Hello all,

I am hoping some ones advice can help me through this.

I winterized the bike for storage, but I am having some challenges starting it now.

When stored I did the following:
Top up tank and add Sta-bil
Ran engine for 5-8 minutes to get fuel/stabilizer mix into the carbs (did not drain carbs)
Pulled plugs and added oil to the cylinders
Pull battery
Lift front end tire.

I have now:
Installed the battery
checked electrics
checked spark/compression (both good)
Tried starting with petcock on prime (starter turns/battery is strong)

I can smell some unburnt fuel, but I am wondering if the carbs are gummed up?
Is there anything that can be done without pulling them off?  Aerosol Carb cleaner into the carbports?
Drain and pull the float bowl and clean them from there?

This is my first winter storage season and I am hoping to learn from my mistakes here.
Thanks,
CliffHanger

Yes, IMHO your carbs are probably gummed up, there's a lot of posts about carb cleaning around
Next time you plan to leave your bike stored for a while, remember to drain your carb bowls.
I did it last October before storage, and when I restarted the engine a few days ago it fired up almost immediately.
Sorry I can't give you more help, I've never been working around carbs

Good luck

Quote from: simon79 on March 08, 2009, 08:18:18 AM
Yes, IMHO your carbs are probably gummed up, there's a lot of posts about carb cleaning around
Next time you plan to leave your bike stored for a while, remember to drain your carb bowls.

I would agree. Clean out your float bowls and I bet she'll fire right up.

Clean out the pilot jet passages in the carb body, that is where the gas gets gummed up.

I don't advise shooting carb cleaner into carbs as it affects (deteriorates) rubber parts.

So no change of an easy fix without pulling the carbs?
I was planning on switching the airbox to a K&N box... will I have to rejet if I keep the stock exhaust?

I hate the stock box.  Removal and installation is a PITA.

Thanks for all the advice,
CliffHanger

if you are going to the k&n lunchbox then yes you will have to rejet even with the stock exhaust as there is going to be too much oxygen in your fuel/oxygen balance because the lunchbox lets ALOT more air in and you will end up running lean.

Quote from: CliffHanger on March 08, 2009, 03:01:34 PM
So no change of an easy fix without pulling the carbs?
I was planning on switching the airbox to a K&N box... will I have to rejet if I keep the stock exhaust?

I hate the stock box.  Removal and installation is a PITA.

Thanks for all the advice,
CliffHanger

someone up thar ^^ mentioned draining the bowls, replacing them, setting on PRIME, then starting. i'd go that route. mine only sits for a week or so when it's really cold, so i haven't 'the long term problems like northerners.

stabile in the tank, 5-10 minutes to run should be enough.

yes, they are correct in telling you to SPRAY NOTHING (ESPECIALLY CARB CLEANER) in your carbs. the rubber seals don't like carb cleaners.

is your spark BRIGHT BLUE or dim yellow ? are your plugs oil fouled ? are you standing on the left side of the bike while thumbing the starter ? do you always mount her from the left ?

(these things are important, but most important, what color is the machine ?)

I vote it's the oil you poured in the cylinders making it hard to start by fouling the plugs.  No need to do that just for the winter by the way.  Oil soaked plugs won't work.  Take the plugs out and spray them with carb cleaner, dry them off, and put them back in, or just put new ones in.  I assume you're used to the bike.  Keep it on PRI, set the choke in the appropriate position for the temperature, and keep cranking.  It'll start.  You treated the gas and let it run before storage.  No way the carbs are gummy.

^^ Agree with bill

Mine sat for more than 6 months w/ no prep, and started after only a few seconds of cranking. Plus you smell unburnt fuel.

I would clean off or replace the plugs (they're like two bucks each yeah?) and try again. Another trick is to put a few drops of fuel into your airbox, sometimes it'll give it enough fuel to run for a few seconds and by that time the vacuum is enough to suck through the jets. But I'd check the plugs first.

Also are you sure no one has made a home in you airbox over winter?

^^ That's what happened to my Dad's Toyota pickup several years ago.  Squirrels built a nest in his airbox, and when he started it and turned on the blower, it made a PHLUB-UB-UB-UB-LATTT kinda sound!  Do I need to describe the mess all over the dash?

 
Bloody hell

I would start by pulling and cleaning the plugs.  Make sure you have a fat blue spark.  Then connect a tube to the carb drains and run some fuel through on prime.  Then try a few times to start it.  It may start, and run like ass.  If so, you're cleaning your carbs.  If it won't start, you're cleaning your carbs.  I would do this in this order because you're smelling unburnt fuel, which means something is getting to the chambers, but it may not be all fuel - what's in the float bowls may have settled, so you may have a mix of chemicals, water, stabil, and a little gas that just won't burn.  Run some through the carbs and you may get a better mix.

I predict you'll be cleaning your carbs.  Stabil makes the gas more stabil, not immutable.  From now on, if your bike is going to sit for a week or more, drain the bowls no matter what.  When in doubt, drain the bowls.  In fact, on my CM400 I drained the bowls, disconnected the tank from the carbs, and hit the starter past the point where there's no gas in the bowls to try to make sure the air pulled through the jets gets the jets totally clear.

^^Bill

To be clear I only added about a teaspoon of oil, through the spark plug hole, to keep the cylinders lubed.
I had read that somewhere as a recommendation for storing a bike.

Anyways, I checked the plugs and they are sparking pretty good.  No problem there, but I'll recheck.
Thanks for the help,
Cliff

Add oil in plug holes if you're storing it for years.  For a few months it's not needed, and a teaspoon in each cylinder is enough to pollute the mixture and make it hard to start.  Sta-bil will prevent gasoline breakdown for 2 years.  My carbs gummed-up once over the winter.  That was 1989.  Since I started using Sta-bil it never happened again.

Use full choke and keep cranking.  I don't think you have a real problem.

Just to provide some closure to everyone who provided advice...

I got the bike running today after recovering from a cold.
I pulled the plugs and inspected them... they were fine.
I drained the carbs and re-primed them. (I used the drain screw and a short hose.)

And the bike started on the first push of the starter!

So, I believe the problem was the carbs...

Thanks for all the advice,
CliffHanger

Quote from: CliffHanger on March 16, 2009, 05:25:30 PM
Just to provide some closure to everyone who provided advice...

I got the bike running today after recovering from a cold.
I pulled the plugs and inspected them... they were fine.
I drained the carbs and re-primed them. (I used the drain screw and a short hose.)

And the bike started on the first push of the starter!

So, I believe the problem was the carbs...

Thanks for all the advice,
CliffHanger

Bad Gas.