Triumphrat

HtownCruiser

Got new Speedy two weekends ago, put 350 miles on it no problem. First start used same procedure: pull choke all the way out, bike in neutral, ignition on, hit start button give it a little gas, and she starts no problem. Ease choke in while I let her warm up... Rode her last Sunday, then went out of town for the week. Went to start her today and on first try, she cranked for 2 seconds, then nothing. Tried again nothing. Put choke back in, tried giving throttle two quick turns, hit starter. Tried different combos for 5 minutes nothing.

Knew I had at least a gallon of gas. Walked away, came back ten minutes later and after 5 minutes she fired up.

Let her warm up. Cut the engine and restarted no sweat. Went and topped off gas, ran some errands, started every time. Temperature is going to get in 30's tonite, so thought I would go warm her up abit. No go, nothing.

So whats the correct process? Pull choke all the way out? Crank on throttle a couple of times before starting, or not (flooding?) Never had a new bike do this so am abit peeved. Can it be battery? Thoughts please!

dazco

One of the most common problems on these bikes is vacuum in the tank due to the tank breather hose being blocked or kinked, or the gas cap vent being clogged. Next time it happens remove the cap and let it sit for a minute, then try again. If it starts thats your problem.

Gregger

You stated that it cranked for 2 seconds then nothing. Do you mean it stopped turning over? Did the bike run for 2 seconds then quit? Need to know because at the end of your commentary, you are asking if it is the battery? If it's turning over, the batterys fine. If it won't turn over, check your obvious connections, especially the battery ones or make sure your emergency stop isn't switched on.

If your bike turns over but won't start you have to determine if it is an electrical problem or fuel. Next time it won't start, remove a spark plug wire to verify you have spark. Stick a screw driver in the wire and place it close to the engine and see if there is any spark when you crank the engine over. If no spark, you have problems. If spark it's fuel related which could be a plugged vent, dirty fuel filter between the carbs, plugged petcock. I would open the fuel drains situated under the float bowl to see if there is any fuel in the carbs.

By the way, twisting the throttle several times does not help. There is no accelerator pump built into the carbs. Simply pull the choke and crank her over to start when cold. Hot, choke isn't needed.

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HtownCruiser

Engine does turn over. Will check spark plugs, but believe it's got to be fuel problem, either tank breather hose being blocked or kinked, or the gas cap vent being clogged as suggested. Will check it this morning.

Thanks for info!

Have to admit disappointed at having problem so soon with new bike. It's 32 this am, sunny with high of 55 for this afternoon, so hope can get her started and get some miles in.

Terry

B02S4

If it's a vacuum-lock then opening the gas cap should confirm that within 2 seconds.

HtownCruiser

dazco, B02S4,

took gas cap off for 90 seconds, pulled choke out, hit starter, small backfire and and she started right up. 36 degrees this morning, so warmed her up for 5 minutes. Turned her off and re-started, no problem. Thanks for tip.

Next question: what needs to be checked at 500 mile service, and would different gas cap help?

Terry

B02S4

Do what Dazco said & check the routing of the tank vent tube...pull the tank & check to make sure that tube isn't pinched. If it is, then that's the problem & careful re-routing should solve it. No need to change the fill cap.

Geoff

the small backfire can probably be avoided by not touching the throttle at startup.
thats it. only choke. you have been lucky so far but some folks have reported when using the throttle at startup(did i mention you're not supposed to?) the airbox literally blew up causing quite a costly mess.
G

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dazco

I agree...it SHOULD. But it happened to me once and took a minute to run normal again for whatever reason. Thats why i said that.

TOMKRILL

*Tom finally decides to take a vacation. He books himself on a Caribbean
cruise and proceeds to have the time of his life -- until the boat sank.

He found himself swept up on the shore of an island with no other
people, no supplies... Nothing. Only bananas and coconuts.

After about four months, he is lying on the beach one day when the most
gorgeous woman he has ever seen rows up to him. In disbelief, he asks
her, "Where did you come from? How did you get here?"

"I rowed over from the other side of the island," she says. "I landed
here when my cruise ship sank."

"Amazing," he says. "You were really lucky to have a rowboat wash up
with you."

"Oh, this?" replies the woman. "I made the rowboat out of raw material
found on the island. I whittled the oars from gum tree branches; I wove
the bottom from palm branches; and the sides and stern came from a
Eucalyptus tree."

"But ... but ... that's impossible," stutters Tom. "You had no tools or
hardware. How did you manage?"

"Oh, no problem," replies the woman. "On the South side of the island,
there is a very unusual strata of alluvial rock exposed. I found if I
fired it to a certain temperature in my kiln, it melted into forgeable
ductile iron. I used that for tools and used the tools to make the
hardware." Tom is stunned.

"Let's row over to my place," she says.

After a few minutes of rowing, she docks the boat at a small wharf.

As Tom looks onto shore, he nearly falls out of the boat. Before him
is a stone walk leading to an exquisite bungalow painted in blue and
white. While the woman ties up the rowboat with an expertly woven hemp
rope, he can only stare ahead, dumbstruck.

As they walk into the house, she says casually, "It's not much, but I
call it home. Sit down, please. Would you like to have a drink?"

"No, no thank you," he says, still dazed. "Can't take any more coconut
juice."

"It's not coconut juice," the woman replies. "I built a still. How about
a Pina Colada?"

Trying to hide his continued amazement, he accepts, and they sit down on
her hand-woven couch to talk. After they have exchanged their stories,
the woman announces, "I'm going to slip into something more comfortable.
Would you like to take a shower and shave? There is a razor upstairs in
the cabinet in the bathroom."

No longer questioning anything, Tom goes into the bathroom. There, in
the cabinet, is a razor made from a bone handle. Two shells honed to a
hollow-ground edge are fastened on to its end inside of a swivel
mechanism. "WOW! This woman is amazing," he muses, "what next?"

When he returns, she greets him wearing 'nothing but vines'
strategically positioned, and smelling faintly of gardenias. She beckons
for him to sit down next to her.

"Tell me," she begins suggestively, slithering closer to him, "We've
been out here for a really long time. I know you've been lonely. There's
something I'm sure you really feel like doing right now, something
you've been longing for all these months. You know..."

She stares into his eyes. He can't believe what he's hearing!

"You mean ...", he swallows excitedly, "We can watch the Packer game
from here?

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