Trouble Starting

[cwdavis]

Hey all,

I have a Super 8 50 2t (2012) that i ride to and from work (~3.5 mi) daily. All last week was fine, Thursday was the last day I rode the bike to and from work, no issues. I went to start the bike this morning after having been away all weekend (admittedly it got caught out in the rain one night while I was gone) and it wouldn't start. The electric start was weak at first, then nothing when I tried the electric starter. No better with the kick starter. I took the battery out (which is beginning to get old and feeble) and charged it and tried again. Same thing happened.

I recently had the fuel system cleaned so I'm reasonably sure its a starter/electrical problem of some kind (it only sat 3 days and I always treat my gas with sea foam).

Does anyone have any suggestions? I need to replace the battery, I know but i've been trying to hold off on it as long as possible. Voltmeter showed ~13V on the freshly charged battery, so I'm not sure if its the issue or not.

[zombie]

2T's have one bad flaw in design. If ANY water gets into the fuel system it sits at the lowest point. Usually in the crankcase. You can try removing the sparkplug, and air filter from the carb.
Hold your hand or a rag over the carb tightly, and crank the engine for 15 seconds or so. That will pull any water in the float bowl into the crankcase.
Then remove the rag/hand, and crank over for another 15 seconds or so with the throttle held wide open. This will expel most of the water, and fuel from the case.

Re install everything, and try to start the bike. You may have to hold the throttle open in order to make it start. If it does start it may take 5-10 minutes of poor running to clear.
I have this happen all the time both with my own bikes, and some that come in for repair. 2T's HATE water, and the water knows this.

[Chris0381]

If he's claiming a poor battery and a weak starter crank, could he also jump the bikes battery with his car batter for some extra turnover juice ?

[zombie]

No No Noooo. There is tooooo much amperage in a car battery to be safe.
If there is any reason in the bike for reducing the turn over rate (bad ground/loose connection) a car battery can fry the wiring/electronics.
I would suggest starting with a fresh battery. +13 volts does not tell you the true state of the battery. You can test the voltage during cranking/load, and that is a better indication of the true state of the battery.

I'm still going w/ water from the rain, and perhaps combine that w/ a weak battery... That makes sense.

[Chris0381]

Thanks for clarifying that Zombie. 12 volts is 12 volts but 500 Cold cranking amps in not 100 cold cranking amps.

[zombie]

No problem. Lots of guys will jump start these small engines with car batteries, and most are lucky/have no problem.
If there is an issue in the bike that is reducing current... That's when the trouble starts.

It's kinda like using a sledge hammer to put a thumb tack in the wall.

[DMblues01]

It's kinda like using a sledge hammer to put a thumb tack in the wall.

I had my hand sledges taken away from at work once, because I used them to "finesse" a $250,000 wire forming machine! 
They only let me have rubber mallets after that!

Duke-

[zombie]

I was "released" from Metal Shop in 9th grade.
I used a milling machine to launch 2lb lead disks in what ever direction they wanted to go.
It was a bit like launching mortars... run up the screw, and duck.

People in charge have no sense of humor sometimes.