hey whats goin on everyone im not sure if i introduced myself on this forum or not. I have a 98 600F3 just bought it last week, first time rider and from the few times i took her out, i've found my new love. Well my chick aint acting right lol.

I took her out a few days ago and she died on me but started right back up. I didnt think much of it as it was freezing cold and i just wanted to get back home to warm up. Well since then it snowed and has been freezing (i live in south eastern PA) therefore my garage has beem freezing as well. I went to go start her the other morning and she started right up as usual and then she died on me and wouldnt turn back over for me. She stayed idle for about 3-4 minutes. After several attempts through out the course of the day she wouldnt start up for me. I thought it could possibly be the battery so i went and got a trickle charger and let it charge over nite last nite. I got off from work this morning and immediatley go try to start her and she turned over, so i thought thank god and i start gearing up cause im dying to ride, 3 minutes later she dies again. Again i attempted several times to get her to turn over and nothing. I plugged her back into the trickle charger and went to bed. Woke up tried to start her and she turned over for a minute and died.

Im sure by now i've clogged the fuel lines and or the carb, im gonna try starting it on reserve when i get off tomorrow. When i press the starter button all the lights on the panel shut off as well as the head light. I do hear a clicking when i try to start it up. I've tried starting it with the throttle cracked open.

I think its wierd when right after the battery comes off the charger it will turn over for a few minutes and die. Any suggestions. I will be cruising thr forum looking for similar problems, but if anyone has any input it would be appreciated.

 

just like you said id clean the fuel lines and especially the carbs

 

Before you start tearing into the carbs, I would make sure that the battery isn't the issue. When the bike is idling (RPMs at 1200 to 1400), there is no charge going back into the battery. Essentially the bike runs off the battery at an idle. If the voltage is low from the cold and then a cold start, it might be that your battery is dead. I would go out and buy a $10 to $15 digital multi meter from Radio Shack. After you take the battery off the trickle charger, test the voltage. When you put it into the bike and it is running, see what the voltage is at the battery. If your RPMs are 2500 or more and you still only have a battery voltage reading, you might have a charging issue.
I am just suggesting to exhaust some really easy things to troubleshoot before tearing into the carbs. The other reason that I am thinking this is because you mentioned that when you hit the start button, the lights go out and the bike clicks. That clicking sound is a classic dead battery.

 

hey guys thanks for your advice. I plan on checking out the battery first before i get to deep into anything, im new to bikes and can generally figure things out on my own, i do have the shop manual and enough sense to take the time to research how to do something the right way. I'm just hoping for the sake of this weekend going into the upper 60's that its just the battery so i can replace it and ride....i'll update after i get home.

 

Update....

So i tested the battery battery is fine. Tried starting when i got home with the fuel tank on reserve, what do you know it starts up and holds the idle. Take the choke off and it dies. Switch the fuel to on and it wont start. Reserve again it starts. So i figured hey i just need more/new gas. Went out bought some gas and a fuel system cleaner recommended by one of my boys. Put some new gas in and wala its starting with the fuel tank on now, idles nice and high around 3100 let it idle for about 10 minutes. go to take the choke off, it dies. Damn it so close! I'm stumped, my boys are kinda stumped at the moment. Any ideas?

 

aside from anything else, if its idling at 3100 rpm theres something wrong right there haha when you get the starting thing sorted out you prolly wanna adjust your idle

to me it sounds like you have a charging problem... most likely due to your regulator/rectifier which is notorious for going bad on the f3, unfortunately i cant chime in on how to check it but im sure if you do a search you can find LOTS and LOTS on the topic since so many people have had the problem

Hope you can get it fixed up b4 the nice weather comes this weekend, wish i could ride... unfortunately im about 2 hrs from my girl

 

Once it's warmed with the choke and the idle reaches about 3k, it's time to turn the choke down A LITTLE bit at a time until it idles without any. But it's normal to reach 3k with the choke, just don't keep it there long at all.

 

ynks i think i would rather be two hours away from her then staring at her and reading the manual and getting fustrated cuz she supposed to be getting washed as i write this getting ready for a ride later on this afternoon.. anyway does anyone know how to readjut the idle the speed. When my boy was tryna teach me how to ride he adjusted the idle speed and thats the only thing i can think of that has been adjusted since i purchased the bike. It ran fine before. the thing is im not sure which way he adjusted it and how much he adjusted.

 

f3 biker, as soon as i start to come off the choke, the engine dies as i take it off. thats the problem. as long as the choke is on it will run, and idle at about 3100 as soon as i try to take the choke off it dies...

 

sounds like the carbs need to be cleaned. like the jets are gummed up or the idle needs to be adjusted.

and just in case you need to diagnose the charging system