Bike Won’t Start Noob Alert

[Prawny]

Morning all,

Passed my MOD2 in June and bought an ex riding school er6n (58 reg high mileage but functional) at the end of that month.

Rode it a couple of times not long distance but ran perfectly fine then one day after sitting for a week I went to ride it and it sounded like it was about to catch but didn’t. I gave up and went back inside tried again at lunchtime and it fired up instantly, I didn’t have time to go anywhere then so turned it off and went back to work.

Fast forward another couple of weeks I’ve been on holiday bike has been sat outside the whole time and now it won’t start at all. Battery sounded strong enough, but I’ve charged the battery and it’s still not going. I tried bump starting it down the hill I live on but that didn’t work and I nearly had a heart attack pushing it back home.

It’s got fuel in it, not sure how much because it’s not got a fuel gauge. Charged battery is ready 12.69v, lights/dash/horn are all working and like I say the starter is turning over nicely enough.

I’m keen to learn but I’m fairly mechanically inept, I used to change the oil on my scooter and I can fix a bicycle so I’ll have a go at it as long as it’s not too hard.

Any ideas what the problem could be?

What should I try next?
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Yamaha Vity 125 (gone) Kawasaki ER6N(dead) 2022 Royal Enfield Meteor 350 (nicked) 2003 DL1000 V Strom

[MahatmaAndhi]

Do you know when the spark plugs were last changed? They could be causing the issues you've mentioned and are cheap and easy enough to DIY.
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2008 Aprilia Sportcity 250

[Robby]

Battery voltage seems a bit low. Try charging it again and trying to start it as soon as you take it off the charger. It may need to crank for a while before it catches. It is not uncommon for a bike to seem to crank over well enough, but still not have enough left over to make a decent spark. A new battery fixes that problem.

If it has any kind of alarm or immobiliser (either factory or aftermarket) then it can easily run a healthy battery down to marginal-start territory in a couple of weeks. My bike does, I mostly leave it plugged in to an optimate when I'm not using it regularly.

Could also be old fuel, if you haven't ridden it long enough to fill up yet then you have no idea when it was last filled up. Unlikely to prevent it from starting, but the combination of old fuel, weak battery and standing can make starting tricky.

Bikes don't like standing.

[Prawny]

I’ve got spark plugs coming today, Im hoping it’s something simpler first, seems like a bit of a ball ache as it’s a tank off job.

I’ve got some jump leads coming too so I’ll try and jump it off the car first and if that sorts it I’ll get a new battery.

I think it might have sat for a bit too with the fuel in so I’ll get some more, will I need to drain this off? Or should just chucking a 5l can in so the trick? I’d it starts off the car I’ll go straight down the garage and fill it up, but I’ll take the leads with me…
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Yamaha Vity 125 (gone) Kawasaki ER6N(dead) 2022 Royal Enfield Meteor 350 (nicked) 2003 DL1000 V Strom

[Prawny]

Update

Jumping off the car hasn’t worked so must be fuel or spark.

Fuel can at lunchtime I think, do I need to drain the old off?
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Yamaha Vity 125 (gone) Kawasaki ER6N(dead) 2022 Royal Enfield Meteor 350 (nicked) 2003 DL1000 V Strom

[Prawny]

Further update

Fuel didn’t work, same as before just cranking FI light on and fuel flashing on the dash.

I took it apart this morning and the fuel hose is really kinked, but I can see any way of routing it that would prevent this, and it would have been the same when it was running fine the other week so I’m assuming that isn’t the issue.

A bigger issue is that when I managed to get into the engine one of the coil sleeves is cracked and the other coil is stuck in the engine. While I was in there I changed the plug I could get to, it looked a bit grubby and the air filter. When I put it all back together exactly the same.

I’m going to give up now and take it to a professional (or rather ask them to collect it)
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Yamaha Vity 125 (gone) Kawasaki ER6N(dead) 2022 Royal Enfield Meteor 350 (nicked) 2003 DL1000 V Strom

[Ayrton]

Does the FI light flash or just stay solid? On some bikes the light will flash and give you an error code to tell you what's wrong.

[Prawny]

The FI light is solid, ‘fuel’ is flashing on the dash.
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Yamaha Vity 125 (gone) Kawasaki ER6N(dead) 2022 Royal Enfield Meteor 350 (nicked) 2003 DL1000 V Strom

[UncleFester]

When you flick the key on do you hear the fuel pump prime? Sure tank isn't set to reserve?
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2017 Z1000SX

[Prawny]

[Prawny]

Apparently it turned out to be a dry connection in the fuelling. Glad I called in the pros before I splurged on a new battery, any idea how this would happen and how it can be avoided?
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Yamaha Vity 125 (gone) Kawasaki ER6N(dead) 2022 Royal Enfield Meteor 350 (nicked) 2003 DL1000 V Strom

[UncleFester]

Buy a new bike that doesn't have old connections, wires and solder etc
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2017 Z1000SX

[Prawny]

Lol, that’s certainly on the cards for the spring.
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Yamaha Vity 125 (gone) Kawasaki ER6N(dead) 2022 Royal Enfield Meteor 350 (nicked) 2003 DL1000 V Strom