Bike won't start, please help

remove the plug. put plug wire on plug.make sure the metal part of the plug is grounded(touching the metal of the motor).now turn the motor over with egnition on.there should be a spark jumping acoss the gap from the center electrode of the plug to the curved ground electrode of the plug. turn the lights out if u must. but it should be obvious.

EasyRider1 wrote:

Am I loooking for a spark from the plug to the bike or just the tip of the plug?

If you hold the plug body grounded to the engine, the spark will be at the plug tip air gap.

I hope that when you jumped it you did that from a jump battery and not from a running vehicle.

Locozuna wrote:

I hope that when you jumped it you did that from a jump battery and not from a running vehicle.

Not a running vehicle no.

Well guys, I removed the carbs, cleaned them, replaced them. I also checked the spark plugs and yes I'm getting spark in all four. Could this all be from a dead battery? Maybe I will have that checked out. I'm running out of ideas here, any more thoughts?

Post edited by: EasyRider1, at: 2008/03/06 20:17

A bad battery can prevent a bike from starting. Since I've owned my bike I have had a couple experiences like that when the battery was on its last leg. Try fully charging the battery, dry the plugs (a propane touch works well followed by a wire brush), and then give 'er a try. You may want to kick start it with the freshly charged battery in place; that way you don't have the starter and plugs competing for current. Ed

Alright guys, you are not going to believe what it was. A friggin' pinched battery vent hose!!!:evil: :sick: :whistle:

I pulled the battery getting ready to replace it when the hose came loose, there was this really powereful hiss sound. I looked at the vent hose and it was pinched tight. I put the old battery back on and jumped it off and she started right up. I couldn't believe it!

Then it wouldn't idle right again(just like the other day). I was thinking I was back a square one. I took around the block and it ran really rough and kept going dead. I got back to the house and straightened out the vent hose going all the way down, it wasn't pinched anywhere else, it was just loose in there. Once I did this, the bike seemed to run just right again. How can a battery vent hose caust this much trouble?

It's frustrating to spend hours working on other parts of the bike when it turns out to be something stupid like this. I suppose I will think of it as a learning experience since I now know how to check each system to find a problem. Thanks again for all your help.