New guy trying to start XJ650J. Help!

Hi, everyone - really cool forum! I have browsed through the discussion topics and have not found my exact issue, so I will start a new subject.

My 82 XJ650J ran beautifully last fall. She spent the winter in Minnesota inside a garage 3/4 filled with gas. This spring, turned over fine, but did not start.

I drained the gas, pulled out the carbs, looked through them, and sloshed some Yamaha carb cleaner through them. They looked clean. I removed the jets and looked through them, and they appeared to not be obstructed.

I put the carbs back on, put in new plugs, and verified that they were all sparking (the old plugs appeared wet and smelled like gas, so at least some gas was getting into the carbs). I put in fresh gas. Still no action. If I spray starter fluid into the air intake slot, I get a second of sweet running, after which the bike dies.

What do I do next? Trace all the way through the fuel system looking for blockages? Thanks for any help!

 

First put the petcock on prime for about 30 seconds to allow the fuel to flow freely, then turn it back to on, then open a drain screw on one of the outside carbs and make sure there is fuel there.

Check to make sure the vacuum hose is connected to the petcock and #3 carb manifold, the # doesn't really matter I think thats where it originally was located. Make sure it's not old and brittle or leaking.
Did you stablize the fuel when you stored the bike? If not you might want to put some fresh fuel in with some seafoam.

If your still not getting fuel, you'll need to look at the petcock.

That's all I got.
Good luck and welcome

 

If enough fuel is getting there I would check the battery and make sure you have at least 12.2 volts. This part may sound strange but after a long winter storage I used to get my Kawasaki going by heating the sparkplugs in my oven. Worked every time! Another method is to heat the intakes with a hairdryer. Think I'm nuts now! These tricks really work. Main reason is that the starter pulls so much power from the battery that not enough spark is generated to ignite the cold fuel mixture. Try it and then tell me I'm crazy!

 

The starting circuit in the carbs is probably the first thing to clog, because it's the tiniest passage there. That's what prevented mine from starting. You should be sure it's clear - with air pressure and cleaner only, no foreign objects!

The battery, too, is a leading cause of starting failure. The electrical system has been described as oposite of a car. An automobile may have enough juice to run, but will not have enough to turn over. On our bikes, though, they will have enough power to crank, but not enough to fire and run.

 

Thanks for the great information! I am pretty confident that the issue is not electrical because I have attached my battery charger to the battery and can make it crank pretty fast. In addition, it seems to run on starter fluid.

How does one clean the starting circuit? Someone mentioned air, but does that mean pulling the carbs and shooting compressed air through the small holes, or is there some way do it while the carbs are mounted?

Thanks again, guys!