Starting up carb’d monster after 5 years

[joshuajcrouch]

Hey all,
New monster owner here that needs some advice.  Here is my introduction/modification thread if you are interested: http://www.ducatimonsterforum.org/index.php?topic=60498.0  My bike is a 2001 M600 with 900 original miles and it has not been started up in 5 years.  The previous owner supposedly added stabil to gas the last time it ran 5 years ago, however it only ran for a few minutes at time.

Here is what I have done so far:
-New cam belts
-Fresh oil change
-New spark plugs
-Old battery on a charger
-New fuel pump
-Gas tank is currently disconnected (recently brazed and about to do POR treatment)
-Gravity system hooked up to tank for starting up
-Sprayed small amount of Marvel Mystery Oil inside of cylinder.  I am planning on turning pistons manually via rotating the rear wheel.

That said, I have a few questions about starting it up for the first time:
-If my battery dies, can I hook up jumper cables from my car to the bike?  I am assuming that the car must be off and bike battery disconnected?
-I heard it's a good idea to let the bike turn over without the spark plugs in to get the oil pump going.
-I heard it's not a good idea to use starter fluid.  I was thinking about removing the air filter and dropping a few drops of gas into the intake.
-Should I add some stabil to the fuel I use for the initial startup?  Any benefit to this?
-Should I consider spraying carb cleaner into the intake before and during the startup?  I heard some carb cleaner is really bad for the diaphragms.  Any product recommendations?
-I am hoping to not have to remove the carbs and clean.  Are the carb bowls easily accessible for inspection while still on the bike?

Any other advice for me?  Thank you so much for any input.  I am really looking forward to getting this thing running.

Joshua

[Howie]

Do not use starter fluid.

Cranking the engine without starting is a good idea.  Actually starting without priming will be good enough.

Not too much Marvil Mystery Oil, I probably wouldn't bother.

Do not run the car.  Do not disconnect the car battery.  Once started the bike should run on it's own.  I would be surprised if you don't need a new battery.

Stable is for storage.  No benefit for initial start up.  Don't use carb cleaner.

Why not go through the carbs before start up.


How about brake and clutch fluid?  Tires? 

[joshuajcrouch]

Do not use starter fluid.

Cranking the engine without starting is a good idea.  Actually starting without priming will be good enough.

Not too much Marvil Mystery Oil, I probably wouldn't bother.

Do not run the car.  Do not disconnect the car battery.  Once started the bike should run on it's own.  I would be surprised if you don't need a new battery.

Stable is for storage.  No benefit for initial start up.  Don't use carb cleaner.

Why not go through the carbs before start up.


How about brake and clutch fluid?  Tires? 

Thanks for the feedback. 

I am also assuming I will need a new battery, I just wanted to see if I could get it started before buying a battery.  Ok, so I will leave the battery hooked up to the car.  Do you need to unhook the bike battery?  Thought I read that somewhere.

Ideally I would go through the carbs, but I know nothing about carbs and am intimidated to take them apart.  I was really hoping it could get it running by only spraying some carb cleaner in there.  Maybe wishful thinking?

Both brake and clutch reservoirs are empty.  I plan to fill and bleed at a later time.  I will also be getting new tires at a later time.  I have no intentions of taking this bike on the street until I get those items resolved.  Just want to get this thing running first.

Joshua

[Howie]

Doh!  I meant no need to disconnect the bike battery.

Spraying carb cleaner while starting won't do much and will make starting more difficult.  If the bike starts and runs well, great!  If not, try priming, not too much though. 

[battlecry]

Be gentle with carb cleaner.  It hurts rubber, plastics, and paint.  If you have the time and the place, take the carbs off and dunk them in pine-sol.  Look in Advrider for the pine-sol thread.  Works amazingly well and reduces the possibility of damage.   

[joshuajcrouch]

Be gentle with carb cleaner.  It hurts rubber, plastics, and paint.  If you have the time and the place, take the carbs off and dunk them in pine-sol.  Look in Advrider for the pine-sol thread.  Works amazingly well and reduces the possibility of damage.   

I saw a thread about doing that.  Would I need to disassemble the carbs to do the dunk?  Or can I just pull the carbs from the bike and then reinstall?

[battlecry]

Just take off the bowl. 

[Howie]

I would see how the bike runs first.  If the bike was properly stored fresh fuel may be all you need.

[joshuajcrouch]

I would see how the bike runs first.  If the bike was properly stored fresh fuel may be all you need.

That is my thought as well.  Going to try starting it up it first and if all is well I won't have to dive into the carbs.

If not, I may have to give the pine sol a try.  Here is the thread I found: http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=560117

Does anyone have a DIY for pulling off the carbs and removing the bowls for the pine sol dunking process?

[joshuajcrouch]

Update:
I was able to get the bike to atleast fire up.  Here are a few notes on the steps I took:

-squirted some marvel mystery oil into the spark plug holes and slowly worked the cylinders up and down
-turned the bike over for a few minutes without spark plugs wired up
-made a temp gas tank (out of a tranny fluid bottle) and elevated it higher than the carbs
-added small amount of seafoam to gas

I could get it to idle for 30 seconds a time by manually dripping fuel into intake, but it would starve itself if I stopped.  After doing this 5 or 6 times I was able to start rolling the throttle.  The interesting thing is that once I could roll the throttle on I no longer needed to manually drop fuel into the intake. 

It seems to stay on as long as I had the throttle rolled on.  However once I let go of the throttle it seems to stall out.  Is adding throttle like an extreme version of a choke?

I am planning to try again today.  I am wondering if I will need to do this for a few days until I can get the gas flowing better.  Any thoughts?

And here is a video to demonstrate the last time I was able to get it fired up:

Joshua

[ducpainter]

Sounds to me like the pilot jets are dirty/clogged.

The addition of throttle moves the carburetor to the needle circuit.

[joshuajcrouch]

Sounds to me like the pilot jets are dirty/clogged.

The addition of throttle moves the carburetor to the needle circuit.

That is what I was afraid of.  I really don't want to take the carbs off.  For someone that knows nothing about carbs, what would I be getting myself into?

I am hoping that the seafoam additive does something to help.  For now I am planning on trying to get it started for a few days and see if anything improves.

[ducpainter]

No time like the present to learn. 

You don't have to take them off to remove and clean the pilot jets.

Remove the bowls...which isn't easy because of the cheap phillips screws, and remove the pilot jets and clean them.

If the jets are completely clogged it will be some time before the seafoam will clear them, if it ever does.

[joshuajcrouch]

No time like the present to learn. 

You don't have to take them off to remove and clean the pilot jets.

Remove the bowls...which isn't easy because of the cheap phillips screws, and remove the pilot jets and clean them.

If the jets are completely clogged it will be some time before the seafoam will clear them, if it ever does.

Interesting.  I didn't know that I could clean them without removing the carbs.  I am assuming its a lot easier to clean the pilot jets with the carbs removed?

[ducpainter]

You can see what you're doing with the carbs removed.

It's a lot more time/work to remove them.