Hey,

So I gots me a 1999 CBR600F4 for quite a bargain. The guy who sold it to me seemed reasonably honest (I hope). He told me the battery is less than 2 weeks old right now. He was upfront about several issues the bike had (signal lights, chain etc - all fixed now).

I rode it for ~50km on first day - started it several times (stopped for lunch, etc), then on the second day, I had a bit of trouble starting the bike that morning... I ended up having to run along side the bike while pushing the start button. I called seller up and asked him how he handles this issue and he said he's never had that before "Wowww, I never NEVER had any trouble starting this bike, it's one of the things I really liked about it, started EVERY time with no issues. Just set choke to max and start her up."

So today I took a video during my start up attempt - about 30 seconds after this the engine kicked in and took over. But I'm a little worried about this and would like advice on if I did anything wrong or what the likely problem is.

As you can see, I set choke to max, rolled back the throttle to try to get engine involved but it just wouldn't engage.

Thanks in advance - BBP

 

Sorry your having this issue and welcome to the forum!! I would recommend heading over to the new members section now that you have found the best one! I think I can fix your issue though so that good

First of I wont solve your problem for you but I will help (sorry titles rub me for some reason)

When you first bought the bike you said you were starting it a lot what might have happened is in doing so you drained the battery, our charging system only really starts to charge the battery at 4.5k rpms and higher so keep the revs up! Go a head and throw the bike on a trickle charger and set it on the slowest charging level you got, if its adjustable, anything below 2.5 is good. let that sit over night. ***Don't hook the bike up to a car and try to start the bike that way*** it will kill the bike. Tomorrow if your still having the starting problem come back and we'll continue from there. But don't worry you have not wasted any money if you had to buy a trickle charger, they really should come with the bike when you buy it. Also when starting the bike, put it n neutral, it is easier for the engine to get going.

Now to move on to starting the bike. When you twist the throttle like that it hurts the bike, let the starter and choke do their thing to get the engine going. Set the choke accordingly (for temp or lack there of) leave the throttle at idle flick the kill switch to on turn the ignition to on than hit the starter button for not more than 5 sec at a time. if it doesnt start thats fine just wait and hit the starter for another 5 sec. Repeat until it starts or 1 minute has passed. If you reach that 1 minute than turn the bike all the way off and repeat the whole process over. If it still doesn't work than hook up the trickle charger and try starting one last time. No start than come back and report. You need to only press the starter button 5 sec cuz other wise you can burn out your starter motor and thats no fun.

 

CJardine,

I took your advice and bought a trickle charger on Amazon.com and in the mean time I've been revving the engine like a maniac to get the 4.5rpm- prior to this I'd have been the kind of guy who tried to get by with the lowest RPM for the job - that could explain why that first day was such a drain on the battery. I haven't left the bike for more than 12 hours yet so not sure how effective the revving is. For how long should I keep it above 4.5rpm for adequate "daily" charge?