Not starting after 5 months standstill

[Guest]

So after mounting my new exhaust on the 750 this week, the bike doesn't start... It did start when I removed the old rusted exhaust.
If i look at the points, only the right points give a spark. Sparkplugs themselves don't do anything...

Fuel reaches the carbs. Carbs have been cleaned and rebuild, airbox has been cleaned and gotten new sealing. Boots on both airbox and engine end have been replaced for new ones. Valves are adjusted.
The engine cranks, but just doesn't fire. I haven't been able yet to test the electrical system, but I would guess my problems lies somewhere in there... What are good thing to check for after a 5 months standstill?

[tom203]

"What are good thing to check for after a 5 months standstill?"

Mice! Make sure "choke" is fully actuating at carbs. Try blocking air intake with hand,rag,etc to put more vacuum on enricher circuit as you crank. Is this new petrol?

[Drummert]

Haha XD No mice found.

Petrol is 5 months old as well. It was new petrol 5 months ago. Would that make so much of a difference?
Shouldn't I have sparks at the left set of points as well?

[tkent02]

Go buy yourself a nice new Honda.

[Steve]

I don't do much with points, but if I recall correctly, you should not see sparks at the points. That would be a sign of a faulty condensor.

.

[tom203]

5 month old gas would be ok, provided you folks don't have any gas additives forced on you, like ethanol.

[ukjules]

this can be got going for sure !

Try and sort the points to spec or buy new and condenser ?

Check plugs, caps, ht leads
check the coils with a mulitmeter ? you getting voltage there too ?

Check all the wiring along the ignition circuit !

You need a spark, compression and fuel.

[Drummert]

Allright. Checked for sparks on the plugs yesterday again. This time i did see sparks coming from 2 and 3. Thats something i missed apparently the last time. The sparks are very weak though, probably why i didn't see them during the day in the sunlight...
1 and 4 dont give sparks, so i guess that's where my problem is.

I'm going to check the hell out of it today. It feels like its so damn close to starting! I want to hear that new exhaust so bad.

[mike10]

There are one set of points for 1 and 4 and one set for 2 and 3 cylinders. so you can have spark at 2 cylinders and not on the other 2. A lot of good point setting videos on youtube. I have never had to fool with them on a bike. But I did have an old Ford truck that had them. I would clean them first. Just slide some super fine grit sandpaper or file between the contacts a few times. With the key on, if the contacts are together and you push them apart there should be a spark. But got to be someone on here that knows more than me about them.

[JayWB]

I would clean them first. Just slide some super fine grit sandpaper or file between the contacts a few times. With the key on, if the contacts are together and you push them apart there should be a spark. But got to be someone on here that knows more than me about them.

Do NOT use sandpaper on points. Use a file specifically made for points, you can get it at an auto parts store. It's called a points file. Sandpaper rounds the edges of the contacts and leaves particles of grit in the contacts, both of which ruins the contact set.

[Drummert]

Got it working!

Checked the point gaps, both where smaller than 0.35mm. Adjusted them. After that I got sparks back in all four plugs.
He still didn't want to start though. So I figured I could try squirting a bit of carb cleaner into the airbox, or actually more into the carbs through the boots (the stuff you add whilst the engine is running). That stuff is more flammable. The bike started, ran for less than a sec and stopped. So that got me wondering if it had enough clean fuel in there. A ride to the gas station with a jerry can, about 5L of new fuel and a few tries. Still no go, because the battery at the time was starting to get weak (new one, but already took a hit).

I decided on a few last tries with the kickstarter. A few kicks and back to life it was! I'll just skip the electric start for now and use the kickstarter, until that battery had some change to charge during some trips.

On a side note: the new exhaust sounds awesome! I'm a very happy man.