Hard time starting bike.


O

Ooter

New Member
Hi all!

Went to start up my '09 (~4k miles) this morning and it did not want to start! Tried the starter button for about 30 seconds, pulsing on and off etc, but no dice.

Gave it a little gas while pushing the button caused the engine to rev but then once I let off the gas it died.

Finally, I tried the same thing - starter button for 3-5 seconds while revving the engine and it finally started and ran on its own - with an unpleasant gas odor :)

I was pretty low on fuel (one tick showing) so I went and filled it up. I then rode about 5 miles. Both after filling it up and after the 5 mile (20 minutes) ride, it started no problem.


Any ideas? I haven't ridden in about a week, and the trips have been for no more than 5 miles in the city. I don't think I've taken the bike on a proper long ride in maybe 3 weeks. Also we had really heavy rains the past 4 days here, but my bike was covered the whole time.

Thanks
 
J

JnT4Life

New Member
Possibly condensation from sitting. Damn Ethanol!
 
D

DragonBlu

Member
They say it's better to keep the tank full if you use ethanol/gas. You have less condensation in the tank that way.
 
J

JonKerr

Senior Member
Elite Member
I've had this happen too and it's only when I get gas from one of the few stations in town that has 10% ethanol in their gas. Giving it a little gas usually helps get it going and it's fine. But it's really only done it when the bike is hot and I've made a number of short start and stops.
 
O

Ooter

New Member
Thanks! All the gas stations around me are the 10% ethanol sort, and it has been very hot around here!

The bike has been running perfect the past few days so I'm not too worried anymore :)
 

J

Jet A

New Member
Hey Ooter, I had the exact same thing happen to me yesterday (You could have written that post for me.) We don't have ethanol around here though.

The bike had been sitting for about a week. Last time I leave it with so little gas.

As an aside, a local Yamaha garage swears by "seafoam" even in the FI bikes. I will be putting some in for winter storage (UGHH)

Cheers

Jet
 
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