The end of a beautiful relationship?

Early December parked the bike (a XT1200 S10 (2012) ) at the end of an uneventful ride, under cover, and 3 months later, it failed to start. Changed plugs (confirmed all sparking)/bought a new battery/replaced fuel with fresh/dried the engine … made no difference (not even a single pop). Looked (only looked) at the fuel injectors … no obvious sign of blockage or crud in the fuel line, but under a magnifying glass the left side injector had some varnish on its face and some tiny white spots in the orifices. The other injector looked OK. Waiting for a fuel injector cleaner… any ideas if fuel injector cleaning fails … this might be the end of a beautiful relationship.

That seems over dramatic just because it won’t start. Probably something simple in the end.

I think so too, but dammed if I can find it.

How many miles on the clock? Sometime the injectors fail and need a more definitive cleaning.
If it’s been parked for a while, any chance of a mouse having eaten wiring?

When you changed the plugs, were they wet with fuel? If they were, then fuel delivery is being accomplished, so at least you know that fuel is getting to the cylinders and it isn't a failed fuel pump.

You ruled out spark problems, so it sounds like the ignition system is functioning. So that leaves air. I'd look in the airbox and make sure there isn't anything obstructing the air intake or throttle bodies.

If I were in your shoes, I'd take a gamble and try the hard start solution, just to see if it works. If it does, it'll save you a lot of work.

1) Pull the fuel injection fuse.
2) Crank the bike until it starts to pop.
3) Shut it down, turn the key off, and switch the kill switch to stop.
4) Replace the fuel injection fuse.
5) Turn the key on, turn the kill switch to run, and hit the starter.
6) If it doesn't fire right up, turn the throttle to 3/4 and continue to crank the engine.
7) Don't crank for more than 30 seconds at a time, and let it cool off between attempts.

So it turns over but doesn't catch? Would that suggest fueling or timing rather than electrical? WOT on a good batt?

jackintherok said:

Early December parked the bike (a XT1200 S10 (2012) ) at the end of an uneventful ride, under cover, and 3 months later, it failed to start. Changed plugs (confirmed all sparking)/bought a new battery/replaced fuel with fresh/dried the engine … made no difference (not even a single pop). Looked (only looked) at the fuel injectors … no obvious sign of blockage or crud in the fuel line, but under a magnifying glass the left side injector had some varnish on its face and some tiny white spots in the orifices. The other injector looked OK. Waiting for a fuel injector cleaner… any ideas if fuel injector cleaning fails … this might be the end of a beautiful relationship.

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What battery did you buy ? I highly recommend switching to lithium battery, I switched to Scorpion lithium battery last year and my Tenere finally doesn’t sound like the battery is half dead every time I start it.
Here are a couple example’s , many other options available

As RCinNC and ~Tobasco~ said, classic hard start. Nothing is wrong with the bike. Follow the instructions above and it will fire up. The mistake most people make is continuing to crank it with the throttle closed and it floods. If you crank it and it doesn't start, immediately go 3/4 to WFO and crank it again and it nearly always fires off after some cranking.

I have to say a huge thanks for this info about the hard start as I’ve never experienced one (2010 model as well) and don’t want to be stranded because I don’t know how to correct it.
I’ve copied the info into my phone for future reference

Matt51F1 said:

I have to say a huge thanks for this info about the hard start as I’ve never experienced one (2010 model as well) and don’t want to be stranded because I don’t know how to correct it.
I’ve copied the info into my phone for future reference

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It's more common in cold temps with a cold engine. I was in Alaska at a hotel and had parked the bike outside overnight, naturally. Frosty morning, I go out and fire the bike up, perfect normal start. While the bike is warming I gear up, hop on, push back from the parking space, drop it into 1st gear.... and the bike dies because I forgot to put the side stand up! Crank it again, no start. Awww crap! The engine wasn't all the way through the warm up process. I pushed the bike around so I was pointing in the right direction, just in case, then went 3/4 throttle and hit the starter, she complained a little, coughed and bang, lit off wonderfully. No problems the rest of the trip.

EricV said:

. . . . and crank it again and it nearly always fires off after some cranking.

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And don't let go of the button until it starts.

Thanks for the suggestions guys.
40,000 miles
Hard start procedure - ignition off, hold down both black buttons, turn ignition on for 8 secs, screen changes, hold both buttons down again for 3 secs screen changes again, then WOT for 5 secs repeat every minute as needed, switch ignition off and she should start normally ... but she doesn't.
Put in new plugs ... no go. Got rid the fuel and filled with fresh .. no go. Bought a new Yuasa YTZ 14S battery in case ETX 36C Li battery was tired.. no effect. Left the
I favor fuel injectors stuck after sitting in bad E10 fuel over the winter but they looked clean.
I am living out in the Korean wilds ... miles from any motorcycle engineer.

Sierra1 said:

And don't let go of the button until it starts.

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Yes, within reason. Starters do get hot. I don't get a warm fuzzy cranking anything for 2 minutes strait. Probably not even 60 seconds.

@jackintherok - Skip the both buttons part. The important part between attempts is kill swich to off, KEY to off, then back on with key, kill switch goes to run/start anyway with a Gen II bike, throttle 3/4 this time and crank.

Alternate, if you have a nice steep, long hill, you can try a compression start. Just don't forget to turn the kill switch to run and use 2nd gear. (and have a plan if it doesn't work and you're stuck with the bike at the bottom of the hill. BTDT.

Where did you obtain that particular hard start procedure? I don't think I've ever heard of depressing those buttons.

I'd still recommend that you try the procedure I mentioned in my post, where you remove the EFI fuse and follow the other steps.

At this point, it's likely flooded, (again), so RCinNC has a very valid point on pulling the EFI fuse and following his instructions.

edit - Don't be shy about jumping it with a car battery either if it's slow. It's all 12 volt, the only danger is in overheating the starter from excessive cranking, thus the warning to let it cool between tries.

RCinNC said:

Where did you obtain that particular hard start procedure? I don't think I've ever heard of depressing those buttons.

I'd still recommend that you try the procedure I mentioned in my post, where you remove the EFI fuse and follow the other steps.

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I think what he's doing is putting it in Diagnostic mode, which is not required or desired for this.

In over 100,000 miles of owning Super Tenere’s I only experienced hard start twice and fortunately both times happened at home in my garage. I believe both times it was caused by the batteries just not being strong enough. I have owned both 12S and 14S batteries and yes the 14S does have a little more cranking power but in my opinion neither one is big enough for the job of starting the Tenere.
After installing the way higher cranking amp lithium battery it doesn’t sound like the battery is half dead and I don’t have to worry about hard starts anymore.
Im not sure what’s actually wrong with your Tenere but I highly recommend switching to a high cranking amp lithium battery .

I really don't think lower CCA batteries are the cause of the hard start conundrum. The battery can be at fault if the voltage output is too low; I believe the fuel injectors won't work if the battery voltage drops below 11 volts while cranking. But since my OEM Yuasa died many years ago, I've used Super Start batteries from O'Reilly Auto. They're sold as a 14S, but their actual CCA is something like 210, which is the same cold cranking amps as the allegedly underpowered OEM Yuasa 12S. In almost 10 years and over 100,000 miles, I've never experienced a hard start.

I attribute that to the information I've gleaned from being on this forum. One thing I never do is just turn the engine on briefly and then shut it down again before it has a chance to get up to operating temperature. In fact, if I start the bike, I let it run until the fan comes on the first time before I shut the engine off, even if I'm just moving the bike from my driveway into my garage. That's just an anecdotal data point, to be sure, but so far by following that personal rule, I've dodged the hard start bullet.

Copied ages ago from this forum posted by a guy called Rainer ... I've used it many times.


Power & Exh / Re: Very hard starting today

« on: May 22, 2014, 11:57:10 am »

One of the experienced Yamaha dealers in Germany (Yamaha Voiges) gave us a hint. To deair the motor, following procedure should help:



1. Turn ignition off

2. Press both blacks buttons in the cockpit, turn the ignition on and keep pressing both buttons for 8 seconds (the display will switch to diag mode). Now you can release the buttons.

3. Push booth buttons again for 3 seconds. The display will switch again.

4. Now give full throttle and let the starter turn for 4-5 seconds.

5. Release the throttle and turn the ignition off.

6. Turn the ignition on (display should be in normal mode) and the XT should start without any problems.






With this procedure, the full pump will be deactivated and no fuel will be injected during the deair of the pistons.



A much more simpler procedure is to use a key without transponder. If you start your XT with such a key, the starter will turn but the fuel pump is deactivatet by the ECU.