I have a 2003 650 Ls bobber. The bike ran well but now it wont turn over. you can hear the starter turning over and the bike on the verge of starting. I can give the bike some gas and it has a low rev but it just wont catch and turn over. battery is good and fuel lines are clean any help would be great thanks.

After battery re-charge,  


Question: what's the weather like??  If cold, is choke on?  

Don't touch throttle if choke is on,  it can cause it to start.  

the weather is cold for were I live on the gulf coast right now low 30 high around 60

alabama gulf of mexico

The carbs on these bikes don't have a accelerator pump, after siting a while, they tend to have a hard time starting. First see if you are getting a steady stream of fuel from the tank by turning the petcock to prime, and remove the fuel line, if you don't have fuel streaming from line, remove the petcock from tank, and clean the filter. If fuel flow is good, leave petcock on prime, hold bike firmly, lay it on its side for a couple of seconds, and raise, then try to start. Doing this will cause the carb to leak raw fuel into the intake, basicaly primeing it like a accelerator pump would. If you have read this far, and tried to re-engineer the whole bike, and it still won't start, how about putting some FRESH fuel in it. (After draining the old fuel, of course) I almost rambled on without direction,  , YOu mentioned the bike was running, but not how long it has been since. If recently, how about checking compression? Maybe its low for several reasons, one of which could be a stuck or unadjusted compression release soilenoid/cable. You mentioned you were southern U.S. If coastal is what you ment, corosion is something you'll have to constantly monitor. If all is well, and no obvious problem, then it was and act of a higher power that keeps the bike from starting, saving you from untimely demise, for which you should be gratefull, not question, and give up motorcycle riding for life, and become a monk.  Personaly, if that was the case, I'd choose to get it running, and die in a firey, front page news, atom bomb size, written down in history, bike wreck!

thump wrote on 01/26/08 at 08:35:59:


Wonderful! There was one sparkplug sugesstion, and one for fresh fuel, and done together,  you're thumping the pavement again. I love stories with a happy ending.