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PLEASE HELP IM A NEW RIDER AND MY BIKE WONT START :(

Posted: Sat May 13, 2006 8:18 am
by JonDoe
Last year i bought my first motorcycle it ran great, the guy i bought it from told me i needed an oil change and plug change.. well im not a very good mechanic so i had my dad come over and we changed the oil and plugs... well before we changed it all.. i started the bike and it ran fine..( this was like 1 week prior to changing the stuff) then all of a sudden it died.. so i looked at the oil level and it was VERY low.. so i didnt try to restart it... so i figured ok this is a good time for the oil and plug change.
so as i mentioned before me and my dad changed the oil and plugs.. well then after the oil and plug change i started it up.. and it was running but the sound it made was VERY different than the high pitched whine i was used to.. it was a more LOW BOGGY sound... well then the bike stalled and it wont start again.. it turns over fine but it will nto start... so i checked the fuel... feul was low so i put some fuel in it i had kicking around... didnt change anything... it still wouldnt start.. so does anyone know what my problem might be? and if you need to know any other facts please ask.. the bike is a Suzuki GS 550E 1981.. please help me guys!

Posted: Sat May 13, 2006 9:42 am
by 9000white
if it was running ok until you changed plugs.are they the right plugs??
are the plug wires back on the plugs right??

Posted: Sat May 13, 2006 9:42 am
by CORSCO
I noticed you said you bought the bike last year...has it been sitting till now? If it has, you will probably need to get the carbs cleaned because fuel turns into a varnish after a period of time and clogs the carbs jets.
You said you had some gas "kicking around". How old was that?? Drain the fuel tank and fill it up with FRESH gas. Before you start it, drain the fuel in the carbs. There will be a screw at the bottom most portion of the float bowl, this is the drain. There will be a hose or a nipple at the bottom of the float bowl where the gas will come out. If it does not restart, recheck the plugs and see if they are wet, gas fouled, or dry as a bone, no fuel. You can also check for spark by putting the spark plug into the cap and grounding it against the engine while spinning it over. Just watch out that it doesn't shock you, if it does, of well, its not that bad.
As far as the oil level, how much do you think you drained out? A high whiny sound as normal engine noise does not sound promising.
Try the fresh fuel and get back to us.

Posted: Sat May 13, 2006 10:47 am
by JonDoe
well it ran at high rpm's its a sport bike.. and i have straight pipe on it..
the gas propably sat around for 2 months or so.. it was some 87 octne for my lawn mower. i will try to drain the fuel off.. im not the most mechaniclly talented person.. so ill let you know how it goes thank you guys very much for the responses

Posted: Sat May 13, 2006 2:28 pm
by bok
hopefully if it was gas for your lawnmower it wasn't a premix :twisted:

Posted: Sat May 13, 2006 4:11 pm
by BuzZz
A. Always give as much about the make and model of bike when asking a technical question. This is a no-brainer for any device, isn't it?

B. Get a good service manual for your bike. Especially if you don't know what your doing or where to start.

C. 'high pitched whine' and 'low boggy' are words that define problem sounds less than wonderfully. I assume that the original high pitched whine was not objectionable to you.....? Could low and boggy possibly relate to a cold bike running on choke?

Either way, you've run some pretty sketchy fuel through it and there is a good chance that your carbs are gummy, dirty or clogged selectively. They should be looked at and cleaned if there is any question about them.

Posted: Mon May 15, 2006 2:55 am
by Tyrone ORourke
I agree with whats been posted so far. Just to add my thoughts, I know this is a 1981 bike, but you say its a high revving sports bike, and you filled it with 87 octance fuel. Not a good idea in general. Keep to the normal(90 or 95 octane) pump station fuel, rather than lawnmower stuff(especially if you have a two stroke lawnmower!!!).