i have a honda f4i 2001, which i unfortunately dont get to ride as much as a i would, due to my 2 yr old son, which i enjoy spending time with. anyways i have ridden my bike after 3-4 wks of not riding and then it wouldnt gear up from 1st. went to a garage who said it was stale fuel. this happened on another occasion, where had little fuel, but had originally put in fuel stabilizer. is this correct, stale fuel does this, or any other sugestions

 

sounds odd to me but i would check the shift linkage but that is some indepth work...

did you do all the basics? take it down the road? check for any give on the down shift? check oil level? is it clicking on upshift? where you sitting still? the bike has to move to shift gears.....

these are not to question your ability just some checks you would hate to open it up and find out it was a bone head mistake

simple thoughts but what the job requires to get into it i would check every stupid possibility it could be .

 

Check the clutch cable...is it engaging? Fuel has n

 

4 weeks and stale fuel? I don't think so. My snowblower sat for 10months and started, car sat for almost 3yrs, Jeep sat for 11months, bikes always sit for 1-3months in the winter. I try to use stabilizer (especially in the bikes and small engines), but I've forgotten a few times.

And aren't we talking about shifting anyway? Like it won't go from 1st to 2nd? That's not fuel related at all.

 

Any conclusion yet? i am curious to what has caused the issue

 

+1 to above .... Gasoline has no effect on shifting gears!

If your bike wouldn't start or runs but very badly then that could be fuel related. 4 weeks isn't very long for fuel to sit... 4 MONTHS and the fuel should still be good. Over 6 months and I would use fuel stabilizer.

Check your oil before you ride again!!! You should be able to shift through at least the first 3 gears with the bike turned off. You will need to roll the bike forward a foot or so to do the shifting with the bike off.