Bike wont start, even with jump

[kcsavage]

Hey All.
I have read through a lot of the bike wont start threads and haven't found something that quite fits for this, sorry.

Here's what happened:
I bought the bike on Sunday (4-8-2007), rode it around--worked fine until Thursday. Wednesday night after I got done riding it, I parked it outside. It wasn't covered and it rained that night. Thursday I tried to start it up, didn't want to go. It sounded like it was about to catch and then stalled and died. I tried to start it a bunch of times, so many times the battery died. On Thursday night and Friday morning I tried to push start it to no luck.
Tonight, Friday, I tried to jump start it-- the starter engages and it just whines like it wants to start but doesn't fire.

The bike has gas. I tried the petcock in all three positions. I checked the spark plugs on Thursday and they seemed to be giving a good spark. Any ideas??

Thanks!!

[ducati_nolan]

I would think that it's an electrical problem but since you have spark, that probally isn't it.

I bet some water got into your carbs. Drain the carbs and see if it'll fire up. A little starting fluid may help it get going.

[NiceGuysFinishLast]

Pull the plug boots and stuff em full of vaseline.. it's hydrophobic, so it'll displace any water in the boots, but it'll still allow the boot to hit the plug, and conduct electricity.

[kcsavage]

NiceGuys: I pulled the boots and sprayed them with WD-40, that should work to right?

Ducati: Where does starter fluid go? Spray it on the air filter?

I was wondering if it was normal too for a battery to lose a volt sitting overnight. I trickle charged my battery last night and took a reading: 13.5 volts. This morning I took another reading when I got up: 12.5 volts. That seems like a lot of loss for the battery just sitting outside the bike, is that normal?

Thanks

[makenzie71]

It's a 12v battery.

Did you try starting it with the enrichener on?

If you use a starter fluid keep in mind that it can strip the lube off the cylinder walls, so be sparing with the spray.  Best way to do it is to take the vac line off the petcock and spray into said line.  Reinstall the line and try to start again.

[gsJack]

I parked it outside. It wasn't covered and it rained that night. Thursday I tried to start it up, didn't want to go. It sounded like it was about to catch and then stalled and died.

Check to see if spark plug wire/wires are loose in coil/coils.  They should be tight like they are molded in.  If tight don't bother them, but if loose tighten them up and try it.  You can take a cap off the plug and twist it clockwise till it's tight if it's loose without pulling the tank, there's a threaded post inside the coil terminal that it screws onto. 

I've had a bit of trouble with this on the 02 GS,  got hard starting last spring (06) when very damp and then the left cyl cut out a few miles from home one day in the rain.  Rode home and pulled the tank and discovered the loose spark wire in the coil.  I tighten it up and it was good till late fall, about 10k miles, when trouble started again.  The wire would not tighten so I cut about 1/2" off the coil end and screwed it in tight again and it was OK till spring dampness set in and it became hard starting again.

Got some diaelectric grease from AutoZone and put a coating on the end of the wire and a big dab on the end to go into the recess on the coil and tighten it back up.  Also coated the plug porcelins with the diaelectric grease.  Been like new again thru very damp conditions in garage and have ridden in heavy rain since a couple times.  Starts with a touch of the start button like a GS should.

I ordered a 6' length of proper plug wire from Dennis Kirk and when I pull the tank in the next month or so to do valves I will replace the wire I cut off and reapply a generous amount of diaelectric grease to the coil wire/wires and plugs.  Will do the other right side coil connection if it's loose but leave it alone if it's still tight like new.  Have 46k+ miles on the 02 GS now.

Never had this problem on the 97 GS which has been parked since last June with 80k miles on the clock.  I pulled the tank to check and found I could pull both plug wires straight out of the coils without unscrewing them.  They too had worked loose with time/miles and were on the brink of disaster.  I had parked it just in time!   

[kcsavage]

Alright,
-Drained the carbs
-Regapped both plugs (they were just slightly off)
-Sprayed starter fluid in the vacuum hose
-Did that twisting thing with the wires gsJack recommended
and........


It started....
Took a couple tries but it turned over--went for an hour long ride and it preformed good
Thanks a lot for the help guys!