The Official "MY BIKE WONT START" Thread!

The simple stuff.

KILL SWITCH!
Its a big red button on the right hand handlebar, make sure its
on.

Is your fuel tap off? on? reserve? Try it on reserve if you are low
on petrol.

Is the petrol old? if it is drain out the tank and refill with fresh
petrol.

Sidestand switch? is your bike in nuetral, if it is in gear it will not

start with the side stand down.

FUSES! Check all fuses!

ARE YOUR BATTERY CONNECTIONS TIGHT?

Can you push start it? Put bike in 1st gear with ignition on and
run with it(or even better if you get a mate to push you) jump
on and release clutch.
Give a little bit of throttle and make sure your on a clear road.

Check all earth connections on frame/engine etc.

If none of the above apply read on.

The basics for an engine to to go are fuel, spark and air.

One is always missing completley, lacking or getting/giving too
much.
If you can determine which one is the problem then that makes
things easier, if you cant it is a process of illimination.

SPARK

Is your spark weak?

If your bike is turning over but not starting your spark plugs
may be not getting enough power or could be in need of
replacement.
Buy a multi metre, they are cheap and will last a lifetime.
Your battery should be putting out about 12.5 volts when the
bike is not on.
Charge it for a while and try and start it again if its lower than
this.
If your battery keeps dying replace it, if you get the bike
running and your battery keeps dying change the regulator
rectifier.
Check this golden nuget from eclipze if you think if you think
you are having batt/reg rec problems...
http://cbr250.com/forum/thread-282.html

To check if you are getting a spark take out a plug attached to

the plug cap and touch the metal off the frame.
Hit the starter and check if you can see a blue spark.
WARNING!!! only hold the rubber plug cap and not the metal as
you will fry yourself.
If you have the plugs out you may aswell replace them!
If your a cheap ass you may rub them down with sand paper or
a wire brush. (or if you know they are relitivley new.)

TIP
If your bike is running on less than all four cylinders throw
water on the header pipes and see which one doesnt steam off.

If you have replaced the spark plugs and you are still not getting
spark replace the HT leads and or plug caps.

If that does not work Check the coils, replace the coils or get a
friends coils to test and rule them in or out.

FUEL!

Are you getting fuel?

Is your fuel tap blocked? take off the fuel line from the tank and
turn fuel on, if its not dripping out your tap is cloged up.
Are your fuel lines connected properly?

Is your fuel pump working? check with a mulitmeter if its

getting power.

Clean your carbs! Clean your carbs! Clean your carbs!

CBRs carbs can get clogged up for many reasons restricting fuel.
Take the carbs apart one by one and use carb cleaner found in
any auto shop.
You tube has some good carb cleaning vids.
Check there is no holes or tears in the diaframs (Black rubber
nipple things), this can hinder running.
Make sure you clean the jets and put everything back exactly as
you found it.
Count the amout of turns in on all idle screws etc.
Inspect the float heights.
Only use petrol resistant silicone to seal back up the carbs, I
recomend a product called "indian gasket" go easy with it and
its messy!
Thanks to K916 for this "how to clean your carbs write up"
http://cbr250.com/forum/thread-231.html

HAVE YOU FLOODED IT?

If you suspect you have flooded your bike, leave it for an hour
and try again with no throttle!
If that doesnt work drain the carbs and try again.
If its still not working you may have hydrolocked your pistons,
take a plug out and hit the starter for a second.
Put the plug back in and try again.

LASTLY make sure your carbs are on perfectly and tight!

If all that fails burn your bike thats a joke.

AIR

Is your air filter durty as hell? change if for a new one.

Make sure your airbox is on perfectly and tight.
MY BIKE DOES NOTHING WHEN I HIT THE STARTER, ZIP,
NADDA, NOT A SOUND!
Check fuses.
Check battery connections.
Check relays.
Check for corrosion on the starter motor wires/connections.
Check starter button in switch gear for corrosion/connections.
Killswitch.
Sidestand.

Oh and Info from Studricho,

The main rule to starting a cbr (or any bike for that matter) is
don't turn on the ignition until your ready to start the bike.

I've seen so many people turn the ignition on, then fiddle with
gloves, then jacket, sit on bike, then forgot to put back pack on,
then can't do up helmet with gloves on and then perform a 47
point safety check and decide to hit the starter button with kill
switch on for at least 10 attempts.

Result

Battery has dropped in voltage and not enough to crank the

engine quick enough, spark plugs fouled and no start.

Motorcycle Fuel Line Problem..?

So i was looking online and I saw your post for the 1998 ZX6r
Streetfighter. I'm the current owner of the bike. I've been
having a problem with it and I know you're pretty knowledgable
about bikes, seeing the modifications you've done to it
previously. I was hoping you could help me out- it would be
greatly appreciated.

I was riding, and I parked up, and turned off the bike. I tried to
turn it back on, a second later, because I saw a better parking
spot and it wouldn't turn on! The bike was working fine
beforehand. I called the previous owner of the bike, and he told
me to turn on the reserve fuel. I did, and the bike turned on. I
didn't understand why, because I looked in the gas tank, and it
clearly still had at least half a tank left of fuel. So i rode to the
gas station immediately, and filled up as much as I could. Then,
I tried to turn on the bike, and it wouldn't start! Even if I put it
on reserve, it wouldn't start. All I could hear was the starter
chirping.

So I pushed the bike home. I jumped it with my car, and I could

only get the bike to turn on if I revved the throttle hard. I had to
keep the throttle revved in order to keep the engine on
because if I let go of the throttle, then the RPMs just drop and
the engine turns off.
I'm not sure what the problem is, but any help would be greatly
appreciated!

Reply from/
Date
Replies
Scott
3/20/11 3:14:10 PM
I'm having a similar problem on my FJ1200. Letting the bike sit
for more than 24 hrs results in a fuel blockage. It'll sometimes
start running again if I change to reserve. The problem actually
ended up burning out the fuel pump, so you may want to check
that yours is still working. That would explain only running on
heaps of throttle like mine did. You may want to also try what I
do to get fuel running to the carbs again. I took the fuel pump
out altogether, as I heard earlier models ran fine without one
anyway. It runs great now. But the strange intermittent fuel
starvation still happens. The way I get the fuel moving again is
to pull the fuel line to the carbs off (at the carb end of the fuel
line. After about 2 seconds all the air in the line comes out and
fuel pours out of the line. Reconnect it and all is fine again. But
a few days later it always happens again and I need to clear fuel
line of air yet again.

Hope that gives you some ideas, though other people might
have better solutions for your model bike. One other thing I'd
try is running the bike with the fuel cap open. If it runs you
knows the air inlet valve in the gas cap must be blocked and
causing a slight vacuum in the tank. I'd try that first actually,
since its so easy to do.
Ayechau

3/20/11 3:25:39 PM
this is great. thanks for the advice.

t seems to come up over and over again some problems just

nag at bike owners.
So I guess this might be the first of a series of tech tips.
For those of you that don't know me, I was a foreign car tech,
and was not ever a bike
tech................................................................................

Many things work the same way more or less. To me pretty

much theory just is.. By rights this should be the 4th in a series.

Compression is the first test of all tests...

Spark is the 2nd test

Fuel is the 3rd test, and each of the above has a routine in
order to follow, so you are not guessing.

Vac Leaks:

A vac leak is unmetered air allowed in error to get by the

intake. This effects carbs and injection equally bad....

You do not want a vac leak on any engine ever, but they are
very common.

Sometimes you might not know it if the leak is small, and other
times a engine won't start at all. So symptoms run a broad
range of what a vac leak can do.

Some symptoms are a sudden lean condition, which can result

in loss of power instantly and a matching increase in fuel
consumtion.
This might be found to be true if heat cracked a vac line to the
petcocks while you were riding, or the line just lifted off

Other types of symtoms cause what is known as "Hunting"

Which is idle RMP that will not stay correct. The idle goes up to
a given range maybe even to 2,200 rpm and then will drop to
600 RPM and go right back up as if a demon has the grips.. Or
the bike might go to 2,200 RPM and stall forcing youi to restart.

Lesser leaks might effect idle, and what was correct yesterday
suddenly is high today.

Turning down the over all Throttle linkage screw (THE ONE
MAIN ONE MADE FOR FINGERS)
will work to lower idle sometimes but is a mis-adjusting when
you should not do that..

If the leak becomes worse the idle will do what ever the leak
demands..
The leak leans out the correct mix of 14% to 17% fuel to air and
makes the mix undeterminable, ALWAYS lean...

On bikes each carb can have leaks, and manifold mount for any
carb can have vac leaks.

Any throttle plate shaft can leak on either end. Any vac lines
can leak on either end.

And any test port can have a bad cap, and so also leak.

Most bikes don't have vac operated accesories, with the one
exception of vac operated petcocks. A vac operated petcocks
WILL say, Pri = prime, On/Run, AND Res = reserve.

There is NO OFF setting..... Also the petcock will have 2 lines

each... One line is for fuel and the other is a vacuum line telling
the petcock the engine is MAKING vacuum, and to turn on the
petcock diaphram to pull open the on off valve with in the
petcock.
The way a internal combustion engine works creates vacuum. I
have never seen any bike with a vac pump.

In my experience vac lines in general do not deal with heat and

weather well. They crack, split, and become brittle, and should
be replaced once a year, as well as gravity feed fuel lines.

To locate a vac leak you need a can of WD-40 which is probably

the best thing you can use WD-40 for.

Also you can use WD-40 to test whether or not idle mix is right.
This chemical beats ether hands down for use as a engine
starter as well, and will not cause engine damage in moderate
amounts.

WD-40 makes what you can't see, and probably what you can't
hear findable.

You need to listen to know....

SO to tell if idle mix is right, Spritz a shot right at the intake with
a running engine, and listen...

Does the idle go up? Or does the idle go down?

If things are correct the engine has all the fuel it wants and the
idle will drop, as the engine wants no more...

If the idle goes up you are lean.......

If you have 4 carbs and all go down but one, then that one is
lean.... Why it is lean remains a question.

Maybe the setting is wrong, and the pilot is in to far (mix screw
on a car).

[ Often a book setting will say 2, or 2 1/2 turns out. That is a

place where a fresh built engine should run to start, and IS NOT
always the best mix for any given clyinder]
Or maybe you have a vac leak...and so adding fuel in the form
of WD-40 causes the idle to jump to who knows what, and that
depends on the unmetered air.

It is possible for a bike to run on 2 clys out of 4, and have the

two dead clys fire up above idle speeds as the engine
approaches mid range RPM.

So finding leaks becomes a bit of hit and miss, as you spritz

about the carbs after a initial shot into the carbs.

Each time you spritz you must listen, so with a air cooled bike
you might want a fan on the engine.

Places to spritz are the manifolds looking for loose clamps,

throttle shaft ends, and any vac line ends and components
vacuum operated. On injected bikes any Throttle body lines,
and injector bases, also any vac operated components as you
find them.
Often times vac leaks are mis diagnoised as clogged carbs, and
bad plugs, wires, pick ups coils and more... Mac