Bike wont start :(

[RoastRider]

This is officially a problem. It has been in the 40's and 30's here lately and the bike has had a hard starting up. I have to start it with the choke pulled and let it run for 15 minutes or so.

Today it is in the 50's and the bike wont start at all. The engine turns over put even with the choke it just will not start. What things can I do\check to get this going?

[luisr320]

When it gets really cold, sometimes the battery doesn't put out as much juice as necessary for engine startup, especially if it is an old battery.
Try using your car battery to boost the starting power. Connect the + with the + and the - with the - of both batteries.

[kacealraid]

A battery makes sense in this situation. I would try a charged battery and see if that fixes your issue.

[seanie]

Motorcycle batteries aren't well known for their cold cranking amps. How long of rides have you been taking when your bike is harder to start? If you're cranking on your starter then only go for a quick ride around the block or around town, you're actually hurting your battery more.

[RoastRider]

The battery is fully charged. I tried to fire her up again and it turns over but will not start. When I try to roll start it I get a very quiet "putt" and thats it. I am pretty much at wits end. As a new rider I didn't want problems like these right away. If it continues I will unfortunately have to sell then bike.

[kacealraid]

Hmmm... Any chance fuel isn't getting into the carb like it's supposed to? If you're push starting and it still doesn't engage, that sounds to me like it's having fuel issues. Just a guess, though.

Call me nuts, did you check your petcock to make sure it's not in the "off" position, I've made mistakes like that before.

[RoastRider]

It simply will not behave the same way all of the time. I got it to fire up for maybe 2 or 3 seconds yesterday during a roll start. Every other time (about 15) it would just seize up while releasing the clutch.

Today when trying to start the bike normally I did smell gas. Yes, the petcock is in the correct position.

[rmedad]

If you're smelling gas I'm thinking maybe you flooded it - too much choke.

The 83 VT750 I had was tempermental using the choke and flooded easily. I ended up usually pushing the starter button first and after a couple of revolutions I eased on the choke (enricher) and it usually fired up. I worked the throttle judiciously as it didn't like a lot of throttle at first.

The other thing (as others have mentioned) was anything less than full up battery and mine was even more difficult to start.

Good luck - understand how dang frustrating it is not knowing if your ride is going to fire up or not every morning!

[kacealraid]

I flooded my old Rebel once, had to let it sit for a day and dry up a little (at least that's what my mechanic buddy said to do). It worked out after that, had to make sure I didn't crank on the throttle much until she could idle without help.

[jpr1968]

Pulled the sparkplugs and check their condition.