My bike died while I was putting it away for the winter, so I didn't bother winterizing it because I knew I'd have to tear it apart anyways. I took it out of storage yesterday and tried to start it and got nothing. The fan and lights work. I jumped the battery anyways to see if this would make any difference, but the engine will not turn over at all. I plan on draining the tank, cleaning tank and carbs, changing the coolant and the oil. I think the carbs need to be sync'd also. But there's no point until the engine can even turn over. Where do I even start with diagnosing the problem?

I'm fairly new to motorcycle maintenance so dumb it down for me. The weather is finally nice and I want to ride!


UPDATE: I put the kickstand in and engaged the clutch (IDK if there are even sensors in this old of a bike) and the engine cranked a couple times. The fan and lights are operated by a separate switch and when I turned it on, I heard a rattling noise which got stronger when the fan started running faster, weaker when the fan was turning off, stopping completely when it stopped. The engine cranked a couple times and stopped when I pressed the ignition switch the first time. It did nothing the second time, but cranked a few times on the third try before stopping.

 

Try looking at your starter solenoid to see if it's sticking or has corrosion on its terminals ... the next place to look would be the right hand switch assembly (where your start button is located) .... then check the terminals on the starter itself ..... see if that gets ya anywhere .... let us know if there's still problems

 

I don't know if this is any help for you... When I was starting mine after winter I cleaned the carbs and even after that I drained my battery twice before I could get it going. It also helped to open the throttle a little while trying to start it to provide a little extra fuel. At one point I almost gave up as well but I got her going... try using jumper cables as well just to give the starter a little more juice. Update us if you make any progress.

 

If it's just chugging over a few times slowly your battery probably isn't all there. What voltage does it read when it's sitting around?

Batteries go bad quickly, especially if left half dead in the cold.

 

Thanks for the responses! I opened the carbs up and gave them a good douse of carb cleaner. Also made sure the fuel lines and hoses were clear and clean, just from letting the bike sit. Hooked the battery up to my car and after a few trys it started cranking no problem. I think it was just a little stuck from being stored for the winter.

I ran into a new problem, however. Whenever the vaccum line is connected to the petcock, gas leaks. When I turn the fuel on, it uhh... spews. I ordered the "cover set, ****" part (16953-MBZ-B51), should be here in a couple days and hopefully that will fix some problems.

The battery and the plugs are only a year old, so I assume they are otherwise fine. I'll take the bike to the shop once it's running for a tune up (need an inspection sticker anyways).

 

Maybe a float is stuck? Give the carb bowls a sharp tap with the butt of a screwdriver and see if that doesn't unstuck it.