hard to start after a week

Haven't touched my 08 since last Thursday, go to ride to work this morning and it took 5 mins to start it.

battery fine, turning over fine, fuel pump noise on ignition, fuel not low only 36km since full.

what could it be, its not excessively cold (brisbane australia)

Krispy wrote:

battery fine

And you know this how?

E10 gas would be my guess. If the stations tank was low or a distributor double dosed a load you could have filled up with kack. Let it sit in your bike for a week and the water will settle to the bottom. Try draining the tank and putting in some fresh fuel.

Too bad Australia followed along with the bio-fuel ripoff.

motokid wrote:

Krispy wrote:

battery fine

And you know this how?

it was turning over at normal speed,

Just Bob wrote:

E10 gas would be my guess. If the stations tank was low or a distributor double dosed a load you could have filled up with kack. Let it sit in your bike for a week and the water will settle to the bottom. Try draining the tank and putting in some fresh fuel.

Too bad Australia followed along with the bio-fuel ripoff.

only fill up with premium same source as my cars which were filled with in a day.

once the bike started it was fine, no hesitations.

anyone had any problems with the fuel hose from the tank to the injection system?

someone here had a problem with the hose being kinked, that fried their piston. I don't think it would be an issue unless you've removed your fuel tank at some point.

xy500 wrote:

someone here had a problem with the hose being kinked, that fried their piston. I don't think it would be an issue unless you've removed your fuel tank at some point.

my local bike mechanic removed the tank about 1-2 months ago to fit a new clutch cable. i'll have a look on the weekend

If you've got an 08 model your battery is about 5 years old.

Quick way to check is to jump bike off a car battery (do not start car).


Also - some people have had issues with a plug between the radiator and gas tank.
Kick stand switch.
Starter button wires loose or corroded.

I like to start with the easiest things to check first.

Was bike in a dry garage while it was sitting for a week?

Check to see if mice have munched on wires and caused a short somewhere?


Can you hook battery up to a charger/tender and make sure it's fully charged?
Or try the jumper cable trick with a car battery? (do not start car - just use car battery with car not running)

Spark - Fuel - Air

Krispy wrote:

Just Bob wrote:

E10 gas would be my guess. If the stations tank was low or a distributor double dosed a load you could have filled up with kack. Let it sit in your bike for a week and the water will settle to the bottom. Try draining the tank and putting in some fresh fuel.

Too bad Australia followed along with the bio-fuel ripoff.

only fill up with premium same source as my cars which were filled with in a day.

once the bike started it was fine, no hesitations.

anyone had any problems with the fuel hose from the tank to the injection system?

I'm sticking with this guess. Once you pumped the water out of the tank and/or float bowl bottom cycling the starter the bike would in fact run fine.

Just Bob wrote:

I'm sticking with this guess. Once you pumped the water out of the tank and/or float bowl bottom cycling the starter the bike would in fact run fine.

Australian premium has no ethanol

xy500 wrote:

Just Bob wrote:

I'm sticking with this guess. Once you pumped the water out of the tank and/or float bowl bottom cycling the starter the bike would in fact run fine.

Australian premium has no ethanol

You lucky bastards. In USA its federally mandated in ALL gas.

Just Bob wrote:

xy500 wrote:

Just Bob wrote:

I'm sticking with this guess. Once you pumped the water out of the tank and/or float bowl bottom cycling the starter the bike would in fact run fine.

Australian premium has no ethanol

You lucky bastards. In USA its federally mandated in ALL gas.

I was also told by a tanker driver, that most US premium has the most ethanol added because it boosts the octane to 93. (ethanol has a natural octance rating of 130)

Some '08s had fuel pump issues. There is a certain list somewhere saying what seriL numbers are effected. Not sure where this list is though.

the bike did start, motokid the battery was brand new when i bought the bike last year. i gave it a service over the weekend the fuel line wasnt kinked, it was in a dry garage no mice at our house.

I think it was just one of those things, maybe the cool air had something to do with it but its fine after it started still fine now.

Yeah no ethanol in our fuel and our premium is 98.