt. Mine shows good but maybe bad cell? Any suggestions? Should i change oil to since my engine is just flooding and not starting? Thanks.