You know how it is. The weather is starting to warm up and you are getting that itch to go riding after all that cabin fever, you go out to the garage and lo and behold your trusty steed refuses to fire up. What do you do?
Ok, not my V Star, but I get asked this enough this time of year that I’ve decided to do a quick diagnostic post that I can point to instead of writing all of this over and over.
1. PILOT JETS!! Did your bike work fine when you parked it for winter several months ago and now won’t start? Check that the pilot jets are not gummed up, this is a VERY common issue with the V Star 650’s. If the bike has been sitting long at all I would check and clean the pilots regardless. Also if the bike will start under full choke but will not run off choke, pilot jets! Check here for some videos documenting how to clean the carbs. If you have Ziv’s stainless carb screws installed, cleaning the pilots is a breeze and does not take more than 15 or 20 minutes. For cleaning out the pilot jets, the wire out of a bread tie is the perfect size.
2. Battery. Again, bike sat all winter and now it won’t crank. Not to worry, its most likely just your battery. If it drained enough over winter to not start again you can throw a trickle charger on there and maybe get going but typically a battery can not handle many deep cycle charges like this and you’ll want to start looking for a new battery when your finances allow.
2a. Battery terminals. If your battery tests good but you are still getting no crank or the relay is buzzing, clean off those terminals! One of my batteries was working fine till it decided to loose a connection and left me stranded in the middle of nowhere with no cell phone reception. Took me a while to try cleaning the connections as one last ditch effort and what do you know the bike fired right up.
3. Air leaks. I hate air leaks they are always difficult to hunt down. Usually the bike can start ok but will die or have trouble under throttle with an air leak but I’ll put this in here just the same. Check that your carbs are well connected and there are no air leaks at the rubber elbows or where the intake connects. It is easy to over tighten those air box or GAK POD filter connections causing them to pop off, snug is good, too tight is not. If its none of the usual culprits check that the rubber boots that connect to the air ports under the carbs on the elbows have not dry rotted, or if you have AIS be sure none of those rubber air lines have cracked and started leaking. A good way to test for air leaks is once the bike is running again spray something near those connections and lines and listen for the RPMs to go up something like starting fluid or even WD40 will work.
4. Pickup coil. If the bike cranks well and the fuel system is working well but you are still getting no spark or weak spark, check the pickup coil. The 2 wire connection under the tank is the best place to measure the resistances like stated at the top of this document. If your pickup coil is indeed toast here is how to fix that, I’m sorry to tell you its a bit involved and somewhat of an expensive replacement.
5. Ignition coils. Does the bike have a hard time starting or only runs much of the time on one cylinder until it warms up? If you’ve already checked the fuel system, Check the coils under the tank. Coil problems often mimic carb problems or is it the other way around?
This is just a quick writeup I’m sure I’ll think of others in time and add them here. If you think of something to add let me know in the comments and I’ll put it in too.
6. Fuel. You did turn the fuel on didn’t you? I know its obvious but you put the bike a way months ago and forgot to turn the fuel back on. It’s embarrassing and happens to the best of us, I won’t tell if you won’t.
7. Safety Switches. Kill Switch, Nuetral Switch, Clutch Switch, Kickstand Switch. The bike will not run with the kill switch off or the clutch out and the kickstand down while in gear. We’ll forgive you if you forgot the startup sequence after the long winter. Also if your bike refuses to turn over and all the fuses are good and the battery is good, start checking all of those switches mentioned for failure. It is possible to disable them by shorting them or remove them completely but they are on there for a good reason.
WOW! I hope the Yamaha works again.
Good write up, Tim.
Hi Tim
i have a question, my v star wont start. when i initially turn the key on i would always hear a short hum or buzz. (I always assumed this was the electronic fuel pump.) i no longer hear that hum when i turn the key. Motor spins fine but wont start. I pulled the fuel pump and attached it directly to the battery it is spinning fine, any ideas?
This post saved me!! Great site, thanks so much!
I have a 650 v star I lost the key then I remove the lock to made a key then I put back all together and only have all lights on horn working turn lights but no ignition and no spark
Is the bike cranking? If not then it is likely one of the safety switches may be preventing startup. Check kickstand switch, neutral switch and clutch handlebar switch.
Big Al
06 V Star 650 Classic. won’t start. Pulled plugs, no spark on either. Got fuel , 12 V on battery.Checked the web, t est the pick-up coil, bad (infinite ohms). Replaced. Now only have spark to front plug. Checked the web again. Ohmed the coils , primary good , secondary good. Checked power to (+) side of coils, 12 V. I can place test lead to (- ) side of coil and touch to ground and I get spark at the plug. My diagnosis is bad ECM. Is my diagnosis correct.
Hi Lynx,
Great site. I have a 2007 650. It was backfiring something aweful – enough to stop the engine. Turns out that carb needed some cloeaning. Removed it. Cleaned it up and the bike ran fantastic for about a week. Now it only cranks and will not catch. I can push-start the bike but that’s no solution. Ideas?
Some additional details that should help diagnose the problem. Previous to this carb problem I replaced the spark plugs with an off-brand from O’Reily’s. Probably should replace these since I was never convinced that the counter guy gave me the right part. I had to take the first set back and swap them. You should also know that the exhaust pipes are not original to the bike. I bought the bike used from a local dealer and the custom pipes were already on it. Bike had 6k miles on it. It has 22k now. And finally, when I originally bough the bike it ran great for about 6 months and I had a similar issue where it just would not start the next morning after a long drive. Took it in and the tech said that some electronic gizmo needed to be replaced. I have the work-order for what was fixed but all they listed was part numbers (5SC-81410-02-00, 98517-D6020-00, 92907-06600-00, 4VR-15451-00-00). Googling the PNs shows a Stator Assembly, SCREW PAN HEAD, Washer, Gasket Cover. These parts were replaced in Mar ’14. Thanks in advance.
Not sure if your figured it out in a year or not, but the problem is your starter clutch. Better to have this one serviced under warranty. Starter clutch catches your starting gear.
V star 650 classic will it start if the safety switches are bad
No. There are 4 safety switches, Neutral, Kick Stand, Clutch and Kill Switch. Check them in the following order:
N: Make sure kill switch is on, Shift into Neutral and check that the light comes on. If the light comes on N switch is good, if not bulb is bad or switch is bad. Try to start the bike in neutral, if starter works then N switch is good, dash bulb is bad (replace or don’t worry about it). If starter doesn’t work N switch is bad or possibly dash bulb and kill switch is bad.
Kill Switch: With N light on and kill switch on hit the start button. if starter spins Kill switch is good, if nothing happens kill switch is bad (if bad you can take the housing apart and clean the contacts, has worked for me before)
Clutch: Once N switch and kill switch is determined to be good, shift into any gear and pull clutch lever and then hit the starter. If starter turns clutch switch is good, if not clutch switch is bad. Clutch switch is not essential if it does go bad, you can always start it in N with a bad clutch switch but if you stall at an intersection you have to find N first and then hit start instead of just pulling the clutch which can be annoying.
Hope this helps.
I had my battery tested and it has a good charge, when I cut the electrical on, I have lights and born, the kick stnad is down, bike in neutral, kill switch turned to power, when I press the ignition, all the power is killed without am attempt to crank
One of your switches may be bad. Does it crank with the kickstand up and the clutch pulled? Kickstand switches are known to go bad, so are kill switches. My kill switch went bad and I was able to open it up and sand the contacts and put it all back together and bike started right up, I’m not sure if the other switches are repairable.
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I have an 02 v star 650 classic, was running great, shut it off and haven’t been able to start it since. At first I had no spark at all, I’ve replaced the wire harness, fuel pump, coils, stator and pickup coil, ecm, all the relays I could find, the complete throttle and switch assembly, voltage regulator, the kickstand switch was bypassed, and the neutral switch. Now I have good spark to the front coil but nothing to the rear. Oh yeah, I replaced the magneto too. I’m at a loss, what else can it be. The stator and pickup coil was new and the rest was purchased used but tested good on my wife’s v star 650 custom. What do I do?
Since you’ve replaced so many components there’s no telling at this point. You may have introduced additional issues. If you are still getting spark to one and not the other try swapping the coils and see if the problem follows the change. If you spliced in your pickup coil others have told me that changing the polarity does make a difference.
Thank you for the info on the polarity switch it worked great. Now I have a problem with the fuel system, the fuel pump is brand new and will run when I first turn on the key switch to pressurize the line but will not activate again unless I turn the key switch off and back on. I took the fuel line off the carb and put it in a cup and tried it just to make sure the carbs weren’t plugged but it still shut off after a few seconds even with no pressure holding it back. I then unhooked the fuel pump wire from the bike harness and hooked it directly to a battery, the pump ran fine and didn’t shut off until I unhooked it.It sounds like a relay problem but I don’t know how many there are controlling the fuel system and where they are located. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Can anyone tell me what the thermo switch relay is for and how to tell it is bad?
I started my 2007 vstar with the fuel turned off and let it run by accident I came back out it shut off and now won’t start back! Help!
You need to refill the carbs. Turn the key on and off a couple of times till you stop hearing the fuel pump clicking when you turn the key on.