97 F3 non-starter
 

Just picked up my new (to me) F3. It is a fixer upper so I know I have my work cut out for me. Bought a brand new battery for it yesterday and charged it up. All is hooked up, but it won't start.

ignition on
in neutral (although neutral light is out)
clutch pulled in
side stand up

the light goes out and that's all. No sounds, not even a hint of movement from anywhere in the engine.

The bike has been sitting a little while so there may be something sticking. I put it in gear and moved it backwards and forwards and it sounds like the engine is moving and I know it ran when the previous owners left it in their garage.

Any clues?[/align]

RE: 97 F3 non-starter
 

you forgot to mention kill switch .

RE: 97 F3 non-starter
 

yes...sorry. Kill switch is set on run

thanks :)

RE: 97 F3 non-starter
 

If you have some room and patients (and hopefully a friend) try push starting it with the choke on.

RE: 97 F3 non-starter
 

yea what he said up there, put it in first, make sure everything is turned on, squeese the clutch, get it rolling down a hill or some kind of a downward incline, if your comforatable push it yourself(or get help), when it's rolling as fast as you can push it, hop on if your doing it solo(or not if your getting a push cuz your already on it), drop the clutch and snatch it back real quick see what happens

RE: 97 F3 non-starter
 

i guess my question is what is causing the problem more than how to start it. I will try this when I get home to see if it will run, but I am more interested in finding out how to fix the problem (whatever it might be).

I am rebuilding this bike...it needs some transmission work (30k miles) so I may just get a newer engine. But I really want to be able to get this thing back to rideable (street or track).

RE: 97 F3 non-starter
 

Get a manual for the bike so you have a schematic to work with. The owner before me has a jumper wire tied into the battery to byspass the starter relay (I think), all I know is that without that stupid wire the bike won't start, much like yours. The yellow wire that is intended to be used for starting is burnt up from the key/gauge pod all the way back to the solenoid. See if you have some crispy wires and buy a test light to see if anything is happening when you turn on the key. I think that there is a fuse by the starter solenoid that you can check.

RE: 97 F3 non-starter
 

i just downloaded a manual from the web. Will try some investigation this weekend.

I am good freidns with the previous owners and they said it ran fine and started normally when they last put it in their garage. It's a freebie bike so I guess I can't complain...I expected to do some work on this bike anyway.

Thanks for the pointers.

RE: 97 F3 non-starter
 

;) If you know it will start then that's a piece of the puzzle, atleast that way you'll know its something to do with the switch, if you pop the seat off, and the tank there's a little rectangular box that the positive battery cable goes to on top of that is a fuse, check that, and the fuse box up front just under the throttle check those as well

RE: 97 F3 non-starter
 

i have a steep driveway so I can try bumping it by rolling it down a few times. I will check the fuses too. Thanks