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I am trying to diagnose a tough start for a buddy with a 97 F650. This is wierd but here is the story.
The bike came in under its own power with the complaint of "hard starting." This was in summer temps. I fiddled with the choke adjustment a bit and away he went. He put some gas in it and and let his wife go for a ride. Next day it would NOT start. It came to the shop in a truck.
I drained bowl fuel, checked spark and the usual stuff but had to go deeper cuz it still won't start. A comp test shows 90 psi. so I pull the valve cover and tape the decomp. Lots of compression. Pull the carbs, they look pretty good. Good fuel flo and the battery is up. Back together it goes. IT STARTS! YAAA! Why I still don't know. I ride it all weekend and on Monday Buddy picks up his bike and looks after some labour $$$.
On Tues. he comes back with the bike in a truck. OH NO! It will not start. I have tried a bunch of stuff but it still WILL NOT START! It will "putt putt" a couple of times but is not a runner. I am a Harley/Honda wrench supreme but I am not over familiar with these Beemers. Does any one have suggestions? Does the decomp system stick on these things?

Check here:

http://faq.f650.com/main.html

That's a great place for 650's.

But a recurring theme on 650's is that if the battery isn't right, be it low charge, dying of old age, or bad connections the bike acts squirrelly.

But read the 650.com faqs & search their forums (the faq & forum search is different) and you'll find LOADS of info.

Thanks, I'll check it out. I've heard that on the batt.

Thanks, I got it. The problem was the plug caps. New caps, no problemo!