No Start Checklist?

Hey guys, is there a No Start Checklist lingering around anywhere. Im pretty mechanically inclined with cars but not so much with motorcycles. I have a 1975 cl360 with the following relevant to getting it started; pod filters, ngk plugs, no mufflers (just headers), rebuilt the carbs (followed a youtube video). This is how it goes for (trying) to get it started, with dead battery (does it make a difference?). Also I had to drain the oil, had a fuel smell to it and was thin. Anyways....1st gear kick start, blurr blurr blurr. I keep on kicking it and fuel dumps from overflow tube on right carb only. Help me out guys, wanna get this on the road before I deploy in about a month.

it will likely not start with a dead battery

and if there's gas dumping out of your overflow tubes, you need to rebuild the carbs again, or at least take the bowls off and make sure the floats are at proper height and the float valves are free of debris

First gear kick start? It has to be in neutral and your hand has to be off the clutch.

OK, so its on the trickle over night, and I will get into that carb again.....with it in neutral hand off clutch, kicking, absolutely nothing happens, I feel no compression or resistance(is that right?)

Either your clutch needs adjusted, or something else inside there. Could be your kicker shaft is stripped as well.

Does it feel like the engine is moving when it's gear?

When its in gear hand off clutch, I feel good compression. I have it up on the center stand when I do it in gear so it doesnt roll away on me

Hmmmm. That doesn't make sense. Physically check that the engine is moving via the kickstarter while it's in neutral. Do a compression test, make sure your valves are adjusted, timing is set properly, and you have spark.

It confused me too when nothing happened in neutral.

Sounds to me like a clutch adjustment? In 1st the kick should be super hard if clutch is disengaged. Maybe if its not adjusted correctly and partially engaged it'd ease the kick though?

In neutral, if clutch is in (and probably partially too) you'll get no resistance like you're describing.

But def get a good battery on there asap. No or weak spark = a lot of wasted kicking

If kicking it in 1st is turning the rear wheel then obviously the clutch is working... Maybe youre just expecting more resistance? The 360 isnt a very big engine to turn over with the kicker, so if you have horse legs or something it probably wont feel like theres very much resistance, especially if compression is marginal in the engine... if its completely smooth and you can easily push the kicker through the whole stroke with your hand though, you most likely have a problem internal problems that youre gonna have to deal with before it will start. Id do a compression or leak down test just to be sure everythings fine in the chambers first.

Im looking for 160 on compression correct?

If your bike moves in neutral then your friction disks in your clutch basket are stuck. I had this problem. Only way I was able to free was to push start into first, shift into section without the clutch. Hold the clutch in and whip the engine throttle. It immediately broke free. But it sounds like you might have the opposite problem.

As far as your fuel dumping out. Something is going on with your float bowl, or needle and seat. If your float bowl is not set right it would just keep telling your carbs they need more fuel. Which explains the leak. The best thing you could do is adjust them but you will probably want to pick up a service manual moving forward. It will save you a world of hurt in the future.

flip4eva83 said:

Hey guys, is there a No Start Checklist lingering around anywhere. Im pretty mechanically inclined with cars but not so much with motorcycles. I have a 1975 cl360 with the following relevant to getting it started; pod filters, ngk plugs, no mufflers (just headers), rebuilt the carbs (followed a youtube video). This is how it goes for (trying) to get it started, with dead battery (does it make a difference?). Also I had to drain the oil, had a fuel smell to it and was thin. Anyways....1st gear kick start, blurr blurr blurr. I keep on kicking it and fuel dumps from overflow tube on right carb only. Help me out guys, wanna get this on the road before I deploy in about a month.

Click to expand...

If you already smelled fuel in the oil and then the carbs overflowed again, I would get them fixed before doing anything else. Once you have that done and verified, then change the oil again before doing anything with the engine. Gas thinned oil will ruin your engine in short order. Don't even kick it over until you have this sorted.

And yes you need a fully charged battery.

Have you checked the valve clearances? Checked the timing? Kill switch set to 'Run'?

so oil is now changed, I checked compression and I got a wimpy 35psi on both cylinders (sounds like i need to adjust some valves?) also the plugs were black.

The valves would have to be pretty far off to get 35psi. So far off you will never get it started. Did this bike run before?

I think about a yr or 2 ago my father and I got started but it didnt want to idle. Im sure it was a fuel thing then though, cause everything smelled like terpentine. And the carbs were all kinds of clogged when I pulled them.

Was that 35psi with throttles wide open and no spark plugs kicking until it stopped rising?

Had to pull the plugs to hook up the compression tester, throttle closed, kicking til it stops rising (i would say up to 5 or 6 kicks, sometimes,2 or 3)

This is actually a very good question.
No where on DTT, that Im aware of, is a comprehensive step-by-step list of what to do or what to look for when you find that your bike wont start. Usually the process of identifying the culprit, is in our heads and we instinctively know what to look for...

That being said, here is the steps that usually follow. At some point I always find the culprit. Keep in mind however, each make of bike has its own starting "process" so I'll assume that you guys know how to start your own bike and there is infact a problem somewhere...

1. Check for Power.
- Key on, is there light from the headlight, do the turn or indicator signals work?
- If NO then check your battery's voltage with a volt meter.
- if its less than 12 volts it wont start with the starter button. Kick start it... Or put a charger on it
- If Yes then check for spark at the plug.
- remove the plug wire and plug, put the plug into the wire, ground it on the engine case and kick
- Is there spark?
Yes - then put everything back and check for gas
No - bad spark plug or bad ignition wire or check the connection at the coils
- Check for gas
- make sure there is gas in the tank...
- make sure fuel tap is on or on reserve.
- check to see if there is fuel in the carbs, Fuel tap on and remove the drain screws to see if gas leaks
- if your fuel tap is on, and you remove the drain screws and NO gas is leaking, then you have no fuel delivery.
- check for kinks in the fuel line

In my experience, if my bike was running the day or week before and all of a sudden, it wont start in the morning, the above check list solves 90% of the issues...

That being said, if the bike has been sitting for 20 years in a shed, the check list of things to look for becomes larger. In that case, a check list to get a bike started after many years merits it own thread.
However, typical problems are
1. dirty or stuck carbs
2. bad/dirty fuel
3. bad plugs
etc...etc...

Anyone else care to add anything?

Something like that is exactly what i was looking for, but in a perfect world model specific. Thanks