I've been working on my bike for about 5 months now and it hasn't been started in that time. I put it all back together today and tried to start it. When I turned the ignition key to 'on' none of the lidiot lights or turn signals would light and the bike wouldn't start. This has got to be a dead battery, right?
No it does not have to be a dead battery. You could have forgotten a ground connecton or such. Easy to check. Get a 12V test light or make one and see if the battery has "surface voltage". If the light is bright and stays lit over a minute or so, then just give it a good charge with a Tender or such and check your wiring for main fuse or starter ground and such. Make sure teh engine will turn over before re-trying that charged battery.
prs
I'd say unless the battery's been on a tender, it's dead. Try to recharge it. A battery loses a small percentage of it's charge everyday if it's not being charged. So yeah, after 150 days it's dead.
You could try a boost from a car battery.
Quote from: tripleb on April 04, 2009, 07:02:34 PM
I've been working on my bike for about 5 months now and it hasn't been started in that time. I put it all back together today and tried to start it. When I turned the ignition key to 'on' none of the lidiot lights or turn signals would light and the bike wouldn't start. This has got to be a dead battery, right?
Do the lights turn on and does the starter turn over the motor, but it just won't start? The battery may need a charge after 5 months of sitting.
no, nothing works. no lights, no cranking, nothing.
I bought some distilled water and a trickle charger today and I'm going to try to charge it. It looks like it doesn't have any liquid in it, so that may explain why it's dead.
I charged the battery after filling it with distilled water and hooked it up to the bike. All the electrical systems seem to work fine, but it won't turn over. It cranks like it wants to start, but just can't turn. I've check and the fuel is getting to the carbs because I've drained fuel from both bowls and tried running it on both 'on' and 'res'. I've just changed the mains to 140 after installing a lunchbox and I think I reinstalled the carbs into the intakes correctly, but they don't both go "all the way in". They both will go in about to the last ridge but stop there.
Any ideas on what oculd be wrong? I think either I didn't push the carbs into the intakes enough or the fuel/air ratio is off because I haven't been able to start it to adjust the air screw yet, but I'm not sure.
I suspect your battery has gone to battery heaven :angel:
The reading across the battery terminals may read somewhere in the 12v range but your plates may have sulfated excessively and can't produce the amps required to power the starter. Try to get a jump start to get her started. If she fires up, fairly safe to say, get a battery. How old is the battery now?
It will crank but won't turn and I tried jump-starting it and it will run for about 2 seconds and die. The bike reeks of gasoline so I think it may be way rich or something...or I flooded it. BTW, there's no clicking or anything. Just the cranking.
I may take it to wal-mart tomorrow to get it tested. Hopefully, it will work or else I'll have to throw down $33 for a new one.
Will a problem with the fuel mixture cause the bike to not start as long as fuel is flowing to the carbs? Do I need to adjust the mixture screw and try again or is it most likely a weak/dead battery?
The thing with the battery is that I can't bump start it either so I have doubts if that is the issue. this is incredibly frustrating after working so hard to get it back together and installing all the new parts. thanks for any help you guys can provide.
Quote from: tripleb on April 07, 2009, 08:54:21 AM
Will a problem with the fuel mixture cause the bike to not start as long as fuel is flowing to the carbs? Do I need to adjust the mixture screw and try again or is it most likely a weak/dead battery?
The thing with the battery is that I can't bump start it either so I have doubts if that is the issue. this is incredibly frustrating after working so hard to get it back together and installing all the new parts. thanks for any help you guys can provide.
Yes incorrect fuel mix will cause it to not start. In fact I tune everything with a near about dead battery. The thing has to start in 2 tries, if not, its going to get worked on till it does. So fuel flow is only 1/2 the story. Metered atomised fuel fed @ about the right time is needed.
Cool.
Buddha.
How old is the gas? How long has it been sitting in the float bowls? Varnish?
Lawman - he just bought main jets from me ... I still contend that the 140's he got, along with the K&N filter with stock pipe = bad idea ... but I'd guess he got new gas in it. The wrong jetting will not come into play till 1/2 throttle under heavy load.
Cool.
Buddha.
yeah, I put a little old gas in it but then filled it up with fresh stuff. if the battery turns out to be fine, what is my next step? adjusting the mixture screw? right now I've got it at whatever buddha left it at.
Aaaah yea, the old put some old gas in and fill with new gas cos old gas is like concentrate, it boosts octane from being concentrated octane right ...
Sorry, old gas dont do that.
Cool.
Buddha.
Quote from: The Buddha on April 07, 2009, 01:13:51 PM
Aaaah yea, the old put some old gas in and fill with new gas cos old gas is like concentrate, it boosts octane from being concentrated octane right ...
Sorry, old gas dont do that.
Cool.
Buddha.
:o
What?
Do people actually do that?
tripleb - gas turns into varnish. Literally, lacquer. you have to replace it.
You put new gas in, get it running, and if you're really in a mood to use the old gas, put a tiny bit in a little at a time to burn it away.
A battery that goes dead in 150 days to the point it won't even light the bulbs is a sign the battery is shot. I wouldn't expect it to crank the bike after that long, but it should have a little juice left in it. You should have taken the battery inside over the winter and charged it a couple times, or kept a tender on it. Since you didn't, it's sulfate city in battery land. ATLrider is absolutely right.
Stop torturing yourself and get a new battery, then tackle your carb issues.
And why didn't you listen to Buddha? Until you get pipes and a lunchbox, it going to run like shiite once you get to the mid-range. I guess you can putt around until you save another $350.
I couldn't deal with the stock airbox anymore so I bought a lunchbox. The exhaust is next once I scrape some $$ together. Some people on the board say they have the lunchbox with stock exhaust and it runs ok. I'm going to pick up a new battery tomorrow so hopefully that will work.
tripleb, I can't recommend a V&H system enough. $271 delivered from bikebandit. Your lunchbox won't help you until you open up the pipes some. Yes, it will run OK with the stock exhaust, lunchbox, and stock jets as the stock pipes will prevent the lunchbox from letting any more air in, but you went to big jets already. It'll be too rich until you spring for pipes. Intake, jets, heads, and exhaust all work together, limited by the most restrictive part, and the stock intake and pipes are the most restrictive. Once you richen it up like you did, you have to lean it back out by increasing air flow through the engine.
People see my bike and hear it all the time and they say, "THAT'S A 500??" And I can't tell you how progressively smooth the powerband is. Power everywhere above 3,500 rpms. The pipes are perfectly calibrated to the engine, and I have a K&N drop-in filter in the stock air box! I think the pipes make a bigger difference than ditching the plastic box but I can't prove it. Not that I think the pipes add a lot of power. They don't, but they do sound great and eliminate the 5,000-6000 rpm flat spot of the 33mm carbs that I have. The only evidence I can offer is Anne's dyno run that's posted on this site. It was a single run, no messaging, and look how nice her power curve is and she has the stock air box. As far as I can tell I have the same set-up she has.
I don't know for sure what size jets I have. I bought the bike with stock headers and a Cobra F1 slip-on. If the bike wasn't re-jetted it would have lousy throttle response and I would have to leave the choke on a little all the time, and I don't. Besides, take one look at my bike and I know the previous owners visited this website often. All but the most knowledgeable motorheads think my bike is a "rocket bike" or "crotch rocket".
I agree with what you have said. I know it won't be optimal until I get an aftermarket exhaust.
Hopefully, in the next few months I can find a Yosh can on ebay for around $100. I like the deeper sound of the Yosh than the V&H, although I know they're both good.
that battery is definitely dead, if it's completely dead and empty for that long and you fill it with distilled water you're going to dilute the acid to a point where it can't hold enough amps to run your bike. it's the battery, get a new one.
im not sure if you know or not but your not suppost to top off your battery until its fully charged.
I did not know that. S***, that may explain why it wont hold a charge.
I bought a new battery yesterday, prepped it and tried to start her up late last night. She is trying to turn so bad, but just won't start. I can't figure it out.
Look at your plugs. It will tell you if you're getting gas or not. If they're wet, it's a plug, ignition, or timing problem. If they're dry, no gas. Start it on PRI so you know the petcock isn't holding back the fuel. You can verify enough fuel delivery to start the bike by opening the float bowl screws to see if gas comes out.
I assume your bike ran before you took the carbs apart. If so, check the carbs again and put the stock jets back in while you save for pipes. Leaving 140's in with stock pipes = bad idea, like Buddha told you.
Then again, you could have an ignition or timing problem and you tackled the carbs by mistake. It seems a lot of that goes on here. Ignition problems are more common, like bad electrical connections, bad plugs or plug wires, bad ignition coils, bad pickup coils, or your ignition control module took a crap. Timing issues happen after lots of wear and/or severe beatings, so their existence tends to be obvious because something's broken, like the cam chain!
Quote from: tripleb on April 09, 2009, 05:55:07 AM
I bought a new battery yesterday, prepped it and tried to start her up late last night. She is trying to turn so bad, but just won't start. I can't figure it out.
I'm kinda unclear when you say it cranks but wont "turn" and is trying to "turn" but won't start. By "turn" I assume you mean "run" or "start" right?
well, the starting issue is not a problem anymore as I prayed extra hard today and cranked her up AND SHE STARTED!!! So I changed her oil and filter and cranked her up again. She is running at a really high idle, about 5K rpm with no choke. So I tried adjusting the idle screw and it didn't seem to make much of a difference. I think I 1) ran the throttle cable too tight when I reinstalled it or 2) the 140 main is causing the high hanging idle. I'm not sure what it else it could be though. any ideas?
Thanks for all you guys' help so far!!
does it go up or down when turning the hbars left and right?
I think either your choke or throttle cables a too tight. Main jet isn't the issue.
Edit: second thought, probably throttle cable cause I've never seen my idle go to 5k with full choke.
Quote from: ATLRIDER on April 11, 2009, 04:25:40 PM
I think either your choke or throttle cables a too tight. Main jet isn't the issue.
Edit: second thought, probably throttle cable cause I've never seen my idle go to 5k with full choke.
You can actually get your idle up higher on partial choke than you can on full choke... I agree that you should double check cable tension and routing. Also, if the throttle cable is stuck, the idle screw won't do anything past a certain point. You should be able to drop the idle so low they bike stalls with the idle screw even with some other mixture problem because the idle screw directly controls the butterfly valves. If the butterfly valves close all the way, no more air goes into your carbs and the bike stalls out. Also, when you take the tank off to look at it, you should notice that the bar connecting the butterfly valves isn't touching the idle screw when the throttle is off. This is a sure sign your cable is too tight.
I'm intrigued about the partial choke thing. I've got something to tinker with now. ;)
I do remember that when I redid the jets I saw that the butterfly valves bar did not touch the idle screw so I guess I do have the throttle too tight.
I dug back through the carbs this afternoon and reinstalled the throttle cable and now she runs like normal. It's amazing what properly installing things can do :thumb:
apparently, the carbs have 2 throttle cable installation positions and I installed it on the wrong one making it about .5 cm too tight which caused the 5k idle.
Thanks to all your help guys!! Here's some pics of me on the bike afterwards giving it a quick run around the block. I think I look huge on it.
(http://pktdo.com/GS500/IMG_1704.JPG) (http://pktdo.com/GS500/IMG_1707.JPG)
Awesome :woohoo:
John Wayne looked big on his horse too...
Were you out on Avalon rd today. A gs turned out in front of me but I could not catch up to many slow cages! I may be up to a leisure ride this weekend if you're game. Oh, that road I told you about they friggen' closed it. I will rant more about that on another thread though. Glad all is running well!
Mary
Quote from: sachsaca on April 23, 2009, 01:57:32 PM
John Wayne looked big on his horse too...
:icon_lol: :icon_lol: :icon_lol:
no, it wasn't me Mary. I have only been out on my bike for about 30 minutes on Monday this week. I am looking forward to riding it to work tomorrow though :D :D :D
I can't ride this weekend as I'll be picking up some fencing down in SoFlo. Maybe sometime in late May or June.
So glad you finally got that bee-yotch running! :cheers: I'd be going ape-shiite if I lived in Fla and didn't have a running bike for 5 months. That just would not do!
Yeah, you do look pretty big on it. I wish I were tall.
If I understand, the extent of your problem was the need for a battery, then you cleaned the carbs and put the throttle cable on wrong. It all makes sense now. Your throttle was stuck open and of course it won't want to start if the throttle is open too much.
More evidence of how reliable the GS really is, as long as you put it back together right!
I did a similar thing once and got hurt. I rebuilt the carb on my first bike when I was a teenager. I failed to line-up the pin in the slide with the groove in the body. I couldn't start it because the slide was all the way at the top, but I didn't know it. I got mad and took the bike down to the corner restaurant where they had a big parking lot. I ran with the bike and popped it in second. Well, the bike stood straight up and screamed across the parking lot on a wheelie, dragging me along as I hadn't gotten both legs over it. I crashed into a hedgerow wheels first at the end of the lot and tore half the skin off my left hand on the pavement, preserving the bike. As I was being dragged I realized the slide was stuck at the top. At that point in time the bike was more valuable to me than my hide. 5 minutes after I got home from the emergency room I had the bike purring nicely. My mother thought I was crazy. Perhaps she was right!
Quote from: tripleb on April 11, 2009, 08:18:56 PM
I do remember that when I redid the jets I saw that the butterfly valves bar did not touch the idle screw so I guess I do have the throttle too tight.
Oh yea ... I saw one ... first time ever ... the carbs were off the bike and the idle scew didn't touch the throttle stop tang ...
No cables were even on the thing ... any one guess why ...
Oh yea, some genius pulled the butterflies and installed 1 upside down.
Heard of Upside down front end right ... dont know why upside down carburetor isn't done more often.
Cool.
Buddha.