Won't start, AGAIN

[FJRMGM]

you let your bike sit for 11 weeks, it won't start and you are surprised? Almost three months!!???

Hmmmmmmmm.

 

[weekend rider]

Wow a new color for the fjr and it is covered under the Calif. auto laws.

The color is yellow and is covered under the lemon laws

weekend rider

 

[Graham Downunder]

This must be a PIA for you but it is probably solvable ,

Your say your battery is fine , just check it for voltage with a meter,should be about 13volts , some electrical systems are sensitive to low voltage ,they crack a motor over but the computer system for some reason dose not like the low voltage .Another way to check it is to use jumper leads and bypass your battery completly . This is not an FJR problem that affect a number of bikes , but it is more common than you think with a lot of bikes Honda Goldwings ,BMW etc. The the fuel system is not turning "on" is indicated by you not smelling fuel,this is confirmed by you not getting any "bag " on any cyclinder .

The more I think about your problem the more it reminds me of other people over the years having similar problems that disapeared when they replaced the battery.

Like everything it is just a "guess" from a distance ( Australia ) but is based on experence.

Another thought that came to mind is you are a "victim " of what we had years ago,it was so bad in Sydney fuel pumps where hard to get , ( two fuel pumps for me ).It was not uncommon for my mechanic to be repairing TWO cars per day per mechanic ! To much Ethanol in the fuel , you see the seals in the fuel pumps (which is high pressure ) were not designed for ethanol and fail.They also sometimes before complete failure become weak so you may have got a "bad " load of fuel up to 5-10 tanks before then they fail, so your last tank is generally not at fault.

 

[TruWrecks]

If is pissing you off that bad call a dealer and have them look at it. If they can't fix it they can sell you a different brand of bike. Then you can moan and complain because your Honda or Suzuki isn't perfect either.

My 07 isn't as mechanically refined as my 04 Hayabusa was, but my Hayabusa had quirks about it that I noticed too. I had it over heat on a cold rainy night once. I asked the dealer to look at it. The thermostat was stuck closed. Wow! Image that. A Man-Made machine that isn't absolutely perfect and reliable.

O.K. I'm done being and ass. Call a dealer and ask them what they think. You might actually find a mechanic that knows what to look for.

 

[Bounce]

Thanks for all the help, but, as I said, the bike ran flawlessly when parked mid March. It's just an FJR problem, period.

i disagree. i don't see where this is inherent in the design. it's the long periods of inattention that seem different in your specific case. and, while i've left mine parked for extended periods too, there may be different climates or other conditions that make your situation different from mine. i always plug mine into a battery tender as i learned from years of Wing experience that turning over the bike don't mean squat if the battery voltage (under starter load) can't maintain 10v (or was it 10.5v?).

what has been done under warranty to resolve this on-going problem? are there lemon laws in your state?

it makes sense to sell a bike you're not happy with. but to stereotype the entire line for a single aberration seems overkill.

 

[racer]

Update. I have ordered a new battery and will install new plugs when the battery comes in.

I put a battery charger on the bike this weekend and it didn't change a thing. Cranks like crazy but doesn't do a thing.

If this doesn't start it, I'll borrow a trailer and take to the dealer. I have a M/C trip coming up in July. If its not running by then, I'll be on my trusty KLR.

I'll let you know the outcome.

 

[racer]

Okay, new battery in last night. Old battery showing 12.72 volts at rest. Bike failed to start again, but I did get a BIG back fire. So up comes the tank and I pulled the plugs. A couple were wet, but not real wet, and they look fouled but not real fouled.

So I will drop a new set in tonight. Any suggestions on which, NGK CR8E's or NGK CR8EK's?

 

[Randy]

Okay, new battery in last night. Old battery showing 12.72 volts at rest. Bike failed to start again, but I did get a BIG back fire. So up comes the tank and I pulled the plugs. A couple were wet, but not real wet, and they look fouled but not real fouled.
So I will drop a new set in tonight. Any suggestions on which, NGK CR8E's or NGK CR8EK's?

Never a problem here with CR8Es. Here's what the NGK site says about dual ground plugs (i.e. CR8EK):

Multi-ground

Some combustion chamber designs (such as a rotary motor) require that the spark plugs have the ground electrode placed to the side of the center electrode rather than below as on a traditional plug (see photo). This firing tip design tends to erode the tip of the ground electrode faster than a traditional plug, erosion at these points creates a larger gap between the center and ground electrodes causing plug misfire. Thus by having more ground electrodes you extend plug life. It is important to note that multi-ground does not mean multi-spark, there will still only be one spark at a time. Therefore a multi-ground plug will not perform any better and may actually perform worse than a traditional plug, unless the engine is designed for a multiple ground plug.

 

[FJRottie]

Your problem sounds like an ignition/plug problem to me since you mentioned your fuel pump is working and your battery seems fine.

Ionbeam covered it all already..adding my 2 cents.https://www.aa1car.com/library/us1296.htm

HERE is a link to engine starting problems if you care to read.

 

[racer]

With new spark plugs I got it to start up last night, but it didn't want to start easily as usual and didn't run right after it started. I'm going to start a new thread( Sick FJR) to describe what I am seeing. Thanks for looking. Racer

 

[Ijuggle]

My bike, an 04 and a friends bike, an 03, had the "no start" problem a couple of years ago. It was the valves/guides on both bikes. My bike was running great, I had just done a saddlesore 1000 and parked the bike for 2 weeks. It would not start. Similar story for the 03.

Pull the cover off of the air cleaner and turn the bike over. If air comes at you instead of being sucked into the motor, you have the same problem our bikes had.

I hope you have a different problem.

Jeff

 

[Bananas!]

Racer,

Yesterday, I experienced something similar to your situation.

Last week the wife and I took a thousand mile trip through the Carolina, Tenn, Ga area and then back home. After the trip, we cleaned up the bikes and

put them in the garage. Didn't ride the bike all week because of threatened rain in the forcast (sorry, but I don't ride in the rain when I have a warm dry

pickup to ride in). Yesterday I was going to take the bike to run an errand. Went into the garage, turned on the ignition and hit the starter. The bike

usually starts instantly, but not today. It turned and turned. Didn't sound right as it turned. I kept at it for about for about ten seconds. Finally one

cylinder began to catch and pop on each compression stroke with the help of the starter motor. After a few more seconds the rest of the cylinders caught

fire. When the motor was running on all cylinders, there was a disturbing racket coming from the right side of the motor as it idled. Couldn't discern if the

noise was mechanical or detonation. I let it continue to run. As the motor warmed up the noise began to wane. After a couple of minutes it was up to

operating temperature and all was mormal, noise gone. I rode the bike to the store and back and all was fine. I would start it periodacally during the day

with no issues. Seems to be okay, but this has me concerned.

Bananas!

 

[Bananas!]

Next day update,

Went out to garage this morning, eager to see if I would get a repeat performance of yesterday. The bike fired right up on all four, but disturbing noise on

right side still there. After bike warmed up the noise goes away.

Racer, did you notice any unusual noises coming from your engine after you got it running?

Bananas!

 

[Geezer]

Disutubing noise on right side is indicative of a problem with the cam chain tensioner. Hmmmm, I wonder if a bind in the cam chain tensioner is causing the intermittent hard start problem that a few folks are experiencing.