v star 650 wont start

[bristang]

I just picked up a 05 v star that has been sitting for at least 2 years,i was wondering if you are supposed to be able to hear the fuel pump run all the time,or does it only run until it builds pressure.I can hear the pump run for maybe a second then nothing,but i disconnected the line at the carbs and it pumped as long as the key was on.When i try to start the bike it just cranks and doesnt seem to be getting any fuel to the cylinders,i pulled the plugs and they were dry.Any ideas would be really appreciated,thanks.By the way it only has 530 miles if that makes any difference.

[pgman]

My neighbor just found himself in an almost identical situation two weeks ago. He bought a used V-Star 650 for his wife. It had been sitting for at least three years without being started and it would start and run for about two seconds and then die.

The carb floats were very much stuck and all the jets inside the carbs were very much clogged. All he did was remove the carbs, take the bowls off and soak / spray them thoroughly with gumout (carb cleaner). Once he put them back together and re-filled the tank with fresh gasoline, it fired right up. It ran kinda rough for about the first 10 miles but slowly smoothed out (a bottle of seafoam in the gas tank probably helped). It has been running perfectly since then.

Since your plugs are dry, it may well be that your bike has the same problem. I would check to be certain you are getting spark before tearing into it too far, but I'd be willing to bet your floats are stuck (at least). Make sure you drain your tank and put fresh gas in, too.

If you end up taking the carbs off, make sure you know where each piece goes (so re-assembly will be easier) and you might want to plan on a trip to the hardware store for bowl screws. The phillips-head screws that hold the bowls on have a tendency to be really stubborn and often times strip out when you try to remove them. You can usually just grab them with a pair of vise grips and break them loose, but when you put the bowls back on (and for future cleaning / adjustment) it is nice to have some good allen-head screws on the bowls. It makes future service much easier.

[artistic_gore]

Never mind, I'm too slow.

[pgman]

Never mind, I'm too slow.


Hehe, I hate it when I think I have a good answer but I'm too slow typing it! That usually happens to me becuase I am so long-winded.

Anyway, I thought I'd add that you can always shoot just a little bit of starting fluid into the air intakes. If the engine fires or runs for a short time with a shot of ether, you can be pretty certain that the carbs are clogged.