so I bought a bike for cheap that's basically brand new except at about 300 miles, it was parked with gas and left for about 5 years. the gas was complete sludge when I got it. I cleaned it fairly thoroughly with buckshot and kerosene until when I filled it with water the water came out clear. I put a little oil in the tank and about a quart of gas. I try to start it and it churns and churns but never fires up. do I need to put some gas in the carbs by hand or buy some starting fluid?

99 sv650, v-twin.

I cleaned the screen that goes on the petcock and flushed the fuel pump with carb cleaner too

4/10/2008 9:53:44 PM

man pull them carbs off and clean them too. And make sure the petcock on it is letting feul thru and it should pop off. how did you get rid of the water left in the tank????

[Edited on April 10, 2008 at 9:56 PM. Reason : l]

4/10/2008 9:55:24 PM

Please tell me that you also charged/replaced the battery, and also replaced the spark plugs, and checked them for spark. Cause I would do that too.

4/10/2008 9:56:23 PM

the batt dont mean shit as long as it is crankin over. plugs would be good too.

4/10/2008 9:57:56 PM

I charged the battery, let the water in the tank evaporate mostly, then added more kerosene and let it sit and then I poured it out. I looked in the carb bowls, they were pristine. I'll check on the filter, it was pretty blocked with rust before, I guess might not be getting through. I didn't check the plugs but I'll get to that too. Was wondering if there was just something obvious I wasn't doing rather than something I hadn't checked.

4/10/2008 9:59:48 PM

man deff check for fuel flow and if u got it to the carb and it wont pop (with some spark) clean them carbs out. if still nothing try a leak down test but at 300 it prolly nto nothing up there. Good luck man!

4/10/2008 10:02:03 PM

the answer to this is simple....clean the damn carbs. I dont care how clean the bowls are, if it dont start the carbs need to be totally disassembled and cleaned.

4/10/2008 10:20:03 PM

yep clean the carbs.. those jets are small. no way they aren't gummed up imo

4/10/2008 10:50:38 PM

Did you check to see if any of the floats in the carb would move? I bought an ATV that had been sitting in a shop for three years. The bowl looked fine, but neither of the floats would budge. I suspect yours is the same. A friend disassembled it, soaked everything for a day, and ran it through his parts washer and it fired up on the second pull of the starter.

[Edited on April 10, 2008 at 11:04 PM. Reason : l]

4/10/2008 11:03:08 PM

looks like I've got my afternoon tomorrow planned. once I get them cleaned, do I need to do anything else after reassembly to get it to start?

4/10/2008 11:05:47 PM

another vote for carbs... if the tank and other stuff was that bad off, those things are definitely gummed up.

you can probably get it to run after you get them back on, but they'll really need to be synchronized for optimal performance. google around, there are write ups to make your own tool or you can buy one. or have it done somewhere.

[Edited on April 10, 2008 at 11:36 PM. Reason : http://www.bluepoof.com/motorcycles/howto/svs_carb_sync/]

4/10/2008 11:36:11 PM

why would u put water in the gas tank. taht is just silly.

take the carbs apart and clean em. really simple on that lil bike.

4/11/2008 9:41:18 AM