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General Category >> Rubber Side Down! >> Gremlin's gone. My turn. Won'tstart.
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Message started by Greg on 11/03/12 at 07:48:25

Title: Gremlin's gone. My turn. Won'tstart.
Post by Greg on 11/03/12 at 07:48:25

Shut it off a week ago. Covered it for the storm. Turns over. Has spark. Replaced plug while I was in there. Drained bowl. Shoot ether in the air box. It tried to fire once. What's the next step?

Title: Re: My turn. Won'tstart.
Post by Trippah on 11/03/12 at 07:51:11

I'd go back a step and try it with the old plug should you still have it..new is not always good.
Good luck chasing the gremlins. :-/

Title: Re: Gremlin's gone. My turn. Won'tstart.
Post by Greg on 11/03/12 at 08:23:51

I don't know. I let the battery charge for a short while and it fired up. I am going for a ride to make sure it is okay. Can these things flood? There is no accelerator pump, right?

Title: Re: Gremlin's gone. My turn. Won'tstart.
Post by verslagen1 on 11/03/12 at 08:31:19

probably just a low battery
how old is it?

no pump, any flooding that might occur would either be from over rich jetting or extended cranking on choke.

Title: Re: Gremlin's gone. My turn. Won'tstart.
Post by Greg on 11/03/12 at 08:51:39

It turned over fine. For quite a while. Just like many people, I said 'it'll start if I keep crankin' it'. Well, then the battery got low. I don't know how old the battery is. Probably the original from 2002. I will get a new one just to be safe. It was probably flooded due to extended cranking while the choke was on full. I don't typically need that but figured with the cooler weather I did. After removing the plug and air filter and waiting for the battery to charge, it probably just dried up. Funny thing though is it happened last night and didn't dry out before this morning. Hmm.

Title: Re: Gremlin's gone. My turn. Won'tstart.
Post by justin_o_guy2 on 11/03/12 at 09:52:30

ONce its failed to start , then yea, get the battery up, get that thing all the way charged up. If you dont usually need the choke, dont choke it, if you need to choke it, youll know, when it doesnt start like it usually does. Then , 1/2 choke, If it wont crank within a few seconds, stop,try full choke, but just cranking & cranking isnt the answer,
If I want to make absolutely certain mine wont start, all I gotta do is twist the gas, if its not at dead idle, its not startin cold,

Title: Re: Gremlin's gone. My turn. Won'tstart.
Post by Cavi Mike on 11/03/12 at 09:58:15

Leave the charger connected right to it while you're working on it - don't wait for the battery to die. Why?

Reason #1)
Draining batteries shortens their life span. Only deep-cycle batteries are designed to be drained and then recharged like a NiCad. Normal lead-acid batteries develop very small short-circuits between the lead plates and this lowers their amperage output and the amount of charge it holds. Basically it slowly turns into a smaller battery until it's too small to start your bike.

Reason #2)
The lower the voltage your battery is, the more current the starter draws. Voltage isn't what kills things - current kills things. This added current running through your ever-slowing starter will cause it to heat up more and wears the brushes and commutator more or eventually the glue that holds the magnets inside melts and the magnets fall into the starter rendering it useless. This happened recently to someone on here. Starters are designed to crank for short bursts - 10/15 seconds tops - and those short bursts should be at full battery voltage. A voltage high enough to make sure its internal impedance(resistance) is high enough so it can displace all of that energy.

Reason #3)
Sometimes a slow-turning engine leaks down too much of its compression to start anyways. That slow turning motor just won't start even if it is tuned properly.

Keep that battery charged and keep that starter spinning fast - there are no benefits to it spinning slowly - only negatives.

Title: Re: Gremlin's gone. My turn. Won'tstart.
Post by Greg on 11/03/12 at 14:46:33

Thanks for all the info. I will get a new battery and keep it charged.

Title: Re: Gremlin's gone. My turn. Won'tstart.
Post by Greg on 11/03/12 at 14:50:56

It became ornery again after sitting a couple of hours. No choke and had to hold WOT to start. I think my low speed jet may be too big and it's running rich. (which is that, main or pilot?) I didn't notice any issues in the summer but now I smell fuel as well.

Title: Re: Gremlin's gone. My turn. Won'tstart.
Post by justin_o_guy2 on 11/03/12 at 16:05:13

If youre gonna have a battery in your hands, now is a good time to hunt up a 2 wire connector that will only connect one way & put one end on the battery & the other on a float charger.

Title: Re: Gremlin's gone. My turn. Won'tstart.
Post by Greg on 11/03/12 at 21:26:28

4F5056514C4B7A4A7A42505C17250 wrote:

If youre gonna have a battery in your hands, now is a good time to hunt up a 2 wire connector that will only connect one way & put one end on the battery & the other on a float charger.

I have a 12v outlet. My charger/tender has a 12v plug. Easy as pie!

Title: Re: Gremlin's gone. My turn. Won'tstart.
Post by justin_o_guy2 on 11/04/12 at 01:05:36

Yea, that sounds like a good installation,