1990 Zzr-600....won"t Start After Storage

[drew1642]

I have a 1990 ZZR-600. I have tried to run it intermittently throughout the winter to keep from having to fully store the bike. It's 20 years old and since it's running I want to keep it running (hence I wanted to avoid this problem). Needless to say, my plan didn't work out well and it hasn't been started since....hmmmmm 3.5 months. I didn't run anything through the bike, change it's oil, etc. etc. I checked the battery and it says it is O.K. by Advanced Auto standards, however I didn't check each cell for the acid/electrolyte levels since the hose on my POS rater is too big to get into the cell openings.

When I have everything hooked up, the lights all work, horn, can't seem to get high beams to work, I'm sure its the light bulb. I turn the key and go to start the bike and it won't turn over or even try to crank. I have some possibilities and tell me if I am forgetting something:

I am hoping that it is the battery, valves could be gunked and stuck open, bad fuel in tank-therefore worse gas still in the carbs
>>>The fuses for the lights are all working, wires(that I have checked are OK)

I will try to jump it from my car battery with the engine off and also drain the fuel and put some new fuel in. If I am forgetting something or overlooking it please let me know. I know my way around a bike decently but think I am forgetting something simple as I always do. Any help is appreciated

[Lawn Masters]

is your battery fully charged and reading 12V without anything on? solenoid good? you're likely going to want to clean your carbs too.

[drew1642]

The battery is "supposedly" in good working condition. It is fully charged and will still hold a good charge. Put some distilled water to balance out the levels to the correct filling level and charged it on a 1.5 amp 6V/12V floating charger. I figured that everything is all gunked up and needs to be cleaned reguardless, however I just want to start it because I'm trying to sell it or trade for a newer bike or one more reliable.

The reading on the battery is 12.4 Amp at 128V I believe thats what the reader said at Advanced Auto Parts. I'm hoping that one of the cells are off slightly so it will produce a charge strong enough for the lights but not to start? is that something that could happen? Bike is too old for a battery check gauge.

As for carbs, I know that they need to be cleaned. well pretty much everything on the bike can be cleaned but I have OCD when it comes to my toys just don't have the money to do anything about it haha.

Not sure about the solenoid, i'll have to check that.

[Lawn Masters]

you need to put your battery in the bike and run a trickle charger overnight, then hit the starter with the charger hooked up in the morning, you should be fine. how old is the battery though?

and by the way, the ZZR600 is a very reliable machine, I'd hang onto it for the sake of having SOMETHING dependable to ride. given its age, you're not going to get much out of it money wise, and nobody with a larger bike will trade for it, you'll get plenty of offers for EX500's or EX250's, but no 600's or newer bikes. and the EX500/250 are 30 year old technology.

[drew1642]

the battery is quite new as I was told by the guy I bought it from. I think it could be just ruined because I left it in my garage over the winter hooked up (since I tried to get it started every other week to keep the charge and fluids moving). no more than 3 years? I will try to jump it in the next few minutes and see what happens. If it doesn't start then I will try draining the old fuel out and put some fresh fuel in and put the trickle charger on. So I should hook up the battery in the bike and then put the trickle charger on both the battery connection and the wires from the bike to the battery?

[drew1642]

The battery is charged since I charged it fully last night and then brought it to the store today and got it checked. I have heard that starting the bike with the charger hooked up is bad??

[drew1642]

It's definitely not the battery that is the problem. I believe it could have something to do with the bike tipping over last fall (minimal chance because the bike ran fine after and it was not a bad tip over-I checked the area and surrounding parts). I did notice that even with a car battery hooked up, the front lights wouldn't work. Any ideas on what it is now?

[Lawn Masters]

more than likely you have a fuse somewhere that is blown and needs to be replaced. usually your fuse panel is under the rider's seat in a junction box.

[drew1642]

I already checked all the fuses and they are all still intact. could the wiring somehow have been affected?

[Lawn Masters]

this depends. do you have a rodent issue where you store the bike? I'd break out the multimeter and start testing things to see if you can find the problem to fix it.

[CKRider]

Does the motor try to turn over at all?..if not, I would look at the starter, and make sure there is proper voltage going to it....

[drew1642]

There aren't any problems with rodents and the fuses are good, along with everything else except the front lights. I'll see if I can get my hands on a multimeter and go with that.

[drew1642]

it doesn't attempt to turn at all. I don't see how the starter could have gone bad in only 4 months when it has 20 years on it already.

[Q-Smitty]

I'm not really sure what all this BS with cleaning carbs and swapping fuel. Unless I missed something between the original post and now, the bike isn't even cranking, so focus should be on electrical and the starter. Once its cranking, if its still not firing up, then you focus on your fuel issues. So right now its all about finding the gap between your battery and the engine cranking. That includes the battery, some electrical crap, and the starter. Just to clarify, when you say that you checked all the fuses, the starter fuse is included in the grouping of "all" right? If not, check that. If the fuse is blown, replace it of course. If not, check the voltage at the fuse socket to see if you're getting power to your starter switch. If yes, then your electrical checks out and you're talking starter switch or starter. If no, then you backtrack the wiring to the battery and find the missing link.

[drew1642]

I am going to drain the fluids regardless but just was trying to figure out why it wouldn't turn over. I figured I forgot something major to check, being the starter, and switch what is probably what it is. However since the front lights are no longer working, I thought that was strange and assumed it had something to do with the bike not starting.

[Conflict]

So when you hit the starter, does it do anything at all? Or does it seem like the kill switch is turned on?

[drew1642]

Acts as if the kill switch is turned on

[Conflict]

Definitely an electrical problem then as stated before. Use the voltage meter on the starter to see if it is recieving power. The post above is exactly what I would do. Let us know how it turns out.

[Q-Smitty]

Originally Posted by drew1642

However since the front lights are no longer working, I thought that was strange and assumed it had something to do with the bike not starting.

I don't know about the zzr, but my 600R doesn't turn on the headlights until the bike fires. You can turn the key, nothing; hit the starter and not have it fire, nothing. If the bike actually fires, even if its only one stroke, the lights turn on. Now backtrack from your starter to your battery and lets get this figured out.

[drew1642]

anyone know where i can get a multimeter for less then $10 bucks. I need to same every dime I can so I can use it toward parts and other things for my car and bike.