SOLVED - trouble starting in cold weather

[chief]

That's the way I handle it as well.

[Varooom]

I have to agree about the battery tender although I've ignored that in the past with good results.  I stay away from fuel additives, except for an ounce of fuel injector cleaner which I run into a fresh tank of fuel in late November before storing my 1999 1500.  This keeps, IMHO, the fuel from turning to gum in the tiny places.
Next, I use synthetic oil made for motorcycles.  With that stuff in there I'm not worried about any metal deterioration.
The bike starts fine with a few cranks every spring and has been for 80,000 miles.  The lifters take a few minutes to quiet down but I don't think that does any damage aside from possibly not opening the valves as fully as they spec to be open; it runs like a new bike.
Way too simple and I don't feel like I need to see a shrink because I'm too compulsive.  I just drive away smiling.
Varooom

[cochise]

When I got my 800 I turned the petcock to reserve by accident (was used to my Yamaha) . Rode it that way for awhile.  Ready to head out, all dressed up , started it up , pushed it outside and while pulling down the garage door it stalled. Tried to start it . Out came the tools and twenty minutes later I figured it out. Embarassing but no better place to run dry than in the driveway

[chief]

Yep, always check the easy stuff first... regardless of how elementary!

[Troll]

  It's always nice when it's a cheap fix. Don't feel too bad about it, this kind of thing catches lots of people. 

[ColinO]

Thanks all!  Sad to have to admit this but it was the gas as in it ran low/out.  Starts up great now with a full tank, go figure! LOL!  Also have a battery tender on order.  I wouldn't have thought that I'd run out of gas just starting her up for 10 mins every weekend, lesson learned.

[chief]

Yeah I put a new battery on the gw at the end of the season, one year. The next season the bike quit on me once and started acting really screwy. I replaced it and tested the old one... it would charge fine and measure fine. But after sitting a bit it would discharge. Adding a load accelerated the problem.

A lot of auto parts places will load test batteries. Also there are load testers on the market if you think you would use one more than once.

[cochise]

My two cents... doing a load test on a battery will show its true condition. I've seen a fully charged and seemingly good battery drop down to 10 volts when a load is put on it.  A load tester is a meter with two claps like booster cables, hook it up take a reading and then hold the button down momentarily and see if the meter stays in the good range.

[chief]

What troll said... always check the easy stuff first.

[Troll]

  Silly question #1... Is there fuel in the tank? Running it a long time on the choke for months at a time just may have run you out of fuel on your main tank. I would put it on "pri" and let it set for a couple of seconds and try again. Putting it on reserve won't help, because it has a vacuum operated fuel valve that has to have sufficient vacuum from a running engine to open.  "pri" is there to bypass the vacuum control and allow fuel to flow without restriction. If this cures the problem, don't forget to put it on reserve, 'cause the valve will stay open in prime position, and in cold weather, this could cause a fuel overflow situation in the carb. Kind of like when the toilet won't stop filling.......

[chief]

I strongly suggest you keep a battery tender on the bike. Letting it idle for periods of time really isn't good for it.

make sure you have some good gas in there and ensure the battery is fully charged. Assuming the battery is fine doesn't cut it. It can seem fine and still not have enough juice to fire the bike.

The bike sitting there for 10 minutes with the ignition on likely drained the battery enough to cause a problem.  The 800 is a carb'd bike... "giving it some gas" won't hurt it. Hell, its hard for me NOT to work the gas when starting up my truck and bikes with EFI... I'm used to working that throttle!

[ColinO]

Hi, I live in N.E. Connecticut and have been storing my 2001 drifter in my shed for the winter, unfortuneatly, I do not have a garage or warmer place to store it.  I had been starting it up every weekend on Sat and sun since I put it away in late Oct.  I did add marine grade fuel stabilizer before storing it.  It had been starting up fine until we hit a really bad patch of cold weather the last few weeks.  I would use the choke to start her up and once warmed up, push in the choke slowly and let her run for another 15 mins.  The battery seems to be fine.  2 weeks ago, I tried to start it up and it took 4 tries before it started, but it seemed to be running ok with the choke on, I walked away for about 10 mins and noticed that I didn't hear the engine running, it had stopped.  I tried to restart it and no luck, batter is fine, just not starting?  I tried to give it a little gas with the throttle while staring it, not sure if that was a good idea?  Anyone have any suggestions?