HELP!! My 07 R6 ran out of gas and now it's making this annoying sound

[AirForceR6]

I completely ran out of GAS so I poured a gallon of gas into the tank. First, it sounded like it wanted to start and turn over, but after several failed attempts it finally killed my battery. Then, I charged my battery and tried it again, but this time it gave me this horrible noise every time I press the start button. I posted it on YouTube and here is the link.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmDPFHFrBTo&feature=plcp&context=C3700aceUDOEgsToPDskIvPFI4PhjvUrafDCW1VrHO

[BlueLghtning]

It sounds you don't have enough juice from the battery to turn the starter. I'm thinking that sounds like the starter relay switching back and forth really fast multiple times.

How old is the battery and have you watched it on a meter to see how low the voltage goes when you put it under load? Killing it might have done it in?

[AirForceR6]

It sounds you don't have enough juice from the battery to turn the starter. I'm thinking that sounds like the starter relay switching back and forth really fast multiple times.

How old is the battery and have you watched it on a meter to see how low the voltage goes when you put it under load? Killing it might have done it in?


I'm a Newbie so try not to laugh at me too much. It's the original battery so about 4 yrs old. I charged the battery over night so I would assume that it has enough juice. I don't have a meter to test the voltage. I can buy a new battery for temporary use to see it that's the problem. What do you think??

[SlimDizzleATL]

Sounds just like when the battery doesnt have enough juice to start the bike. Do you know how to bump start it? If the battery is fried, then it doesnt matter how long you charge it, it wont turn the bike over.

[AirForceR6]

Sounds just like when the battery doesnt have enough juice to start the bike. Do you know how to bump start it? If the battery is fried, then it doesnt matter how long you charge it, it wont turn the bike over.

I don't know what a bump start is but I'll YouTube it. I just tried something crazy.. I had the battery charger plugged into the wall outlet and I clamped the negative ends together and positive ends together on my R6 hoping it would supply sufficient power, but it gave me the same annoying buzzard sound. AHHH???? Do you think I blew a fuse or fried my starter or broke something? Maybe insufficient fuel in the hose?

[PhilJonez]

A bump start is the same thing as popping the clutch in a manual transmission car. Put the bike in neutral, pull in clutch, get someone to push you (preferably downhill) until you get some speed going, then drop it into first gear and release the clutch (immediately, don't slowly ease it out). If it's the battery, the bike will/should rumble to life, and you'll be fine to ride the bike until you turn it off (assuming you don't have a stator - alternator as it's called on a car - issue). Once you turn the bike off, I'm guessing you'll be unable to start it again (once a battery has been killed, it doesn't matter how long you charge it for, it won't "hold" the charge) without bump starting it again...

Long story short, I think you've got a dead battery, buy a new battery and throw it in there and see what happens. By all means, try and bump start it and see what you get, but based on you stating you charged it overnight, I think the battery is a goner. And ummm, I wouldn't be crossing polarity's with batteries....

[AirForceR6]

A bump start is the same thing as popping the clutch in a manual transmission car. Put the bike in neutral, pull in clutch, get someone to push you (preferably downhill) until you get some speed going, then drop it into first gear and release the clutch (immediately, don't slowly ease it out). If it's the battery, the bike will/should rumble to life, and you'll be fine to ride the bike until you turn it off (assuming you don't have a stator - alternator as it's called on a car - issue). Once you turn the bike off, I'm guessing you'll be unable to start it again (once a battery has been killed, it doesn't matter how long you charge it for, it won't "hold" the charge) without bump starting it again...



Long story short, I think you've got a dead battery, buy a new battery and throw it in there and see what happens. By all means, try and bump start it and see what you get, but based on you stating you charged it overnight, I think the battery is a goner. And ummm, I wouldn't be crossing polarity's with batteries....

Ok, I'll buy a new battery and see what that does bc I don't have any hills or enough balls to try that. Oh I wasn't crossing polarities, I know better than to do that. What I did was I connected the battery charger cables and clamped them directly to the bike battery wires. The battery was not in that equation. I hooked up the charger directly to the bike and tried to start it using the power from the wall outlet. Good or bad idea? Either way it gave me the same buzzing sound.

[PhilJonez]

Haha, okay, sorry, now I understand. And I'm slightly nervous to reply because we have some people here who REALLY understand electricity, and will mock my simplistic reply, but I'll give it a shot anyways and someone can correct me.

A modern house is wired at 240 volts, and about 100 amps (I believe...). A car battery, in comparison, is only 12 volts, but 650 (cold cranking) amps. It's the AMPS, not the volts, that will get your car/bike started (and for that matter, kill you...). So hooking the electrical power of your house straight to your bike would NOT provide enough amperage to start your bike (although if you just looked at volts, would provide more than enough...). Having said that, I still wouldn't recommend doing what you did (someone much more knowledgable about electricity could tell you the potential implications..).

Anyways, you'd never start a bike off housing electricity, so no surprise there, but I still wouldn't recommend it. Go buy the new battery and enjoy getting back on the bike!!!

[AirForceR6]

That was over my head but I got the overall message. I appreciate the insight! I'm more knowledgeable now... I almost died?? :myfault:

[PhilJonez]

Okay, wait.... That's not what I'm saying... If you'd grabbed both ends of the charger (plugged into the wall), you would have gotten a nasty shock... (When I was five, my parents decided to build our own house, including plumbing, electricity, etc., and it became a running joke that I was the circuit tester - my dad would tell me to rewire something, I'd ask if the circuit breaker was off, he'd say yes, and then I'd grab the wires and shock the F*CK out of myself, at which point my dad would say, ummm, maybe the circuit breaker wasn't off....).

With housing electricity you're probably okay, had you walked to your car battery, and grabbed both terminals (with the 650 amps....), THAT probably would have caused you some issues...

Anyways, go buy the new battery... And let us know if that solved the problem...

[BlueLghtning]

Most likely a battery will solve your issues. 4 years is a good run a MC battery.

[Ga-Bandit]

A bump start is the same thing as popping the clutch in a manual transmission car. Put the bike in neutral, pull in clutch, get someone to push you (preferably downhill) until you get some speed going, then drop it into first gear and release the clutch (immediately, don't slowly ease it out). If it's the battery, the bike will/should rumble to life, and you'll be fine to ride the bike until you turn it off (assuming you don't have a stator - alternator as it's called on a car - issue). Once you turn the bike off, I'm guessing you'll be unable to start it again (once a battery has been killed, it doesn't matter how long you charge it for, it won't "hold" the charge) without bump starting it again.......

I recommend using 2nd gear and not first to bump start.

When I left my parking lights on at school one LONG day I had to bump her off and never did anything else. But, on the ride home I had to keep it under 4,000 rpm. The next morning everything was fine.

I am one of those that think as long as you ride the bike everyday the battery will last longer than 4 years but it won't if you don't. I'm putting that theory to the "First-hand-experience" test this year since my bike is a '08 model - battery is almost 4-years-old now from manufacture date.

[PhilJonez]

I recommend using 2nd gear and not first to bump start.

Great catch, completely agree, thanks!

[THE MUFFIN MAN]

bump start in 2nd gear, not 1st and yes, you need a battery.

[AirForceR6]

Thanks everyone!

[AirForceR6]

Alrighty, so I just got back from BatteriesPlus and put that sucker in. I almost had it turned over (actually it turned over for 2 seconds) then cut off on me. Then several cranks after that it didn't come close to turning over...then my brand new $94 battery DIED!!!! What am I doing wrong? Or what should I do? Here's some progress...I guess.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ng7nJ6W7TmY&feature=plcp&context=C3700aceUDOEgsToPDskIvPFI4PhjvUrafDCW1VrHO

[SlimDizzleATL]

bump start in 2nd gear, not 1st and yes, you need a battery.

Yep. Definitely second gear. I forgot that part. Its recommended that a new battery is charged a few hours before trying to use it. At least mine was. Motorcycle batteries are a little different that car. If you need to ride today, sounds like a bump start will fix your problem since it started to turn over. If you are strong enough to muscle your bike and have some flat surface, just run with it and get it up to about 5mph then hop on and pop the clutch. Be careful doing it this way, its really easy to drop your bike if you're not careful. Good luck.

[AirForceR6]

Is that the only option is to bump start it? I am actually doing some maintenance on it right now and I wanted to start and warm the engine. I have my fairings off of it.

[BlueLghtning]

Is that the only option is to bump start it? I am actually doing some maintenance on it right now and I wanted to start and warm the engine. I have my fairings off of it.

Well, you could always jump it off a car battery. Just make sure the car is off and keep your MC battery hooked up. You are just giving your MC battery a bit of a boost to start. Its just like jumping a car, but you don't need to have the car running as you are trying to limit the amount of amps you get from the car. Some people consider this risky as car batteries push a whole lot more amps then MC batteries.

The other option is one of those chargers that have the "car start" option. Again the risk here is that you are pushing quite a few more amps through than a motorcycle battery.

[AirForceR6]

I see that there are no easy solutions.

[BlueLghtning]

Yeah, the solution is a new charged battery.


Alrighty, so I just got back from BatteriesPlus and put that sucker in. I almost had it turned over (actually it turned over for 2 seconds) then cut off on me. Then several cranks after that it didn't come close to turning over...then my brand new $94 battery DIED!!!! What am I doing wrong? Or what should I do? Here's some progress...I guess.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ng7nJ6W7TmY&feature=plcp&context=C3700aceUDOEgsToPDskIvPFI4PhjvUrafDCW1VrHO

However, I missed this earlier and see that you already bought a battery. Did you not charge the battery? Most batteries I've bought require you to trickle charge them after you purchase them. That is usually what the instructions state. Did you have to add acid or was it a sealed battery?

Do you own a trickle charger? Put that new battery on the trickle charger and let it charge up.

[BlueLghtning]

BTW, have you put in any more fuel since you ran out? More than a gallon? Keep in mind you ran the tank dry and therefore you introduced air into the system. Now it has to suck gas and purge the air, so its going to take take a little longer than normal to start because of this. Heck, it might take a bit of throttle to get it going since you ran it dry. You need a good charged battery though as you are going to put a strain on it trying to get it going.

[AirForceR6]

I am beginning to think it's an electrical problem. It's a brand new battery and it shouldn't be drained that easily. Maybe ignition or stator or spark plugs?? Also, I replaced the original air filter with a new OEM air filter because it had never been changed. Was I suppose to do anything special after installing it? Maybe I disengaged a hose.. What do you think??

[AirForceR6]

BTW, have you put in any more fuel since you ran out? More than a gallon? Keep in mind you ran the tank dry and therefore you introduced air into the system. Now it has to suck gas and purge the air, so its going to take take a little longer than normal to start because of this. Heck, it might take a bit of throttle to get it going since you ran it dry. You need a good charged battery though as you are going to put a strain on it trying to get it going.


Yes I put 1 gallon of 93 gas in the tank. BatteriesPlus didn't educate me on tickling the battery. I thought it was plug and play. But I have a battery charger so I can hook it up. Also, THE TANK WAS EMPTY FOR 3-4 WEEKS!!! I winterized it, but I didn't drain the tank. There was still residual gas in the tank but not enough to start the bike. I was playing with the throttle by twisting it because I got new grips and wanted to mess around on it. Did any of these combinations led to a disaster?

[Ringo®]

I winterized it, .

Please expand on this

[AirForceR6]

Winterize- put it in my house

[Ringo®]

So there was a period where your bike sat empty for 3-4 weeks, you put some gas in it later and then stored it for the winter?

[AirForceR6]

Before I continue I just want to thank you all for your help and contribution!! I ran the gas completely out while riding and stored it in my house. Yes, there was a period of 3-4 weeks where the bike sat empty then I put gas in it the other day and tried to start it and here I am today.

[AirForceR6]

I am beginning to think it's an electrical problem. It's a brand new battery and it shouldn't be drained that easily. Maybe ignition or stator or spark plugs?? Also, I replaced the original air filter with a new OEM air filter because it had never been changed. Was I suppose to do anything special after installing it? Maybe I disengaged a hose.. What do you think??

[wbeck257]

Put the new battery on the charger. While you are doing that go to the gas station and get some more gas.
Put the gas in the motorcycle. Wait a little bit longer. Try starting again.

[THE MUFFIN MAN]

BTW, have you put in any more fuel since you ran out? More than a gallon? Keep in mind you ran the tank dry and therefore you introduced air into the system. Now it has to suck gas and purge the air, so its going to take take a little longer than normal to start because of this. Heck, it might take a bit of throttle to get it going since you ran it dry. You need a good charged battery though as you are going to put a strain on it trying to get it going.he's pointing you in the best direction. First you need to CHILL!! charge the battery. 2nd, stop being lazy and get a 5 gallon can and FILL the tank. a full tank will help push and purge the air out of the system. may be some moisture in the system as well, you will need some throttle to help it "catch." try NOT to jump off a car, easy to fry the starter/rectifier or other vital electrical components. (dont ask me how i know). once the batt is charged, try it a few times but NOT until the battery is totally drained again. if it wont fire after a few tries, you're gonna have to bump it, and ride it for a while./

[AirForceR6]

Well said, I'll give that a try.

[BlueLghtning]

I don't think you have an electrical problem yet. You basically took a very partially charged battery and killed it right away trying to start your bike. Starting a bike draws a lot of amps and that battery didn't have much to give.

Charge it and let it charge fully up before you attempt to start it again. Go get some more gas and fill the tank up more too. (BTW, for future reference, running a tank empty is really hard on the fuel pump). You are better off filling the tank up to the top and adding Stabil for the winter. Plus a full tank keeps the moisture out of it.

[ugar-6]

he's pointing you in the best direction. First you need to CHILL!! charge the battery. 2nd, stop being lazy and get a 5 gallon can and FILL the tank. a full tank will help push and purge the air out of the system. may be some moisture in the system as well, you will need some throttle to help it "catch." try NOT to jump off a car, easy to fry the starter/rectifier or other vital electrical components. (dont ask me how i know). once the batt is charged, try it a few times but NOT until the battery is totally drained again. if it wont fire after a few tries, you're gonna have to bump it, and ride it for a while./

Calm down Muff. He's actually a noob and a friend of mine. I'd be over there trying to help him but I'm still recovering from a tonsillectomy.

[ugar-6]

I don't think you have an electrical problem yet. You basically took a very partially charged battery and killed it right away trying to start your bike. Starting a bike draws a lot of amps and that battery didn't have much to give.

Charge it and let it charge fully up before you attempt to start it again. Go get some more gas and fill the tank up more too. (BTW, for future reference, running a tank empty is really hard on the fuel pump). You are better off filling the tank up to the top and adding Stabil for the winter. Plus a full tank keeps the moisture out of it.

Now, I will cover your back for a bit but I am going to kindly remind you that we're in GA, don't be a puss and winterize your bike. We ride year round here.

[AirForceR6]

He's actually a noob and a friend of mine.

I like how you claim me as a noob initially then as a friend secondly.

[AirForceR6]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3y5n23WyjM&feature=plcp&context=C3700aceUDOEgsToPDskIvPFI4PhjvUrafDCW1VrHO

[BlueLghtning]

Now, I will cover your back for a bit but I am going to kindly remind you that we're in GA, don't be a puss and winterize your bike. We ride year round here.

Hehe, I didn't say I winterize my bikes, but yeah I know what you mean. I love winter time riding!

[BlueLghtning]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3y5n23WyjM&feature=plcp&context=C3700aceUDOEgsToPDskIvPFI4PhjvUrafDCW1VrHO

Glad you got it running.

[ugar-6]

Hehe, I didn't say I winterize my bikes, but yeah I know what you mean. I love winter time riding!

Sorry Dan, not you but him. LOL And my bitch 3rd.

[Ringo®]

I thought the first video was the way yamahas were supposed to sound?

[ugar-6]

Dude, how are you venting those indoor fumes???

[AirForceR6]

I thought the first video was the way yamahas were supposed to sound?

Haha, I would rebuttal with a smart ass comment but ppl say "Don't bite the hand that feeds you" My hands are tied here.

[AirForceR6]

Dude, how are you venting those indoor fumes???

What fumes? I don't smell any fumes..

nah i've got the fan on blast and the window wide open.

[SlimDizzleATL]

What fumes? I don't smell any fumes..

nah i've got the fan on blast and the window wide open.

until.....you pass out. lol. I dont think Muffin was getting on your friend. He was trying to do too much too fast, that was all. Glad you got it running man. Best feeling ever when something gets fixed. Now, the most important part of this ordeal...what did you learn?

[AirForceR6]

Best feeling ever when something gets fixed. Now, the most important part of this ordeal...what did you learn?

The repair shop told me they'll take a look at it for $55/hr. yea right..... 1) consult and utilize the GSB forum 2) Don't be a dumb azz and allow your gas to dip below E. Thanks everybody I greatly appreciate it! :handclap: