Hey All,

I just bought a CBR a few weeks ago from its previous owner and I am having trouble starting it.He rode it to mine and it's been parked there ever since. She's gone from a garage attached to the house to a shared garage in the basement of my building which is pretty consistantly COLD. I have started it a few times, just to rev the engine a bit (this is my first bike by the way)but the last few weeks I have not been able to get the engine to turn over.

I purchased a new battery and I still havent had any luck starting her again. I checked the voltage from the battery while I was trying to start the bike and I watched the voltages just DROP so I think "something" is draining the battery... RAPIDLY. I did a bit of research and I think it could be the rectifier, or maybe a loose wire somewhere.

Am I on the right track here? What else should I take a look at before I start tinkering with the electronics?

 

Try cleaning the battery leeds and then tighten it down. For me I had a really hard time starting my bike for the past week. Most likely the cold has been draining the battery. Just get a jumper and jump it to a car. But make sure when you do that DON"T START THE CAR. Wait like 30 seconds to a minute so the batter could get partly charged before you crank the engine.

The RISKIER method would be with the car engine on, jump start it. Just don't start the car with the jumper cables on.

 

+1 about it probably just being the cold, could try jumping it with another battery or just put a trickle charger on it, to give it a nice slow charge

 

If you've been using full choke, then you may have fouled the plugs now. Does it smell like gas in your exhaust pipe?

 

I highly recommend the Battery Tender (Plus or Junior) chargers. I have leads installed on two bikes and a four-wheeler. So far it has not let me down!

 

Sounds like to me either something is draining your battery whilke the bike is off or your not getting a proper charge to the battery when it does run so it will be even harder to start the next time since the battery isnt fully charged.....if u want to check if the battery is getting the proper charger check the AC voltage at the rectifier/regulator( shud be 3 yellow wires, u shud be able to preform three test there) lookin in the manual to see what the spec is....if everything checks out then check what the battery is getting while the bike is runing shud be something like 13.5-15 VDC.....if everything checks out then i wud check ur carbs.

 

starting the engine without letting it run will make it harder to start the next time, not sure if it is true but someone once told me that it takes 15 minutes of running for a vehicle to recharge the battery to the level it was before starting

 

Thanks for all the input everyone.

I'm not sure if I have a problem with the battery in and of itself. I have recently ( a few days ago) bought a brand new battery. When it's not on in the bike, its up in my apartment on a slow charger. Even after leaving it to charge overnight I still cant get the engine to turn over.

f3Biker - I did try starting it a few times using the full choke but I havent smelled anything from the exhaust pipe. Unfortunately I have been experiencing backfires every now and again when I try to start it. Is this a confirmation that I have killed the sparkplugs?

I'm going to check the rectifier as well though just to rule that out.

 

It wont turnover, sounds like starter is bound up..

 

DRLOWZ - Are you referring to the starter switch, the cable or some other part of the inner-workings of the starting system? Can you elaborate a bit on what you mean by the starter being bound up, as well as what I could do to determine whether or not that in fact is the issue?

THANKS!