Husaberg Starting Advice Please - Before I lose the will to live...

got a '98 501 a few weeks back - i'd love to say what a great bike it is, but i can't unless i get it started. the guy i bought it off put the fuel on , choke on and started it first kick. i must have tried this a thousand times - nothing, not even a pop. i have tried every routine on this forum with the result being total failure. although this is great source of amusement to my wife, i am getting to the end of my tether. i have owned BSA's, triumphs etc, so i'm no stranger to unusual starting routines, but i'm a grandpa now and i want to spend my time riding my bikes - not trying to start them. if i can't get this thing started soon, i'll need to sell it. the ad would need to read - husaberg 501 for sale , very quiet and good on petrol.
any help and advice would be most welcome.

Have you ridden it at all yet? Have you ever started it?

You did not mention turning on the key switch. Did he give you the owners manual?

Here is the 98 FE wiring diagram: You can download 'The Doc' under 'Resources' to the left of the screen, you need to read the hard start information.

If all else fails, get the guy you bought it from to show you again how to start it.

Regards,

Joe

not ridden or started it yet. it has no ignition key and it has the automatic decompression. i presume i have the fc model??

Are you getting a nice big fat blue spark? The SEM ignition is known to time out without warning. If it has the original stator in it that would be the fist place I would look. On my 01 470 the stator went out during a minor tear down. One day it worked fine and the next it was toast. After 3 years the stator is to be considered riding on borrowed time.

Hello,


I used to have a 98 FC 501

My starting drill was as follows

I would turn on the choke kick it through 2 complete revolutions slowly throttle closed completely.

Turn off choke and give it your hardest kick it should fire on the first or second kick.

Check to make sure you are getting a good strong spark usually when I have a problem getting anything to start and I have been kicking it for some time I will change the plug it may cure your woes.

I also had a time getting mine to start until I got to know the machine then it was as simple as could be

andy

have you got a wet plug. if not it's out of fuel. if so that's ok and you should check if ther plug is old and put a new one in.

check for the spark as berger says. blue is great. orange is very iffy!

why not call the person you bought it off for his starting technique? to be honest he'd be where i'd go. you needed more advice from him.

the carbs on all these early huseys wear out so i would look at a n new atomizer and needle at some point.

good luck.

Valve adjustment and base idle settings are critical for easy starting as well.

berger said:

Valve adjustment and base idle settings are critical for easy starting as well.

Click to expand...

Indeed!!

If the valves are out of adjustment you can kick till the cows come home with no results. It will usually pull (tow) start and then later kick once it is warm.

yes but it satarted straight away for the man who sold it!

tow start. yep! put a tow rope around your right footrest (in the UK) and dump it in 2nd or 3rd gear. then take it for a good ride or warm fully before stopping.

you'll get there andy!

regards

Taffy

Andy sir
You are allowing the kickstart to click at the top before you kick it ??
You are getting it just past the compression stroke ??
You have tried heating your plug on a flame ??
Spark / Fuel / Tow start
...worked before ...
..surely !
good luck
keep us posted.

Regards
Ady

i deleted the previous owners mobile no. from my phone, so i cannot contact him. not the brightest thing i have done.
the plug is wet but the spark maybe could be better. the bike started and ran perfectly when i bought it - so it's got to be me rather than the bike.
i've been riding bikes for 35 years and stripped & rebuilt more than i care to remember. but this blue and yellow beast is lurking in the corner of the garage sniggering at me - so today is all out war. i'll get it started if it kills me. i'll put a new plug in and do the valves and idle. failing this my mate knows a guy locally who raced a 501 for years and is going to humiliate me totally by asking him to come round and start my bike for me.
if these two options fail i have a plan. i am having a barbeque on saturday and am going to invite all my mates. i'll ply them with drink, and once we have watched paraguay beat england in the world cup, i will suggest a party game called " start the husaberg ". a fairly basic game - start the husaberg and win a bottle of vodka ( remembering how they achieved this mythical feat of course. ) i'll keep you posted about the details of this saga.
great forum by the way. i really appreciate all the advice and tips, keep them coming as you never stop learning.
andy

if you deleted the owners ph number from your phone , it should still be in the call register section of your phone . :idea:

andyr33 said:

if these two options fail i have a plan. i am having a barbeque on saturday and am going to invite all my mates. i'll ply them with drink, and once we have watched paraguay beat england in the world cup, i will suggest a party game called " start the husaberg ". a fairly basic game - start the husaberg and win a bottle of vodka ( remembering how they achieved this mythical feat of course. ) i'll keep you posted about the details of this saga.

andy

Click to expand...

Genius, pure genius!!!

Thats thinking outside the box.... and Clever I might add :lol: :lol: :lol:

Regards,

[/quote]

Genius, pure genius!!!

Thats thinking outside the box.... and Clever I might add :lol: :lol: :lol:

Regards,[/quote]

i can't be that clever - remember i bought a motorcycle i can't start

whosahberg said:

if you deleted the owners ph number from your phone , it should still be in the call register section of your phone . :idea:

Click to expand...

my mobile is faulty so i can't get last number re-dail or a lot of other functions aaargh.
why are all my kids running around with mobiles, which i bought, that could land the space shuttle, but i have one so old you need a wheelbarrow to carry it around?
thanks for the suggestion though.

Taffy said:

tow start. yep! put a tow rope around your right footrest (in the UK) and dump it in 2nd or 3rd gear. then take it for a good ride or warm fully before stopping.

you'll get there andy!

regards

Taffy

Click to expand...

taffy are you completely insane ( i haven't met a welshman who wasn't :lol: :lol: :lol: ) if i was tied by a rope to one of my mates cars or bikes, they would instantly grow horns and i could visualise myself getting towed down the motorway at 80mph with extremely brown trousers.
on reflection of that last sentence, maybe it's about time i re-assessed my friends.
i could ask the wife, but i don't trust her with the remote for the telly, far less towing me to certain death.

andy

andy,

It's clear to me by your sense of humor, that you are right where you belong.... at the UHE. You will make a fine add to the mix! These are the greatest bunch of fellas around and will get your starting problem sorted lickety-split, just have some patience, a clean set of britches, and a limber left leg :lol:
As Taffy already said, check to see if your plug is wet. That should tell you if your getting fuel. Remove the plug entirely if need be and smell for fuel. Make sure all the connections are secure to the plug and that there are no damaged wires. If you do kick the bike over with the plug still connected but out of the hole, make sure the plug is grounded or you risk damaging the CDI coil. Once everything thats been suggested checks out ok including the valve adjustment, all thats left is learning the drill.

1st) Pull in the manual decomp lever.
2nd) Twist throttle fully open (WOT)
3rd) clear cylinder by kicking through stroke about four or five times. (No need to exert yourself here, just gentle full kicks should do it)
4th) release throttle from fully open position and allow to return to closed position.
5th) still with the manual decomp pulled in, kick through stroke one more time, still no need to exert yourself... one gentle full kick through.
6th) Release the manual decomp lever.
7th) slowly push the kickstart lever down until compression builds up.
8th) once the pressure has built up on the stroke, pull the manual decomp lever in ever-so-slightly to relieve the pressure and push the kickstarter down about 3-4" to bring the piston just past TDC.
9th) release the manual decomp lever and allow the kickstarter to retract back to its upper most and starting position.
10) With a good, strong, EVEN kick, shove that kicker to the floor!

* I have found that the most important part to mastering the drill is to get good follow through through the entire range of your kick. Don't let up half way through the kick, push it all the way until it stops against the foot peg in one steady Zen like motion. This will make you and the bike become one :wink:

ps. If the above mentioned method does not work the first time, try again from step one. Also, try using this method with and without the choke on to see if either will yield better results. I can start my bike with this method with or without the choke.... some people have varying results.

Regards,

2nd ps. If all else failes, rop'er to the car and try pull starting.... :lol:

thanks for the welcome keith. just put the new plug in and set the valves - after about a dozen kicks it started !!!!!! blasted it up and down the street a few times and it runs perfectly. so, as most suspected ,it was my failings and not the bike. end of the saga ? fraid not. the husaberg being a wily old brute, decided to start when i was paying least attention to what i was doing. so now i can't get it re-started. my bike has an auto-decompression. i am taking it to tdc then slightly past. it started on full choke. i presume once hot it should start without choke. thanks for the advice everyone. now i know i can start it, i'll soon get a good routine going.
i'm still going to have the " start the husaberg" party game though. i think i'll video it and post the ensuing mayhem on the forum.

my bike has had and new crank and seals etc. no-one can start it with the kick-start. it bump starts no problem and runs perfectly. i took it to a guy who has raced these for years. he reckoned it needed a good couple of hours running to get it sorted. basically i take it to tdc then 2-3 degress past and this should start it no problem so i'm told. but when i do this the kick-start locks solid. could this just need running in or have i more serious problems?
help please!!!!

cheers andy

it's running quite rich.

your friend is right. give it a really good run and thrash it a bit. it will restart after a while if you dare to stall it.

your jetting could still be rich so set the carb when very warm-until you do this you'll never be safe!

all welshman aren't like me! they never left the valleys so they're all lost souls. some of us broke free.

regards

Taffy