New Here, Need Help

1997civic · 04-23-2010, 08:40 AM

First off i like the site and look forward to staying here a while. I picked up an 05 450sx yesterday and absolutley love it. A lot of fun and i plan to keep it. I do have some issues starting it hot. When cold it starts second or third kick, but when hot it will not start. probably takes 20-30 kicks. once its running its smooth as can be though. It is very ard to kick over the bike so you can imagine how i feel lol. I have not had a chance to pull the spark plug or anything to see what is going on, but have a feeling it could be the issue. What kind of plug should i use and what is the gap? Any tips or advice for starting this bike? hot start did not help me in any way, so maybe someone could point me in the right direction with properly using my bike. is there any kind of electric start kit i can maybe put on this? Yes I am a noob to bikes, last time i had one was when i was 15 with a 81 suzuki ds185x so this is a big step up. Thankyou all happy riding

1997civic · 04-23-2010, 06:48 PM

just checked plug. it is a nice tan color and looks ok. started it fine cold but once hot nothing till it sits for 10 mins

bajadog · 04-24-2010, 08:47 AM

When was the valve lash (gap) adjusted last?

1997civic · 04-24-2010, 10:51 AM

not sure. i think i am going to download the owners manual and check into that, as well as a new plug just in case. people i talk to seem to think valve adjustment wont mae a difference but who knows

bajadog · 04-24-2010, 07:27 PM

Not trying to sound like a know it all, but, any time I buy a used bike (Jap, Euro, etc), I always check the valves.

I am not saying that's your hard start problem, but at least eliminate that
from possibilities.
I KNOW on my last 450, the e-start would not get the bike started until I kicked
over a few times. It was all due to tight valves. Seriously.

1997civic · 04-25-2010, 12:55 AM

no i totally know nothing about bikes, but eager to put my knowledge of cars into a bike, i was kind of thinking i would check the lash, but just wated to check here. I also going to run a couple tanks of fuel through to make sure all the old gas is out of the system altough i dont think the gas was bad