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'08 model here with approx. 12,000 miles. Just changed the oil the other day. Started her up with no problems. Two days later to go to work and she won't fire up. All the dash lights, headlights etc. come on. Cracked the throttle open like the manual says and a few times it did fire but stopped immediately. I believe the battery is the original, a Yuasa; put it on trickle charge last night and got the same results this morning. I have had the recall done.

I'm thinking it is possibly the battery but the fact that the engine fired (albeit for just an instant) makes me think it may be something else. Isn't the battery out of the process once the engine fires up? Thanks for any thoughts or suggestions.

Not if the battery has been subjected to a deep discharge. which doesn't sound like the case with your bike.

You need to check the battery with a voltmeter. $10 at Radio Shack. If after trying to start it doesn't register over 12 volts, then you have a battery problem. If the lights are on and it cranks fine, but won't start, then it is probably something else. Others, including me, have had some gas issues, where I suspected I filled up with water in the gas. Some treatment will fix that, or drain and refill the tank. As it uses a fuel pump you should hear that running when you first turn it on and it goes through its checks. Check your fuses too. Those are the simple things, otherwise with the fuel injection and computer module it gets tricky. You may be stuck with getting it to a dealer....hope not.

Thanks TomcatVet (former F-15 mechanic here The fuel pump seems to be working and the bike does it's checks before I push the start button. The starter is turning though perhaps not as stongly as it could be which makes me think that there is a possiblility that it could be the battery though again, I charged the battery overnight. If that's not it, I'd sure hope it would be bad gas but the confounding thing is, I had just filled it to the brim at the time I did the oilchange. Guess I have to take the tank of and turn it upside down to get the gas out? Had the bike on paddock stand and started it right after the oil change just to circulate the oil and then check the level. Sure am hoping not to have to get it to the shop. Is picking the bike up from an owners home something a shop tends to do. Luckily I have a Suzuki dealer with 4 miles of home. No telling what they'll charge if they do.

Ok, took the battery to the shop and it checked out good. Went to the auto parts store and got some water remover stuff made by Prestone; good for 20 gallons of gas. Dumped half in, put the battery back in and got the same results. Held the throttle almost fully open; it fired blowing out foul smoke before going dead. Uggg. Guess I'll start pulling the plugs unless someone else has any thoughts. The bike only has about 12,000 miles on it, has been kept in the garage, oil changes on schedule and with synthetic Mobil One motorcycle oil so I find it hard to believe that the plugs could be fouled up. I don't baby the bike by any means and roll on the throttle whenever the mood strikes (which is often

What about the kill switch on the stand ...your light will come on ,but not fire the bike.

Only takes some crap or dirty grease on the spring button for it not to work....only saying this as I just cleaned my bike and it was covered in crap.

Maybe check the wire and small plug this goes under the throttle switch block it could just be loose ,its just slides on and off ,you can't fire the bike with that removed ...its a great anti theft kill switch ,when parked in a dark alley.

With the kill switch on, I don't believe the starter would even turn. That's not it as I did make sure I didn't inadventently switch it on.

The "small plug" and "throttle switch block" ....not familiar with that. Exactly where would I find it? Thanks.

Also, do you know if I can put a trickle charger on the battery while it is on the bike? The instructions that came with mine don't really reference doing so.

Pull a couple of plugs and look at them. If "wet" then it is an ignition problem. If not then it sounds like a fuel problem. The fact that it tries to start and then doesn't tends to have me thinking a fuel problem. I have my bike on a trickle charger most of the winter, or whenever I haven't ridden it for awhile. I use "Battery Tender" brand which will charge and then go to a maintenance charge. It kept the battery in my last bike good for over 10 years...may be luck but I don't know.
Also, you can siphon out most of the gas first. If you can put it in something clear you can see if there is water.
And thanks for your service, albeit in the USAF....

With 12,000 miles on the bike, is there no warranty left on it?

And for your service as well. I was at Langley AFB and before I got out, they tore up our runway for repairs and we had to go over to Oceana everyday to use theirs. Eagles against Tomcats all the time over in the Va. area. Always had discussion as to which could take the other; ask a Navy guy and you get an expected answer and so forth with an AF guy. All comes down to the jet doing best what it was designed to.

Yes, I'm thinking it is more of a fuel problem as well. It behaves as if it is flooded when it fires and then dies. I'm going to syphon the gas out as low as possible and more Heet in it with fresh gas and see what happens. I do wish I had a large clear container to see if there is any visible signs of water but I don't have one. Cheers

I'm not sure but I believe we only get a one year warranty with this bike which is long gone.

Section 8 of the owners manual shows how to check that the plugs are firing. Basically pull the plug, put it back in the coil and try to start the bike seeing if there is a spark.
Also, reading back through the thread here, you did check the kill switch on the handlebars, but it doesn't look like you checked the safety switch on the kick stand. The bike should start but will die if you put it into gear with that one, but it doesn't hurt to check it.
I'd still pull a couple of plugs and see what they look like. OEM plugs are pretty cheap if you didn't replace them at 7500 miles.
As you did get crap blown out the back, I tend to still think fuel problem. I'll check my maint. manual tonight for other ideas.

And I was a west coaster out of Miramar. I liked San Diego. We use to go over an play with the boys at Luke near Phoenix, or when I was in Japan we'd go down to Okinawa to work with the Eagles out of Kadena. Always fun.

I got her going again! I siphoned the gas as low as possible, pulled the tank and then pulled the plugs. The plugs were brown and wet. Got her all put back together, put in some fresh gas and tried to crank but got the same response. Gave it another shot with the throttle open and got her to fire. Let it run on idle for about 5 minutes just to clear the fuel line if indeed it had bad gas. Rode to the gas station to get more gas and opened her up good. Running like new now. I did notice that the old plugs were gapped tight and there did not appear to be any anti seize compound used. I checked the manual after all this and found that it recommends plug change at 7,500 miles which I was surprised by. Given I only have approx. 12,000 miles on the bike, I found it difficult to believe that the problem could be plug related. So....I don't know if the problem was fuel or the plugs; I am thinking that it may have been a combination of both. Forgot to clean out my airfilter while I had the tank out. Thinking it might have been better to go with iridium plugs given the process to get the plugs out and the fact that the swap intervals are so short.

I appreciate your thoughts and help on the problem, thanks!

Glad to hear it is running. When I was in Italy bad gas was a constant problem. I don't think they cared as much about water getting in their tanks. Plays hell with fuel injection until you get it cleared out. Good luck