Bike won't start

The CCM, that is.

It's been in the garage, unused, for about a month. It turns over, but
doesn't fire into life.

Where should I start looking then?

It was always reluctant to start if I left it for a few days but nothing a
bit of choke wouldn't cure.

And yes, there is petrol in it ...

 

Is it turning over in a normal fashion or is a bit slow?

 

<snip>

<fx: files in "Champ's nuggets of info" folder/>

 

I had a KLR600 that used to get lazy about starting after 2 weeks parked
up. FOund that if I drained the float bowl of petrol and let it refill
from the tank it would start straight off.

HTH?



--
Steve Parry
K100RS SE & F650
and a 520i SE Touring for comfort


(not forgetting the SK90PY)

http://www.gwynfryn.co.uk

 

Well, it did turn over in a normal fashion, until I drained the battery by
using the started. Back on the optimate now, though

 

But how old is it? If it's been in the bike for some time then it
might make it harder to start. See if you can drain what was in the
carbs and refill from the tank, or drain the tank into something else,
throw in a little fresh and try again.

The old petrol mightbe useable if you dilute fresh with it (I'm
guessing there though), or you can use it to deter early carollers.

 

Ha! Once the fuel tank is off, yes (which means taking the side panels and
seat off - taking the seat of means taking off the rear side panels... grr)

See other reply, it did turn over just fine, but obviously after several
attempts the battery's a bit tired - now being recharged.

Cheers

 

A Honda.

 

There was a tiny bit in, about 6 weeks old, and I've just filled up with
some freshly brewed stuff

 

Cheers, will have a go. I didn't turn the fuel tap to "off", as per manual,
and am thinking that maybe I should have done.

 

Daz wrote

Snot wholly right though. If everything else is more or less right it
needs only a tiny little spark to set it all off. A weak spark[1] only
becomes an issue really when other stuff like poor compression and
wrong/missing mixture are major contributors.




[1] Caused by lowish battery rather than a failure of the electrics.

 

Champ wrote

Neither have I.

In fact I am not sure I have ever seen any evidence of it either and I
have started a few old motors on god knows what has been evolving in the
tank in my day.

Doesn't mean it doesn't happen though.

 

Champ wrote:
Despite many and divers claims about this, I've

How about:
Petrol contains hundreds of different hydrocarbons
Some are more volatile than others
The volatile ones evaporate off first
leaving a fuel which is less flamable?

--
Nick Brooks

2001 SV650
2005 GN125 ('till test passed)
1960 SWB SII Landrover
1974 Mercedes Hanomag Camper Van
1997 Golf VR6
Combined vehicle age 88

 

I'll give you 250 quid for it.

No offers.

 

I've mentioned many times that my version of "laying the bike up"
over winter is to park it, leave it and start it up again when I fancy
the first ride of the new year.

Usually there'll be half a tank of gas or so that will have been in
there for anything up to three months, longer in some years.

I've never had a problem with the bike starting due to trying to
use "old" petrol.

Still, I probably wouldn't notice much difference if it was firing
on three cylinders for the first 20 miles or so after a few months
of not riding.

 

Similar to when I had the RD 250 except for the 3rd cylinder bit,
obviously.


--

jeremy
'01 Triumph Sprint ST in green
_______________________________________
jeremy0505 at gmail.com

 

I checked this one out with my industrial chemist S_I_L a couple of
years back. I thought it was a load of bollocks and she pretty much
agreed. The volatile stuff is nearly all the same single compound, so
only if you get near-complete evaporation would there remain something
sludge-like that wouldn't go bang.

--
_______
..'_/_|_\_'. Ace (brucedotrogers a.t rochedotcom)
\`\ | /`/ GSX-R1000K3
`\\ | //' BOTAFOT#3, SbS#2, UKRMMA#13, DFV#8, SKA#2
`\|/`
`

 

Ah - probably not that then.

 

My Tiger does the same thing, although it doesn't take 2 weeks. I make
a point of turning the petrol off on the way home now, then let it
tickover in the garage til it dies - sorted.


--
Krusty.

http://www.muddystuff.co.uk
http://www.muddystuff.us
Off-road classifieds

'02 MV Senna '96 Tiger '79 Fantic 250

 

From what I understand, the volatile components gradually evaporate
off, lowering the octane of the fuel. Some engines are more
susceptible than others as some can cope with it. I did hear that
optimax etc can lose their higher octane in a couple of weeks (but
there is no scientific proof for that). Whether that is "it takes a
couple of weeks to get down to normal petrol levels" or all the way to
unusable is also not clear.

I belive the general premise to be true as when I was with Owen and
Marina a few years ago, Owen was in the final stages of fettling a
bike. Said machine had stood for a few months without being run. He'd
tried everything to get it going - new plugs etc - all the points from
your list at least. The plugs weren't wet, it wasn't flooding the
engine and there was a spark.

We tried changing the fuel, draining the tank into bottles and then
filling with fresh stuff. Once the new petrol had got through the
system the bike started. It was the only thing changed and it made a
non-working bike work.

You can imagine the fun we had getting rid of the old stuff, but then
again any activity that has a description containing "petrol" and
"Owen" is sure to be fun.