All of a sudden, bike won't start.

Ever since I got the bike I had started it and let it run for at least a few minutes every day. Well work got real busy this past week so it stayed in the shop (out of the rain) for several days and when I tried to start it today all i hear is a grinding/spinning noise coming from the starter.

I'm almost positive it is the battery, but the battery is new. How could it lose charge already? I was told by my friend (who sold me the bike) that he put a new battery in it just a few months ago.

I'm new to bikes, but I'm guessing that they need to be started often to keep the battery to a full charge? Or is it possible there is something else wrong?

 

Idling for a few minutes a day would likely do more harm than good in the long run.

I've heard that at idle, the XJs (At least the 550s?) don't produce a whole lot of power, and run off the battery heavily at low RPM. I can see starting it often and just idling it slowly draining the battery if that is the case.
Put it on a charger and see what happens.

 

To get a charge to the battery you need to be running around 2Krpm or higher+

 

Ah, dang.. I wasn't revving it much at all, didn't realize it had to be over 2k rpm to get a charge..

My grandfather has a battery charger, he said I could bring the battery over to his house to charge it.

At least it is an easy fix, thanks everyone!

 

Screaming, a screaming or growling starter is in need of a cleaning. Open that sucker up and clean it out well. Check the brushes and replace as necessary. Re-grease the gears and you should be good to go.

 

Well, it only did the noise after a while of trying, (when the battery seemed completely dead). I'm going to try and bring the battery to my grandparent's house and recharge it and give it a shot.

 

Okay, so I got the battery charged to full. I tried to start it and the red oil light lights up and it turns over but doesn't start.

I tried putting the petcock to Prime but still nothing. Any ideas? God I hope I didn't flood it..

 

pull a plug and see if it's wet with fuel.
the boys are right about the idle not charging the batt.
my oil light always comes on while the key is on or the starter is turning.
it's just a way for you to be sure the bulb hasn't burned out.
a great safety feature IMHO.

 

im kind of in a similar situation. except i fixed the carbs and it ws running pretty rough then let it sit a couple days, pulled the carbs again to do a bench sync, and now im in the same boat. its probably the battery, but i cant know for sure since my multimeter is acting crazy. i connected it and it said 13.05 about, then as i left it connected it slowly started increasing until it was up to about 15v. is my tester bad or is there something else going on im not aware of?

 

I'll do that tomorrow or Wednesday. So glad there are people on this site to help me, as I know very little about engines (but a lot about computers!).

Reason I may have never seen the oil light is, normally as soon as i hit the button the bike starts right up. No 'trying' at all.

If the spark plug is wet, does that mean I flooded it and possibly killed my engine?

 

I kinda figured it was my battery because the lights were dim and got dimmer and almost off after a couple times of trying that day. Lights are now pretty bright.

 

were you testing it while it was charging?

 

yah, if there real wet the bike won't start, and can sometimes
ruin the plugs.
just pull them,dry and clean them,recheck the gap before
putting them back in and try it again.
no choke. a full charge on batt.
good luck.

ron

 

I never tried starting it with no choke, forgive the stupid question.. But why no choke?

 

If the bike is flooded, that means there is too much fuel in the cylinders already. Putting the choke on opens the enriching system to put even more fuel into the cylinders. If you try a few times with the throttle open and the choke off, it may fire on the fuel already in the cylinders. You can also use starting fluid to suplement the fuel. This is very volatile and evaporates quickly and eases the starting process. This to me is a last resort. Use starting sprays sparingly as it has a tendency to wash the oil from the cylinder walls causing accelerated wear. Also if too much is in the cylinders it can cause increased pressure during ignition and cause other damages.

 

+1 ..... JFStewart is on the mark.

 

Well, I always try to start it with full or almost full choke. The bike never would start (when cold) without any choke.

God, I hope I didn't screw up my engine..

 

Another stupid question, if I may. Does the choke only dump fuel when the starter button is pushed, ie if it is left on full choke will it just keep dumping fuel in the cylinders? I'm not sure if I turned the choke off before I left this morning (as i was running late for work).

 

"Choke" causes the carburetors to provide a richer mixture (lower Air/Fuel ratio) when air is being drawn through them - i.e. when the engine is being cranked or when the engine is running.

Leaving it on overnight with the engine stopped will have no effect.

 

from what you"ve told us it sounds like you drained the batt
and flooded the carbs....not a big issue and no,unless there is a missing
detail you're motor should be fine.

good luck