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Got spark and fuel, won't start, what's next?

2K views 5 replies 4 participants last post by  nickbehavin 
#1 ·
Hey folks, I'm new hear and hope I can get some help. Quick history, I bought a 2000 650 VStar about 6 months ago. (First bike I've had in 30 years) it ran great first month, the died while riding to work. It was in the shop for 3 months (ridiculous I thought) finally got it back the guy replaced the ignition box and coil pick ups. It idled a little high but ran good for about 2 weeks, then died coming home from work. I trailered it home tried starting it, the battery quickly died, assuming a bad battery I replaced the battery. Still didn't start, I checked spark against the block and have spark, not fat blue spark but orange spark, so I replaced both plugs. Still nothing. Then I assumed fuel issue. Pump clicks when the key is turned on and fuel is getting to the carbs, so I removed and cleaned both carbs and replaced the fuel and air filter, still won't start. I'm no mechanic, but I can turn a wrench as long as I know what to turn, so any help will be greatly appreciated. The few weeks i was able to ride it, got it back in my blood, I gotta ride!
 
#2 ·
Sounds like the ignition repair wasn't done correctly or has failed again. I would be contacting the mechanic you are entitled to more than 2 weeks warranty on the work he carried out. You may also want to take a look at the regulator/rectifier as sometimes when they are failing they can cause issues similar to the one you have.

Simple check is voltage across the battery terminals at rest, while running and at around 5000 rpms. You should see 12.5 vdc at rest, 13.5 running rising to about 14.5 when revved. Obviously the bike will need the non running issue sorted first.

Good luck

You may want to find another mechanic once this one has fixed his slow and possibly poor workmanship.
 
#3 ·
Thanks for the reply, as far as that mechanic goes, I agree it should have lasted longer, but I'm gonna cut my loses with that guy. I'll get my money back with bad publicity, winder Ga is not a very big town. Word will get around. I hadn't thought about the regulator rectifier, I thought that just controlled the power going into the battery. I'll check that out tomorrow. Also it's probably a good idea to check the work the mechanic did. Thanks for your input, I'll let you know what I find
 
#4 ·
Thanks for the reply, as far as that mechanic goes, I agree it should have lasted longer, but I'm gonna cut my loses with that guy.
Well it is YOUR choice but that probably is NOT the quickest way to get the bike fixed.......and additional "losses" might end up being more than you expect.

You have a 16 year old bike. Some shops won't even look at them that old.

You need to charge the battery......especially if you did not do that before it's first use.
The orange spark is NOT a good sign and may point back to the work already done.
It might point to a weak battery too......even though it's new.

If you are going to continue to work on this yourself, you need a multi-meter first.
 
#5 ·
Sorry it took so long to get back to you, I get what you're saying about loses adding up, but I only paid $1100 for the bike,it only had 21000 miles on it, it ran good when I got it, so even if I have to replace the whole electrical system, I think I'll be ok with it. I didn't think to charge the battery, being a new one and all, I'll definitely do that. I do have a multi- meter , I've been researching the web on how to test the electrical components, I'm going to do that on my next day off. I didn't think the orange spark was right either, seemed weak to me. Thanks for your help, I'll let you know what I find.
 
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