Hey guys. I have been taking my F3 on longer and longer rides lately. Ive notice this has become a reoccuring problem.

for example, i take her on a 45 minute ride. get to my destination. get off the bike and do my thing. come back an hour later. if i hit the start button, it make the normal noise. everything sounds good but the engine wont actually fire up. i've held down the start button for as long as 8 seconds and still no luck. the only way to get it to start is if i twist the gas while trying to start it.

this only happens like within an hour of trying to start it back up. if i let her sit for a few hours she'll turn on no problem.

 

How is the state of tune with the bike? & wot different starting procedures do you go through than when the bikes cold?
Anyway, couple of things here could be the culprit. Your battery may be stuffed & dying (or your reg could be on the way out & your battery isn't getting enough charge while riding, reg still hot when you go to ride off ). Next for me would be to check the plugs to see if there is any thing happening there, your fuel filter & even probably just a good tune.

 

I always mess with my choke when having any kind of starting problems.

 

With the bike cranking over normally it points to state of tune. Air filter, spark plugs, even quality of fuel. I have had similar starting issues when I used ethanol blend fuel. Warm the bike seems to crank over forever. The easiest thing to try is go to a different gas station.

 

If your bike has been sitting for a while you could have some debris or old gas in the carbs possibly clogging them. Check carbs, plugs, fuel filter. Let me know if that works or doesn't work.

 

well to start it , i normally leave the choke maybe half way on for about 30 seconds to a minute. after that i can turn it off and it'll idle normally around 1500. i dont think anything is wrong with the battery. the noise it makes when i hit the starter sounds perfectly healthy. it just wont actually fire up. when i've had a dieing battery it normally sounds liek its struggling and running out of breath.

for the plugs, do you mean spark plugs? how do i know if those are bad? what do they look like when bad?

and for the tune are you talking about a proper tune up from a mechanic??

well even at full choke it will not fire up. the only way is to apply throttle while trying to fire it up. even then it still takes a good 5 or so seconds. this only happens after long rides though. if it has been sitting over night or for even a week, it doesnt take more then 2 seconds of the start button to fire up.

i will check the air filter and spark plugs. the fuel i started using when this problem started happening was 89 from SafeWay. I used to use 89 from the 76 station before, but i didnt do long distance rides during then so i cannot tell if its the fuel or not.

no the bike doesnt sit for a long time. no more then 4 days at a time. but i usually ride her at least 3 times a week. i just thought it was strange that it starts up fine when cold but when warm it has issues.

i'll have some free time saturday and sunday so i'll give her a look this weekend. thanks guys!

 

Could it be vapor lock?

 

i know that my bike does a very moderate version of this..i just blip the throttle when its cranking if it doesn't immediately fire up.

 

My first thought too. Either in a line or in the carb. Other than that, maybe a coil heating up and not doing its thing, but I doubt it, usually hot start problems are fuel related.

 

How are the condition of your carb mounts?

If they are dry rotted or cracked, they will allow air into the engine once its warm. The heat of the engine will open the cracks up, thus making a hard start condition.Also, a warped cylinder head will do this too for the same reason as the mounts, Although I doubt thats your problem, you would have other issues along with the hard starting.

I would start looking for air leaks creating a lean condition. Start by taking some wd-40, with the engine cooled off and also when the engine is fully warmed, spray small amounts ( just a really quick squirt) around your carb mounts and note if the rpm's change. Any change will usually indicate a bad mount. Wd-40 is flamable, so be careful to use a very small amount. You dont want it pooling up on your engine waiting to ignite. Your goal is just to get enough to cover the mounting areas to see if the engine sucks it in. You can try to use soapy water, but wd-40 has always worked well for me.

how hot does the bike get?

Also, try letting the bike idle for about 30 seconds before you shut it off.