Winter Question - bike won't start

[cgwinner]

Its been a few weeks since I've been able to run my hawk. I live in Atlanta and the temp's have been pretty low recently, at least for us southerners (in the teens). The bike lives in a covered parking deck for now, hopefully a closed garage soon.

I went to start her the other day and she won't start. The battery seems fresh and I was using all the choke I could. Any recommendations on what to do next? Then after I get running, what I should do to winterize for a few months.

Thanks,
Chris

[Chris Gray]

Take out the plugs and warm them up..

It might be the engine flooded.. what i always do then is.. the same take out the plugs and press the start button, it runs through then..

[isaac]

Could always try a squirt of starting fluid first. Other than that, do as Chris said. To winterize it, put some stabil in the tank and raise it onto the centerstand. Other than that, I'll let the winter experts tell you.

[ghandi1616]

Being from Canada, I know cold. If I let my bike sit for any length of time in the winter and try to start it, it does take some cranking to get it to fire. Why, maybe a fuel expert could answer that. My garage is not heated so it is almost as cold inside as the outside. As for the winter storage, just do what Isaac said, fuel stabilzer in a full tank. Let it run for about 15 minutes and shut it down. Turn the fuel line to off. I give my chain a quick lube job as well. This has not let me down in 25yrs of biking.

[Vtwin650]

you just need to figure out, by trial and error, what the appropriate amount of choke is needed to get it to fire in the cold. Hondas and most older motorcyles are very cold natured, and the fact that gasoline does not act the same in cold weather.

My bike takes about a 1/4 of the choke to get it to start in the cold. When I first bought her, i ran the battery down for the first several cold mornings. Taking the plugs out would get old very fast!!!

How long have you owned the old girl?

[cgwinner]

got it

thanks for the tips guys. vtwin650 was right, just needed to find the right choke amount...the warmer weather may have helped too.

I've had my hawk for about 6 months or so, bought it earlier this year and have loved every ride.