Early Retirement Extreme Forums

I know we've got some handy DIY folks here so I figured I would check if anyone had any recommendations here.

I have an '08 Suzuki SV650 that's been standing still for almost 2 years with I'm ashamed to admit no maintenance of any kind. When I put the key in the electronics didn't light up. I connected it to a jumper battery and got the electronics to light up, but when trying to start the engine won't even turn.

What would your recommendations be as to where to start.

Some things I already figure I need to do:
- Replace battery
- Clean Carb
- Drain and replace gas
- Probably use a fuel system cleaner in the new tank of gas.
- Change oil
- Clean and lube the chain

Yeah. That's probably going to do it. And if you can't start it after all that, the troubleshooting will be easier.

Bikes are fairly simple, so a Haynes manual is often all that is needed or available. I aim for factory service manuals ideally, but bikes are rarely issued such.

YouTube is going to be a good friend...

If the tank is half full, you could add some high octane gas to it and burn through the tank.

If the bike controls light up with jumper cables, but it won't turn over, good chance that the battery is completely dead. You can have someone apply gas to the host vehicle you are jumping from. The higher amperage/voltage might get the motor to turn over. You would be surprised, the carbs might not need any maintenance.

Since you say the engine will not even turn I would also run a jumper wire to the starter to see if it will spin or not. Then you'll know whether there is broken wire/short between ignition and starter.

If the starter spins but does not engage the engine then your bendix is not funtioning properly. It's possible to replace parts of the starter without having to buy a whole new one.

These are the first things that came to mind from your description. Good luck! Keep us posted

Also when attempting to "hotwire" the starter there should be 2 or 3 posts you can try touching with your jumper wire. One may only spin the starter motor one of the others should spin the starter motor and simultaneously engage the bendix.

Thanks for all the advice, seems I was on the right track at least.

@BMF1102
Not sure exactly what you mean. Do you mean running a jumper cable from the jumper battery I have directly to the starter or just running a cable from the battery in the bike to the starter?

Have you checked the kill switch?

Drag it up a hill, turn on the ignition, open the fuel, put it in second, hold in the clutch, roll down the hill and let the clutch fly.

jumper wires from a car can damage the motorcycle. maybe just the battery, which is probably dead anyway. but it's still a bad idea.

does the bike run when bump-started, like hojo-e mentions? no hill necessary.

just putting the bike in neutral, giving it a hefty pushing start (maybe have a human help by pushing the bike with a rider on it), and then abruptly shifting into gear. if that starts the bike, it's just the battery. all the other stuff probably still a good idea.

Well from the images I see on google there is only one post on the starter. You use a wire attached to the positive side of the battery then just touch the other end to the post on the starter. I don't know how much room you have on this bike it may be easier to remove the starter then test it.

I second bump starting it to see if it will run.

@Brute- How can jumping from a car damage the bike?

I've tried bump-starting and it wouldn't but since I have never done it before this I'm not sure if it's just that I'm not building up enough momentum and I was doing it alone, when I tried this last it was 40+ degrees and I may have been reluctant to keep trying after dragging the bike up a hill 4 times in this heat.

As for the jumping from a car, from what I understand this can be bad because motorcycle and car batteries aren't always the same voltage and this difference could cause damage, though I'm not sure if this would only damage the battery if trying to jump the battery from a higher voltage battery or if it could damage anything else.

Unless you're using an old 6 volt car or attempting to jump a 6 volt bike there is no difference. Both modern bikes and cars use 12volt systems which when running and charging put out about 14 volts. The big differance is in cold cranking amps being higher in car batteries. So long as you connect and disconnect jumper cables properly (which I am guilty of not doing) there should be no issues.

I feel your pain as far as trying to get it bump started. In the past I spent quite a bit of time trying to push start a fickle '77 sportster as well as various manual trans vehicles I've owned.

Fun fact I was push started on the '77 sportster by a state trooper and friend, twice, along side I-80/90 in western Ohio.

Clean carb?

I thought the SV650 was fuel injected. If so no Cleanout required. Just fill with gas and put in a good battery. It should fire. If not you need to dig deeper.

Yeah I found that out myself just the other day. 2003 and on SV650s have been fuel injected.

even when bump starting doesn't quite work, it usually feels like the bike was "almost there". e.g. it will stutter when shifting into gear/dropping the clutch, but then not quite make it. at 650cc, it shouldn't be that hard to do it. but maybe just trying the new battery since that's dead anyway..

BRUTE wrote: ↑

Thu Sep 27, 2018 9:44 am

e.g. it will stutter when shifting into gear/dropping the clutch, but then not quite make it.

That does seem quite descriptive of what happened.

prognastat wrote: ↑

Thu Sep 27, 2018 10:01 am

That does seem quite descriptive of what happened.

That's usually indicative of a fuel problem. Check for a filter in the carb. Give it a good cleaning.

@Hojo-e

Turns out the '08 SV650 is actually fuel injected and doesn't have a carb.

Push starting doesn't always work on a fuel injected bike. The system needs time to get going and by the time everything is ready it has slowed down too much.

We're you able to drain and replace the gas?

Did you get the old battery tested? Were you able to get a new one or borrow a known good one? I'd start here.

Yeah I've got a list going of thing to try, but a lot going at the moment on so it's going to have to wait until after my next paycheque. Then I'll be putting in an order for the stuff I need to replace the battery and drain/refill the tank and add some fuel cleaner to it. My hope is that'll get it running. If it does then I'll move on to cleaning and lubing the chain and doing an oil&filter change.

Gilberto de Piento wrote: ↑

Thu Sep 27, 2018 2:53 pm

Push starting doesn't always work on a fuel injected bike. The system needs time to get going and by the time everything is ready it has slowed down too much.

Yessir. There’s the fuel pump that has to spin up and pressurize the rail. I don’t think this is gonna work. Good suggestion to get it on a battery...any battery and then crank it. Can you jump it from a car or borrow a jump box? I got this really nice compact one recently with Lithium Ion batteries for $70. Works great on bikes and small cars.