Starting issue

0007onwr does the 02 sensor on the euro bikes measure rich/lean?? is that its purpose or is it there just to measure emissions? any idea??

Yes an 02 sensor System is called "closed loop" in technical terms
It measures what comes out the tailpipe and adjusts accordingly
It can only adjust within the mapping though so if you do extensive modification it could fall outside the map and go into a default mode

Just found out I'm getting some significant time off over the next few weeks. That will give me time to get the bike going again and finally spend some time riding. Popped the tank off last night and plan to start giving things a serious look once the weekend gets here. Once I figure out the problem I will update the thread.

Shep

So it took me longer to type out my starting issues here on this board than it did to actually fix it. Trying to be strictly logical, I kept going back to the fact that the bike ran fine right up until the moment I filled it up and rode it the one mile from the station to my house. I had siphoned the tank but there was still some gas in it. When the bike went from starting and dying to not starting at all, I suspected a fouled plug. I popped the tank last night, came home from work today, pulled the plug...black and shiny. Went to the local shop, grabbed a plug and installed it. Completely drained tank and went for some fresh fuel. Started immediately and ran fine.

Shep

Great.
Awesome when the basics are all it takes. :)

Good!

Sarah

0007onWR, thanks for the 02 sensor info, it was as I had hoped but wasnt sure. Nice to know its not leaning out when fully tapped!! Ta. Another good reason to leave the exhaust system etc alone aye...

Good on ya for just diagnosing the basics before jumping to a conclusion
I can guarantee the first thing a tech does when a unit comes in with "it won't start" is pop the gas cap and see if there is fuel in the tank, the second thing they do is smell the tank, then comes the spark plug
If a 20 - 30 year veteran does that then the lesson is, start at the beginning
And it is not uncommon for an EFI bike to foul a plug, often frequent cold starts without warmup will cause it
Thanks for the update