Kawasaki Sportsbike Riders Club - Australia - Online Forum

mate o mine has an '02 (i think) SV650

the farker won't start.
it's been sittin for ages.
put a new battery in. no good.
tried to bump start it. no good, mainly cos it's a twin, there's no enough traction to get it going.
tried to jump start it from my car. no good.

the starter motor spins, but it won't fire.
i thought maybe the ignition modules were shot but he got it started by jumping it off his flatmate's car last week, but it died b4 he got the seat back on.

please help, where do we start?

from easy to hard:
Drain the carbs, make sure they refill correctly.
spray aerostart down the throats of the carbies & see if it kicks over, if it does, its a fuel problem & you've now got a spare 10 litres of weed killer.
Check that the HT is sparking correctly (use a spare plug in the cap & ground against the engine).
check the plugs themselves.

If it doesnt start at this point, you've got problems.

thanks for the tips mike.
and don't i feel stupid. everytime i come across a problem like this, instead of doin the usual spark & fuel tests, i jump on here.
*shrugs* oh well.

better ask & try fixing it yourself than going "thats it" and hiring a trailer, and taking it to the bike shop & getting a severe case of walletrape.

mike-s wrote:better ask & try fixing it yourself than going "thats it" and hiring a trailer, and taking it to the bike shop & getting a severe case of walletrape.

true true.
but i think it'd be considered walletrape voyerism on my part cos it aint my bike.
this time.

Check the 'engine cut' switch

uhm, that's "kill switch"

test the battery seeing as how it ran when you jumped it and didnt when you took the leads off it.

hmm im thinking old dodgy fuel..or plugs...no spark....but these guys already told ya that...

mike-s wrote:uhm, that's "kill switch"

Yes Sir.

Barrabob wrote:test the battery seeing as how it ran when you jumped it and didnt when you took the leads off it.

yeah battery was farked.
got a new one, flattened that somehow, so it's on charge as we speak.

thinkin dirty plugs.

oh and my 9 is having the exact same problem.

cooties?

I'm assuming its that heap of junk that we lugged around and nearly burnt out our valves with..

Start with spark, and if its getting fuel, if it's been sitting for ages, drain the fuel (may have gone bad, spesh if it's premium, has a short shelf life).

Remember if you flood it, full throttle will get it to fire.. however, i'd say it's dirty plugs from stale fuel. or could be worst case scenario, the ECU. however, get that god damn taiwanese bike alarm off of it first! it'll play havoc with the bike (with power, ignition etc) if its not working.

We did get it running, but the battery wasnt charging, hence the ecu wasnt working either etc.. so may be worth looking into that as well

Duane wrote:I'm assuming its that heap of junk that we lugged around and nearly burnt out our valves with..

Start with spark, and if its getting fuel, if it's been sitting for ages, drain the fuel (may have gone bad, spesh if it's premium, has a short shelf life).

Remember if you flood it, full throttle will get it to fire.. however, i'd say it's dirty plugs from stale fuel. or could be worst case scenario, the ECU. however, get that god damn taiwanese bike alarm off of it first! it'll play havoc with the bike (with power, ignition etc) if its not working.

We did get it running, but the battery wasnt charging, hence the ecu wasnt working either etc.. so may be worth looking into that as well

spot on mate.
and my bet's on the plugs as well.
the alarm is gone. and worst case senario is he hires someone to pick it up and take it to ronnie at balls.

Take it to balls and you pay through the nose, get the bike back in worse condition and they splatter it with stickers

How long was it sitting? Was fuel left in the carbs? Petrol has a habbit of turning to a kinda gel if left for prelonged periods. Blocks jets a beauty, variuos probducts on the market get it out, carb clearners genarally - I use WD40.