bit of a problem

[codewahn]

greetings fellow bikers, i seem to have a bit of a problem, so today the bike wouldnt start (flat battery) so thats on charge but what concerns me is that the battery was like 70% charged so i went and took a look at the spark plug and it was wet around the hole and had black over the spark side, im guessing oil, so am i rite in thinging im going to have to empty out my wallet to get it fixed?

thought i best add a bit more info, the bike isnt smoking and seems to run fine but when i had to bump start it the second time is was kind of stuttering then cut out actually it did that a few times before it bump started normally

 

[pizzaonaninja]

Ok. from what I can make of this, your bike was flooded, and your spark plug had some residues. try cleaning it, worst case replacing it if the gap is too large.

Next time, PLEASE check your spelling and use punctuation.

 

[Rezus17]

Check your air/fuel mix. Could be running too rich. Theres a mixture screw under that carb to adjust it. After that, change your plug (make sure its the right temp rating) and give it welly! then pull the plug and check again. Otherwise it could be compression which has various causes.

As for the water, riding in the rain? Might not have cleared. Flooding could leave residue too, then it wont be such a big deal.

you'll find plenty walkthroughs online if you don't know how to do it

 

[Dr Kongo]

the battery could be dead / disfunctional anyway, the voltage might drop very significantly when trying to start

 

[Romans5.8]

You should check your charging voltage as well. Once the battery is charged, start the bike and get it up to around cruising RPM's (so, if you cruise around 3500 rpm's, run it in neutral at 3500 RPM's, I would just bump up the idle with the idle screw until you got there). Check the voltage on the battery with a meter. It should be around 14v. If it's down in the 12's, or up in the 15's, you have a problem!

Also '70% charged' doesn't necessarily mean much. Your battery needs to be between 12.4-12.6 volts. Below 12.4 will damage the battery over time (cause sulphates to build on the plates), and much below 12.4 won't provide enough juice to run your bike. Seems like 0.6 volts isn't a big difference, but it is. So your battery charger or something might report 70%, but that doesn't necessarily mean anything. Also, the battery may show a good voltage without a load, but may have so much sulphation built up (especially if it's a couple years old, has gone dead a couple times, or is routinely run down below 12.4v) that it isn't able to sustain that voltage once a load is applied (trying to start, for example). Sort of like how it doesn't take much throttle at all to redline in neutral, but takes a lot of throttle to redline in 4th gear!

 

[codewahn]

after cleaning it up and charging the battery it started first time twice in a row to be sure. i decided to take it for a run get it warmed up and see how it went, all was going fine till i went into the shop for like 10 min came out it wouldn't start again no lights came on or anything so i had to bump start in infront of a pile of teens and 2 other bikers lol. just as a side note the bike was fine until i had it jet washed

 

[Dr Kongo]

I think Romans was getting at this:
Your charge regulator might be the issue, I'd check the charching voltage as he said

 

[Trinith]

Well, I'd say the battery is definitely a loss. Sounds like there's a dead/dying cell in there. Check the charging voltage (find a how-to somewhere online) and replace the battery.

 

[Romans5.8]

Well, I'd say the battery is definitely a loss. Sounds like there's a dead/dying cell in there. Check the charging voltage (find a how-to somewhere online) and replace the battery.

Don't need a how to, I just posted a how to! lol

Absolutely OP. Don't just start replacing parts willy-nilly. It's a good way to waste money. Buy a cheap meter if you don't have one and DIAGNOSE the problem before you start replacing stuff. Could be the stator, could be the regulator/rectifier, could be the battery, could even be a combination!

 

[codewahn]

at the moment im pretty skint tho that battery is a pile of junk, its not even the proper battery for it. as stated earlier the lights wouldn't even come on until i bump started it but maybe its not just the battery indeed, tho the battery definitely needs to be replaced. will also invest in a volt meter as long as the problems are nothing too expensive im happy lol. tho all this only really started today previous to that its been fine