CB500F Struggling to Start | Page 3 | GTAMotorcycle.com

CB500F Struggling to Start

Trials said:
Last time I bought a motorcycle battery for my MV they had 2 prices, one with trade one without. I went to a battery store in Gananoque if that makes any difference. The guy said he didn't even care if it was the same size battery, just had to be a lead acid battery, ymmv.



All might change with covid, I think the whole world might change.
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Jeebus. The gas to drive to Ganny prolly cost more than what the battery was worth.
 
Wingboy said:
Jeebus. The gas to drive to Ganny prolly cost more than what the battery was worth.
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Diesel, but I have friends there I go visit occasionally anyway so it's no big deal
.... not during covid
 
Trials said:
...............all know how easy it is to do a compression test once you have the tool to do it, right?
You unscrew a spark plug, bung the compression test thing into the spark plug hole and turn the motor over with the kick or electric start for several rotations, then you read the dial. You don't even need to start the engine :|
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It's not an issue as to how easy or difficult it is to do, it's a question of relevance. I think the likeihood of a bike with only 20k km having an issue that might result in reduced compression is just about slim to nil.
 
ReSTored said:
It's not an issue as to how easy or difficult it is to do, it's a question of relevance. I think the likeihood of a bike with only 20k km having an issue that might result in reduced compression is just about slim to nil.
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If the bike was operating as expected there would be no particular reason to check your compression rations. OP' bike however has a known problem, trouble-shooting is in order.
 
Compression loss due to wear is very unlikely. But a compression test is also used to diagnose valve issues.

Sent from my Redmi 7A using Tapatalk
 
The battery is the easiest thing to rule out that anyone can do on their own before sending out to a shop. If you have a car, run booster cables to the bike (LEAVE THE CAR OFF). If the bike's battery is bad, the starter will spin a lot faster and it should start right away. Also inspect the bike's battery terminals. If they're corroded, you won't be getting as much current to spin the starter.

Normally the next step I'd suggest is checking the spark plugs, but I can see how someone without experience might find it intimidating:

How often do you ride it, how old is the gas, and do you use gas with ethanol?
 
Something else you should never accept: when you specifically take an engine to a mechanic for a compression test to be done, and all they say is it's "ok!"
If you don't give me actual psi numbers for each cylinder :cautious: how did you check it, stick your finger in the plug hole and turn it over?
Give me the numbers or do the test again at no charge, write it in the notes section of my owner manual.


People without experience find everything intimidating, that's why you have to force yourself to experience things, it's the only way to get rid of that intimidation. Next time you do it, it will seem easy.
 
Trials said:
Something else you should never accept: when you specifically take an engine to a mechanic for a compression test to be done, and all they say is it's "ok!"
If you don't give me actual psi numbers for each cylinder :cautious: how did you check it, stick your finger in the plug hole and turn it over?
Give me the numbers or do the test again at no charge, write it in the notes section of my owner manual.
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Although at that point, if you're already paying for a compression test, you might was well pay the extra for a leak-down to get the full picture.
 
Relax said:
Although at that point, if you're already paying for a compression test, you might was well pay the extra for a leak-down to get the full picture.
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Na, if it's for a motorcycle. I would spend the time and money on the nice tools so I could do it myself.

... looking for a nice compression tester for my Montesa now, it takes a very tiny spark plug and the gauges I have access to now don't fit as well as they should. Might have to make one :|
 
What, are you nuts Trials! How could you possibly Make a compression tester!
:geek: ... with and old spark plug from my bike, a length of reinforced hose or pipe, and a compression test dial gauge that has the needle to show you what the momentary maximum air pressure was, or even a regular old truck tire pressure gauge that slides, that would do very nicely.
 
likely being replaced at 100$ per hour :unsure: some time next week. Great work if you can get it.
 
I often find these "help me........ my bike isn't running properly or at all" requests to be a bit frustrating.

BTW, I really don't mean to flame the OP specifically on this, as my comments below pertain to a significant number of posts I see from people who have run issues and are looking for help. The forum needs a bit of basic info and this is a generic list.
  • Brand and model number/name, year and current mileage.
  • Did you own the bike from new, if not, when did you buy it and at what mileage.
  • If you are saying the bike was just serviced what does that mean. Give us the date of service and was it just an oil change or did you have extensive work done and if so, was it to address to running issue(s) you are posting about or just as scheduled or seasonal preventative maintenenace.
  • We assume the bike was running great just after the service so when did the issue start in terms of km riden after the service, was it sudden or progressive.
  • Give us some assessment of your willingness or ability to do tests or repairs. There's no point in soliciting feedback to do a bunch or diagnostic tests or actually make repairs if you have no place to do the work, own no tools, have no shop manual, have no inclination to learn, are afraid of working on your bike or are currently having a dealer do virtually 100% of all repairs or PM work.
  • If you have done a number of things to determine the cause of the issue (check battery, pulled plugs, cleaned connectors etc... whatever) tell us in detail what you did, findings and if anything changed.
Above are just the basics, but if provided can eliminate many many posts asking for basic info that could have been provided in the first post. It also facilitates responders making suggestion or recommendations that are actually relevant to your bike and how you're going to move forward to get it fixed.
 
  • (y) if you say you have an electrical problem and post a wiring diagram, awesome.

The information isn't necessarily useless once the OP is done with it,
lots of people read or search forums to find real fixes for the symptoms they are experiencing on the same bike, it's all good.
 
ReSTored said:
I often find these "help me........ my bike isn't running properly or at all" requests to be a bit frustrating.

BTW, I really don't mean to flame the OP specifically on this, as my comments below pertain to a significant number of posts I see from people who have run issues and are looking for help. The forum needs a bit of basic info and this is a generic list.
  • Brand and model number/name, year and current mileage.
  • Did you own the bike from new, if not, when did you buy it and at what mileage.
  • If you are saying the bike was just serviced what does that mean. Give us the date of service and was it just an oil change or did you have extensive work done and if so, was it to address to running issue(s) you are posting about or just as scheduled or seasonal preventative maintenenace.
  • We assume the bike was running great just after the service so when did the issue start in terms of km riden after the service, was it sudden or progressive.
  • Give us some assessment of your willingness or ability to do tests or repairs. There's no point in soliciting feedback to do a bunch or diagnostic tests or actually make repairs if you have no place to do the work, own no tools, have no shop manual, have no inclination to learn, are afraid of working on your bike or are currently having a dealer do virtually 100% of all repairs or PM work.
  • If you have done a number of things to determine the cause of the issue (check battery, pulled plugs, cleaned connectors etc... whatever) tell us in detail what you did, findings and if anything changed.
Above are just the basics, but if provided can eliminate many many posts asking for basic info that could have been provided in the first post. It also facilitates responders making suggestion or recommendations that are actually relevant to your bike and how you're going to move forward to get it fixed.
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Pm sent.
 
well.. don't leave us hanging... what was the problem OP??
 
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