(solved) Extremely Reluctant Start For My Commander

After having not ridden my ('66 plate) TBird Commander for several months (since I think it was serviced in November), it's really not happy about starting up. It'll eventually splutter to life after turning over for ~30 seconds and with some play of the throttle. Once it's started and run for a minute or 2, it'll then start easily.

Anyone know what could cause that?

I've tried cycling the ignition to prime the injectors several times over, it doesn't help. My only thoughts are:

1. The fuel has gone a bit bad sitting for a few months (but it is only like 3-4 months)
2. The oil is somehow bad and when warmed up is fine (but it was serviced in November by a main dealer)
3. Sparkplugs maybe??

A friend has recommended a can of Bradex Easy Start squirted into the air filter. I'll give that a go, but if it works, I'm not sure if that helps indicate what the underlying issue is.

The fuel is quite low, so when I next take it out, I'll fill her up with fresh fuel regardless. I'm wondering how much I should drain what's in there before doing so though, and not sure what grade I should use. I typically put in premium, but perhaps 95 RON will ignite more easily?

Suggestions welcome!!

Dave

 

Cheers for the suggestions.

My old speedmaster had the idle modifier (kinda like a choke, but not), but the commander doesn’t.

My first thought was the battery, but I do keep it on an optimate, and it does seem to turn over fairy normally, perhaps a little sluggishly. So it could be the battery, the optimate is reporting it’s fine, but I can check with a multimeter later ... and it’s worth saying that despite always using the optimate, the battery on that bike has had to be replaced once already.

I’ll take it for a spin later, and fill up with premium, and probably put a fuel supplement in too (any suggestion as to which?), and then let it cool down and see how it goes after that.

 

I did avoid the Bradex under the advice of you guys. I drove it around a while to drain most of the fuel, grabbed a bottle of Wynn's Total Action Petrol. I hit the station with about 20 miles left in the tank and filled up putting in the the whole thingy (which says it can be used on as little as 20 litres, which is the size of the tank anyway), and then rode around for another 20-30 miles.

I came home and waited for the bike to cool a bit, and checked the oil. I don't know much about it, but the levels looked fine, perhaps it seemed maybe a little dirty to me, but I really don't know - it wasn't cloudy or anything.

I just went to try and start it up, it's still slightly warm, but thought I'd give it a go, but there's some new issue ... the injectors don't fire, and the engine oil light stays on (and the ABS light is blinking), nothing else - even the neutral light isn't on. When I hit the starter, it doesn't even turn over. It's not happy.

Could I have done f'ed something up in checking the oil? The dipstick is back in and tightened.


UPDATE
Urgh, epic facepalm ... I had the engine stop switch activated.

So the bike starts, but like I say, it's still very warm to the touch, so I'll try again much later, and/or in the morning.

 

Oh, I forgot to mention that when I got to the petrol station, I think when I undid my fuel cap, it was actually loose. I've got the locking cap, and not only did I not have to unlock it, but it felt almost half-undone. So if fresh fuel has done the trick, I imagine all the juicy bang-bang molecules had evaporated out.

 

Right, I think it's good. Stone cold this morning, and she started with only mild reluctance!

I suspect the primary issue was the fuel cap being loose for a few months over winter. I guess some of the more volatile components evaporated from the tank, or some ambient moisture got in, or both.

But I think the system cleaner that's in there will help going forward too, and improve the system generally anyway.

Thanks for the help guys!