Start up procedure for Noobs

[mothgils]

So, this is a complete noob question but I know there are many of us on the board that are new to motorcycles or at least to older bikes. Since we are rebuilding 30 yr old bikes, most of which have not ran in years, what is the best start-up procedure? Basically, what are the steps that one should take when trying to get the bike to come to life?


Thanks for helping us noobs out!

 

[hillsy]

You need 3 things for a motor to run - fuel, air and spark.


Fuel - clean / flush the tank and discard any old fuel. Disassemble the carbs and clean them thoroughly. Get new fuel lines.
Air - clean / replace the air filter.
Spark - make sure there is spark and the battery is fully charged / good. Adjust the points and timing. Get new spark plugs.


The best way to guide you through all these steps is to get a workshop manual for your bike and read it thoroughly.

 

[SrgtBear]

I second for a shop manual since every bike is different.

hillsy's pretty much got it down. I'd probably add to cleaning the inside of the fuel tank. I suggest about a cup of acetone and a bunch of small rocks. Shake that baby hard for awhile, get those rocks tumbling and just watch the amount of crap that will come out of that tank.

One thing forgotten is carbs. No matter what, tear down the carbs and clean them good. Make sure to run a thin wire through all the jets and get any gunked up fuel out of there. Check float bowl levels.

Then spark, followed by points and timing.

 

[beard]

in addition to above

use a inline fuel filter
check compression
check voltage to the coils
tape a red areosol can hose to your air compressor sprayer and use that to blow out all passages in ur carb and jets
check for air leaks around the boots once its running
make note and record jet sizes when u have them apart.
always run about 2 cap fulls per gallon of seafoam in the gas

 

[Redbird]

In addition... If you're working on a bike that hasn't been run in a while, change the oil in the motor before you try running it.

 

[frogman]

Maybe a few squirts of oil in to the plug holes as well to help lube the cylinders up before you scratch the hell out of them with that first start.