i live in northern new jersey and its pretty cold here, my bike will not start and im wondering if this is normal for our bikes in cold weather or if i have another problem. i cranked it until the battery was almost dead twice.. luckily i have a battery tender. but it sounds like it wants to start, actually did for a half second then died. i tried spraying ether in the intakes too and that didnt make a difference. my father suggested i may need new spark plugs.. any ideas? thanks

 

does the fuel pump prime when you turn the key

 

first of all, why are you starting your bike?! you're not riding, i'm sure... poor bike.

secondly, because of all this cold weather starting you've been doing, the thing is choked out! you have any idea how much fuel goes into the cylinder on a cold start? a lot. charge your battery up, put it downstairs in a cold corner or outside in the garage on a shelf, cover the bike and LEAVE IT ALONE!

if it still wont start come spring (and honestly, i'm very certain it will) hold the throttle wide open and crank. that'll fix it.

 

good point
starting the bike and just letting it run at idle does nothing for the bike. it wont even charge the battery

 

it may not do anything FOR the bike's benefit, but it sure does go AGINST it's benefit!

 

what are you people talking about? i was all geared up ready to ride.why just assume im doing 'allthis cold weather starting" just helpme out if you can.i dont start it just to let it run...i have a battery tender on it so im not worried about battery dying. it was one of the nicer days the other day and the roads were pretty good so i decided to go for a ride. i rode it last like a month ago and nothings changed since then so im just wondering why it wont start. how do i know if the fuel pump is priming? do these bikes not like to start in cold weather or something?? it is stored in my garage

 

when u turn on the key as the tach does its sweeping motion u will hear a distinct whine type noise this noise could also b mistaken for a weak gear driven motor or in this case it would b ur fuel pump, after this 2 cents worth im pretty much outta gas on the subject, altho glad ur gettin to ride some, i have to bundle up pretty bad but its my choice to still ride in the 20-30 degree weather

 

dont get all hostile dude. you never mentioned that you were ready to leave you said that is was cold and you were trying to start it.

the most common cause of a no start is rider error. either it is in gear or the kill switch is off or something like that.
that is why we ask these questions. make sure it is N and the kill switch is in the run position.
turn the key
you should hear a whine from under the tank. if you dont and all the kill switches are in the correct positions then you have a problem

 

yeah, I've had it give me the same problem before--what I did was give a fist full of throttle while cranking it, and it sputtered to life after turning over a few times. It would try to die on me, so I had to keep the throttle open about half way for 30 seconds or so, and a lot of vapor came out of the tail, it looked like steam. Really weird, it hasn't happened since.