• There has been a recent cluster of spammers accessing BARFer accounts and posting spam. To safeguard your account, please consider changing your password. It would be even better to take the additional step of enabling 2 Factor Authentication (2FA) on your BARF account. Read more here.

Help!! Bike won't start!!

sfdj_tim

sfdj_tim

New member
Joined
Jul 5, 2007
Location
San Jose
Moto(s)
'07 ZX6R, '12 ZX10R, '02 CR250R
So last Thursday I got caught out in the rain. I got home (drenched) and I locked and covered my bike, as usual. This storm system lasted a week and I was sick the whole time. Today I ventured outside for the first time since I got home that day. I got out my cleaning supplies and went to town. Afterwards, I decided to start it up and it wouldn't fire. It turns over with no problems, the battery is fine, but it doesn't seem to want to fire. I didn't use a water hose and the 45 minutes I rode in the rain last week didn't seem to bother it one bit. After trying to crank it for a good 45 minutes the battery started to get a bit weak. When I pulled it out I noticed the battery tray was a little wet. I charged the battery and tried again but same as before, it won't fire. It seems like I'm not getting a spark from the plugs. Could it be the coil on each one? Any suggestions? This sucks.

'07 zx6r, stock motor and exhaust
 
I suspect condensation that might short out sensitive sensor wires. Leaving the bike open to air out would dry it out. Using a blower (Air compressor or leaf blower) can speed things along.
Water in the gas tank another possibility. Water drops sink to the bottom get sucked up by the fuel pump. Are in the lines to the fuel injectors. Just a little water can run through the system without tearing stuff apart.
All those attempts at starting can foul the plugs. Open the throttle wide open for a few start tries then let sit for twenty minutes. The gas fouled plugs will have time to evaporate the gas off. Attempt to start normally afterwards.

Not starting is spark, fuel and in the case of the Zx6r one of a hundred sensors :D If you can smell raw gas from the pipe, can eliminate fuel causes.
 
No way to pin point the fault from here in the peanut gallery.

The problem should dry out soon and the bike should start up again. Charge up the battery and park it outside in the sun today and hopefully that might help.

When washing bikes aside from not excessively hosing down the electrics also avoid high pressure water streams directed at the chain or other bearing areas where you want to keep things lubricated.
 
Ok, so I left my bike out uncovered last night (yes, I used a lock) to see if any excess moisture would evaporate in the dry air. This morning I woke up ready to dive in to try and find the problem. I crank it with a handful of throttle and WOOO-HOOOOOO!!!:party It fired right up. I immediately ran back inside to suit up.:ride I came back out and tried again, no problem. :thumbup


The only thing I can think of is that when I covered it immediately after getting soaked, any water (moisture) that would've evaporated into the air from the heat of the engine was now trapped under the cover and had created a "sauna-like" effect. I'm thinking if I had let the engine cool a few minutes before covering it, there wouldn't have been enough heat to cause that effect. A little lesson learned....:)

Thanks guys for your suggestions. :thumbup
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top