getting a bike running

[mrdj115]

Where does one find lost compression?

Before answering that, are you pulling in the clutch while trying to kickstart it? That would explain why there's no resistance - and why it won't start. The bike needs to be in neutral (should be a green light somewhere on the gauges to indicate this), the kill switch needs to be set to "RUN" (or "ON"), the clutch lever has to be all the way out (in other words, don't squeeze it) and of course the key has to be turned to the ignition position. If all these conditions are met (and the battery is fully charged) it should fire up.

Once again, I've shown my ignorance. I was under the impression that the clutch needed to be pulled in while starting. Besides checking the battery, I had everything else right.

I did attempt to start it with the clutch out. Still won't start but there is compression. I guess my next step is to find the battery, charge it, and see if that works.

Thanks for bearing with me, Gummiente and cb360, and everyone else.

[Gummiente]

Thanks for bearing with me, Gummiente and cb360, and everyone else.

Hey, no worries. We were ALL newbies once - the only way we learned was through trial and error, experience and most importantly by asking questions. So keep asking and we'll keep answering, that's what biking is all about!

[mrdj115]

I still haven't found the battery yet. Under the left side panel there is a small cylinder shaped thing with electrical wires running to it. It says "DC-6V" on it. I don't think it's the battery but any ideas what it is?

I also have two questions: 1) In the meantime, is it possible to get the bike running without the battery? 2) Is there a way I can check if the gas is actually making it to the carb and engine?

[cb360]

You could keep poking around on some things, but it's kind of silly to try to troubleshoot a bike much further than you've gone without a battery. Sitting as long as yours has the battery is certainly dead. It may or may not be chargeable... chances are not.

Here's my unsolicited advice... find a manual for the bike - I think this guy has one for less than $20 -

http://www.motorcyclememories.com/books ... cpart2.htm

if not, someone else does. amazon or ebay or whoever. Then get a new battery - it's not like you'll never need one if you get the bike running and it probably only costs around $25US. It's so much easier to troubleshoot stuff - and to get help from folks on the message boards - if you have a book that shows you pictures of what's what and you know the right names of stuff to ask questions about. Look at it this way... if you aren't willing to spend $40 or $50 getting the bike running, it probably wasn't going to happen anyway I know you've already stated that you aren't real mechanical - well, getting an old bike running is gonna force you to learn a bit. And it's kind of important that you do. I don't mean become a master mechanic - working on bikes isn't for everyone-, just that you'll save a ton of money over your cycling lifetime if you can do stuff like change your own oil and battery. I hope you get the manual and give it a shot. I may have lived a sheltered life or something, but there's not much that excites me more than bringing an old bike back to life.

[poppygene]

It may not be absolutely necessary to have a fully charged battery to get it running. You can check for spark by removing the spark plug cable, then unscrew the spark plug and reattach the cable to it. Let the spark plug rest on the head of the motor where the metallic base of the plug will make good contact with the head. Then turn the ignition and kill switches to the on position, turn the motor over with the kickstarter (you can probably do it by hand, since the plug is out) and watch the plug for a nice, fat, blue spark.

You can check for gas in the carb by attaching a length of tubing to the drain nipple on the bottom of the carb, then opening the drain screw right beside the nipple. If there's gas in the carb it'll drain out, so have the other end if the tubing in a suitable container. Hopefully the gas that comes out will be nice and clean without any rust particles or trash.

Do these two things and post back!

[cb360]

Ypu are right of course poppygene - I just figured I'd skip over the manual spark check for the novice mechanic. Hopefully it will work out anyway. Might as well dive right in. No better way to learn than by doing.

[mrdj115]

I meant to mention something about the manual last time I posted. I'm looking for one. My cousin (who owns the bike) thinks he might still have the manual around somewhere. I'm clinging to the vague hope he does.

After looking at the bike more closely, I have another question and a few significant problems (which do a lot to explain why the bike isn't starting). By the way, there is a spark.

Question -

There are two nipples that come off the petcock. One connects to the carb and the other one connects to a wider metal pipe (about 1 inch diameter) that runs between the carb and the engine (I think. The wide pipe goes near the front of the carb to above where the spark plug is.) Should gas come out of both of these nipples? No gas comes out of the one that connects to the metal pipe.

Problems -

No gas comes out of the nipple on the bottom of the carb. There is only one so I assume gas should flow there.

The tube that runs off of the nipple on the bottom of the carb goes nowhere. It runs along the side of the engine until it gets right near the back tire. It looks like it broke off somewhere but I can't find the other end.

[poppygene]

OK. Houston, we have ignition! That's a good thing. We just need two more things: a fuel/air mix and compression... then we should have a runner. Notice I said, "should."

The tube that goes from the petcock to the engine (intake, maybe?)... my guess is it's a vacuum line... a source of vacuum to open a valve in the petcock. Anyway, there should not be gas flowing through this one. The one that goes to the carb, yes. If the petcock has a position called "Prime" or "PRI," switch it to that and see if you get gas flowing into the carb.

Did you open the drain screw and still no gas out of the nipple? BTW, that's OK that the tube that attaches to the nipple doesn't go anywhere - it's just a drain tube.

[mrdj115]

The tube that goes from the petcock to the engine (intake, maybe?)... my guess is it's a vacuum line... a source of vacuum to open a valve in the petcock. Anyway, there should not be gas flowing through this one. The one that goes to the carb, yes. If the petcock has a position called "Prime" or "PRI," switch it to that and see if you get gas flowing into the carb.

Did you open the drain screw and still no gas out of the nipple? BTW, that's OK that the tube that attaches to the nipple doesn't go anywhere - it's just a drain tube.

Ok, maybe there aren't as many problems as I thought. I'm so happy that's a drain tube.

I tried both the "ON" and "PRI" positions on the petcock. Neither one seemed to work. However...

The drain screw is another thing I forgot to mention. I didn't find that. Should it be directly on the bottom of the carb?

[poppygene]

I don't know what your carb looks like exactly, but yeah, the drain screw should be really close to the nipple. The head of the screw should be easily visible from one side of the bike or the other.