06 Honda Hornet Won’t Start

[Mad Mike]

Okay, so a little background info. Shes carbed. I noticed as the season got closer to an end, she would have more and more trouble starting. I chalked this up to the cold weather, (if anyone could clear this up for me it would be much obliged). This was my first issue. There would be times, after having ridden and it sat while I was in class for a few hours, that I would come back out and she could not ignite. I would follow the manual’s steps of a flooded engine and open the throttle as I hit the starter which then in turn she would catch, and I would immediately close the throttle and play with the choke as she would already be running high rpms because of the ‘boost’ you could say I gave her when I opened the throttle on the start. I hope that makes sense and am curious as to what may have been happening that caused me to have to do such a thing.

That being said, I put her away and not even three weeks later, she was in a unheated garage I came to her and she would not start. I could not get her running but it was not the battery but I still hooked her up to a battery tender anyways. Then I returned from school once again, another three weeks later and tried the most recent time, with a full battery and have a hard time believeing the fuel has gone bad. It could not have gone bad just three weeks from the last time I rode it and the issues persisted but even a total of 5-6 weeks until where I am now I do not think it could have gone bad. Could anyone diagnose what is going on from the video I attached. Thank you!
Video here

I didn't hear any firing in that video. Based on your warm weather starting problems I'd guess gunked up carbs. Too much fuel (flooding) soaks your plugs, not enough starves a cold engine which will need a very rich fuel supply to start.

If you're asking about basic diagnostics here, I'd suggest 'calling a friend'. Not trying to discourage you from home troubleshooting, but if you're a novice who starts assembling and reassembling based on Internet advice you night make the problem worse than it already is.

Pull a spark plug wire, stick a screwdriver in the end, hold the frame with one hand and the metal part of the screwdriver with the other. Hit the starter and see if you get a tingle in your hand. If so, you have spark. Next, try warming your garage up to room temperature for 24 hours using a space heater, or toss a cover over your bike and place a small space heater nearby -- close enough to blow under the cover but not close enough to ignite anything. The bike needs to be room temp to the core, including fuel. Once warm, it should be easier to start than the fall as the surrounding air is cold which can make starting a bit easier.

If the bike starts using your fall starting technique, I'd bet it's time for carb service.

 

[Trials]

@Mad Mike Did you read any part of the last 19 posts?

 

[Wyled]

@bitzz probably about a month and a half from today. but from when she first couldnt start, two weeks id say, 3 at max.

@Trials thanks so much for the manual, huge help.
and thanks for the second insight.

would you suggest to try de-icer beforehand or give propane a shot before i do anything else then. or vice versa

@Mad Mike cheers man, i believe thats the case but gonna go step by step when im home and see what leads where.

thanks everyone much obliged you all have been incredibly helpful

 

[GreyGhost]

@bitzz probably about a month and a half from today. but from when she first couldnt start, two weeks id say, 3 at max.

@Trials thanks so much for the manual, huge help.
and thanks for the second insight.

would you suggest to try de-icer beforehand or give propane a shot before i do anything else then. or vice versa

@Mad Mike cheers man, i believe thats the case but gonna go step by step when im home and see what leads where.

thanks everyone much obliged you all have been incredibly helpful

Propane never hurts a four-stroke (assuming you don't blow up your garage). For yard equipment and smaller bikes I use an unlit propane torch wide-open jammed into the mouth of the carb if one carb or the airbox for more than one or inaccessible mouth. I doubt one torch will give you enough fuel to fire a 600 but I haven't tried.

 

[Iceman]

It has 32000km, it became gradually harder to start, now it won't start at all.
Check and adjust your valve clearances. I'd put money on it.

Sent from my SM-A530W using Tapatalk

 

[Relax]

I've experienced hard starting after a few weeks even during the summer using ethanol gas in my carbed Hawk. I would drain the floats if it sat for more than two weeks, and it would come out rust coloured. The tank was immaculate, and the carbs were clean, so that was a little disconcerting. Eventually, I ended up just switching to ethanol-free gas, which broke my rule of never running a higher octane than what the motor was designed for. Lesser of two evils, and solved the hard starting problems.

As for starting fluid, I just use gasoline in a windex bottle.