New rider (TW125) ....bike's been parked up for the last few months and now won't start.
Re-charged the battery, checked the plugs. Tried mixing the petrol incase it had seperated....nope ...nothing. It turns over but just wont start. Any advice welcome.

I'd check the silly things - is the kill switch off? (I have done this in the past! )

Spray WD40 liberally over the sidestand cutout switch?

The petrol has gone off.....I know some people disagree but this has happened to me. Try to drain the carbs and put fresh petrol in it. Take the plugs out and then crank it over with them out. This will get rid of any petrol in the cylinder. Dry the plugs out, in the oven if pref and then put them back in while warm. This will help the bike start. I was told to do it this way on the forum by some very knowledgeable guys and it worked first time.



Steve

Yep it happened to me too (only unleaded though, the old leaded stuff was fine!)

while you've got the plugs out you might as well make sure they're sparking as well.
put the plug back in the plug cap and rest it on the head of the engine, make sure the screw thread part of the plug is touching metal and turn the engine over with the starter.
now look at the end of the plug, while still turning over the engine you should be getting a nice blue spark, if it's yellow or weak get a new plug/plugs they're only cheap and a poor spark can cause loads of running problems.

That's good advice from Ima but a word of warning don't hold the plug against the engine with bare fingers, you'll get an electric shock. I've got a belt from the plug cap before let alone the plug, so if you need to hold the plug hold it with some dry rag or some other insulating material.
If you have a good spark check that you are getting petrol.If you've been turning the engine over for a while without the bike starting the plug will be wet, if it isn't you may have a fuel supply problem. If you have a drain screw on the float bowl you can undo this and see if any sediment or water comes out.

Change the battery. Although it may take charge, the cells will be so knackered as to not take enough. Lead acid batteries deterioate rapidly if left for any length of time.

Sometimes the cylinders can dry out and you can loose a little compression. What I have done in the past is drop half a cap full of oil into the cylinder and leave it for a minute or so to work its way to the cylinder wall. Then turn the motor over with a cloth over the spark plug hole to catch the oil that will be pushed back out. Then drop half a cap full of petrol in and repeat the process to remove or thin out any excess oil. Put the plug in and hopefully away you go with good compression. Has worked for me in the past. Good Luck any way, I'm sure you will crack it as there is some good advice above.

Nick

Sooooooooooo? Any results?