I knew it would only last so long it ran so beautifully so perfect until it got cold and now nothing... Sad day

[GentleGiantATX]

So I had the bike out n about earlier this afternoon and it ran great and all felt good. I went to start it after it cooled off substantially I'm guessing the oil thickened and is causing it to not start. But after cranking it over for 20 minutes it spit and sputtered back to life momentarily and now my battery is dead yet again and I have to wait for my trickle charger to charge overnight. Oh and I should mention that I checked and I have had 3 quarts too much oil in it for a week and it ran so good but now I drained the excess oil and it won't do anything except backfire a massive flame once in a while when cranking the starter for a minute...and the backfire sounds more like a elephant gun than a motorcycle so I'm guessing that has something to do with it too. Ugh I wish I had a few friends to help out or at least hang out with while I work on my bike in the shop with the wood stove going just kicking it...I am so pissed about this right now that I'm going to just turn off gas and lay it down here in the rocks by the shop entrance outside and maybe ..

 

[vladimirmartin23]

Dude... Do NOT crank that shit for more than a few secs at a time. You'll burn out the starter

 

[OMeGA_65]

One minute?! You're going to burn something!

 

[Lemonysword]

Fuel, air, spark. If it didn't start in a minute, it's not going to start after 20.

I'd check fuel first. Make sure you have gas in the tank. If it's not full, make sure you're on reserve. If that doesn't work, turn it to prime and see if it will start then. I was having an issue where the vacuum line got pinched and the bike would only run on prime. I would check the air filter assembly to make sure it's clear. Remove your spark plugs. They may be gummed up, especially after 20 mins of attempting a start. I'd also keep them out for like five minutes or so to let your engine air out since it's almost certainly flooded at this point.

I'd also drain the oil and make sure you put the correct amount in per the service manual. Without pulling the oil filter it should be 2.1 quarts of oil. I don't know if I believe that you had three EXTRA quarts of oil in there. I don't even know if there's physically that much room inside the crankcase.

Without knowing the history of your bike I can't say what is wrong. It could be as simple as you being out of gas, it could be that your carbs are incorrectly set and need a tune up, or total rebuild and cleaning.

 

[XSSmith]

Dang man, sounds like you’ve been through it! Too much oil can definitely mess things up, probably fouled the plugs too. Hang in there, get that battery topped off, and maybe pull the plugs to check ‘em. You’ll get her running again. Wish I was closer, I’d come hang by the stove and help wrench!

 

[GentleGiantATX]

Just an update on what used to just be a pile of junk is now everything to me and is running absolutely stupendously amazing had to work out wrinkles with jetting and cleaning the carbs religiously almost daily and pressure washing the tank as well help but it's not going to be a barber it's not going to be a chopper it's just kind of a roach but a very fast Roach getting faster but I'll throw a picture down below and a video as soon to come I had many late nights and early morning but highway found a bike I like to ride within this city and it's surrounding areas as I've ridden about an hour away in an hour back but I got lost on the way back and it took a little longer than that but handled great at 90 mph for extended periods of time at about 7,200 RPM and once it gets hot keep it hot because it runs even better so far I've found the red line to be at about 10,000 RPM and top speed right around 130 give or take but I'm 6 ft 10 so tucking into this bike is a lot harder but I'm making notifications to make it a lot easier

 

[OleDoc2]

An xs400 a very fast roach? You don't get out much, do you? Lol. I doubt you get 130 mph as a top speed. A little over 100 maybe, unless you are talking kmh and not mph