SW does not do the pre ignition checks; so won't start

i hope your collective wisdom will help me with this problem
when i turn the key the bike should do it's pre ignition checks.
on mine the dials are going around, the light comes on,but there is no whirring sound;
when i then pull the brake lever in and press the starter button - nothing happens!!

any ideas

Have you checked the red Engine Stop/kill switch?

Meldrew wrote:

Have you checked the red Engine Stop/kill switch?

yes of course, i check that first on every start up. also checked for loose connection on battery. checked fuses are all ok

What about the side stand then, there's a cut off switch there too.

actually Meldrew, you might be onto something. when i bypass the red kill switch it seems to work fine. i will open the switch tomorrow and give it a good clean.
i know there is another switch on the sidestand that will prevent it from starting when down but it does not prevent it doing the pre ignition checks.. My brake lever is very hard to pull in far enough for that switch to activate but it seems to work once pulled.
many thanks for this advice

From past experience I would say no start problems are 90% from not applying the left brake lever firmly.You should here two slight clicks from the switch if pulled tightly.WD-40 is great for cleaning electrical switches.  Howard

As the OP has already mentioned, when he switches the ignition on there isn't the usual whirring that is presumably the fuel pump priming. That's the normal sound you hear before pressing the brake lever and thumbing the starter button.

NWSSC wrote:

.WD-40 is great for cleaning electrical switches.  Howard

It might be good for cleaning, but with our climate over here I would get the stuff out as soon as possible. It does a fantastic job cleaning all sorts of hard oils waxes and even sticky rubber based stuff off and is good on plastics / paints. BUT if in the wet, like over here, it then attracts moisture which it keeps against the metal causing corrosion! For many years now I have been using ACF50, it's more expensive but works brilliantly on all metal. I use it on my big bikes electrics and polished alloy. One coat in the autumn before salt goes down on the roads and I ride all winter with NO furring of the alloy.
It was developed apparently for Pan Am airlines for use on their polished planes to keep them shiny. They also make a brilliant grease that I use on all my bike wheel bearings, that can withstand running in seawater!

WD-40 doesn't attract moisture! The name actually means Water Displacement, the 40 represents the number of experiments it actually took to get the formula correct.

hotwings wrote:

WD-40 doesn't attract moisture! The name actually means Water Displacement, the 40 represents the number of experiments it actually took to get the formula correct.

Bingo, hotwings wins the prize.

If my memory serves me right(if I still have one) this has been covered (WD-40) in detail on a much older post.Howard

hotwings wrote:

WD-40 doesn't attract moisture! The name actually means Water Displacement, the 40 represents the number of experiments it actually took to get the formula correct.

I don't disagree at all! Get any piece of metal, electrical circuitry or switch gear, make it nice and wet, then spray with WD40! BINGO! All the water disperses and the componant is nicely covered in WD40!

I love the list of things it does, all of which it does well!

1. Protects silver from tarnishing.
2. Removes road tar and grime from cars..
3. Cleans and lubricates guitar strings..
4. Gives floors that 'just-waxed' sheen without making them slippery.
5. Keeps flies off cows.
6. Restores and cleans chalkboards.
7. Removes lipstick stains.
8. Loosens stubborn zippers.
9. Untangles jewelry chains.
10. Removes stains from stainless steel sinks.
11. Removes dirt and grime from the barbecue grill.
12. Keeps ceramic/terra cotta garden pots from oxidizing.
13. Removes tomato stains from clothing.
14. Keeps glass shower doors free of water spots.
15. Camouflages scratches in ceramic and marble floors.
16. Keeps scissors working smoothly.
17. Lubricates noisy door hinges on vehicles and doors in homes.
18. It removes black scuff marks from the kitchen floor! Use WD-40 for those nasty tar and scuff Marks on flooring.. It doesn't seem to harm the finish and you won't have to scrub nearly as hard to get them off. Just remember to open some windows if you have a lot of marks.
19. Bug guts will eat away the finish on your car if not removed quickly! Use WD-40!
20. Gives a children's playground gym slide a shine for a super fast slide.
21. Lubricates gear shift and mower deck lever for ease of handling on riding mowers.
22. Rids kids rocking chairs and swings of squeaky noises.
23. Lubricates tracks in sticking home windows and makes them easier to open.
24. Spraying an umbrella stem makes it easier to open and close.
25. Restores and cleans padded leather dashboards in vehicles, as well as vinyl bumpers.
26. Restores and cleans roof racks on vehicles.
27. Lubricates and stops squeaks in electric fans
28. Lubricates wheel sprockets on tricycles, wagons, and bicycles for easy handling.
29. Lubricates fan belts on washers and dryers and keeps them running smoothly.
30. Keeps rust from forming on saws and saw blades, and other tools.
31. Removes splattered grease on stove.
32. Keeps bathroom mirror from fogging.
33. Lubricates prosthetic limbs.
34. Keeps pigeons off the balcony (they hate the smell).
35. Removes all traces of duct tape.
36. Folks even spray it on their arms, hands, and knees to relieve arthritis pain.
37. Florida's favorite use is: 'cleans and removes love bugs from grills and bumpers..'
38. The favorite use in the state of New York , WD-40 protects the Statue of Liberty from the elements.
39. WD-40 attracts fish. Spray a little on live bait or lures and you will be catching the big one in no time. Also, it's a lot cheaper than the chemical attractants that are made for just that purpose. Keep in mind though, using some chemical laced baits or lures for fishing are not allowed in some locations.
40. Use it for fire ant bites. It takes the sting away immediately and stops the itch.
41. WD-40 is great for removing crayon from walls. Spray on the mark and wipe with a clean rag.
42. Also, if you've discovered that your teenage daughter has washed and dried a tube of lipstick with a load of laundry, saturate the lipstick spots with WD-40 and rewash. Presto! The lipstick is gone!
43. If you sprayed WD-40 on the distributor cap, it would displace the moisture and allow the car to start.

The next few months are the problem!

I only posted my own observations on what I personally have found to happen on my Honda Blackbird and CB500s over the past 10 years.
When my wife got her own Honda Blackbird she decided to stay with WD40 and I moved on to ACF50. After a year she moved to ACF50. We both did the same maintenance but I covered many more miles. Mine remained cleaner and easier to clean and suffered less problems!

Hot wings I tried to share a product, ACF50 with fellow Silverwing riders on this site. I did believe that this was one of the ideas behind these forums!

However please continue to use WD40 I presume you have personal experience with BOTH products, you obviously know best!

As for the kind helpful comment by model28a (Site Admin)! Well
I work with schoolchildren and that is the sort of comment I would expect from an eight year old, and not from Site Admin!

Wow! After completing your online research on WDology you now know it doesnt attract moisture as you inaccurately described its characteristics in your previous post.

: Time to chill out fellas

Tim

hotwings wrote:

Wow! After completing your online research on WDology you now know it doesnt attract moisture as you inaccurately described its characteristics in your previous post.

Perhaps you didn't read the post, personally I think it does and I prefer ACF50, but please continue trying to score points.

I don't want to keep this up and it certainly isn't in the spirit in which I offered some information that I had.

I apologise to anybody else on the forum who has had to read this and would like to suggest to everybody who uses WD40 next time you need to get a can try ACF50 instead. I am sure you won't regret it!

Im chillin

After all the playground pushin and shovin, does anyone know if the bike started?

HORNBLOWER you made a statement that WD-40 "attracts moisture which it keeps against the metal causing corrosion" and that is untrue. I was trying to figure out how to politely tell you that was not true and hotwings posted the correct information, so I agreed with him in a humorous way to avoid sounding rude.
Then you compare me to an eight year old. I would think name calling would be closer to acting like an eight year old than using humor to avoid being rude.

Reading through the topic I get what Hornblower is on about, WD-40 is fine for many uses but isn't a long term winter anti-corrosion spray whereas ACF50 seems to be. I've read plenty of forum posts from maxi riders treating the exposed metal on their scooters with a good coating.

I've never used ACF50 myself, I once used a product called Scottoiler FS-365 which I'd heard was good but I found useless. For years I've used S100 Korrosion-Schutz, and Motorex Motoline Protect & Shine 645 as winter draws near, I pick up the odd can when I'm over in Germany and they work well for me on the Silver Wing.

Now that's your homework project for this weekend, you can Google these S100 and Motorex products and find out all about them.

Yes around here the goto product for rust and corrosion is appropriately called Rust Check. Excellent product, seeps and creeps. My father bought a motor home from the son of the chemist who invented it. It was obvious by the beautiful estate that the product payed them well.

Meldrew wrote:

I once used a product called Scottoiler FS-365 which I'd heard was good but I found useless. For years I've used S100 Korrosion-Schutz, and Motorex Motoline Protect & Shine 645 as winter draws near.

Thank you Meldrew!

I must admit I found the Scotoiler product useless too! I felt that a motorcycle protector for winter use that the manufacturer recommended washing off with a hose in spring was worse than useless in our climate! However having used their original product the Scotoiler on my bike chains for the past 15 years I was surprised by this one.

I will check out the other products you mentioned.

Perhaps instead of posting on this thread and eventually hijacking it I should have started a new thread comparing different products that we have firsthand knowledge of rather than going by what the manufacturer says on the tin!