bobby-e Posted June 16, 2011 Posted June 16, 2011 Hello in the 70s I had a cracking machine,76 RD 400,which I bought new. For my 57th birthday I bought what I always wanted a 350R YPVS,when I bought it,it was running.The lad who sold me it ,had started the motor. I cant get it started,its been 20yrs since I last rode a bike,my starting technique must be wrong,please could someone tell me the correct starting method so I can go for my first ride out on it. Thanks in advance.
paule230 Posted June 16, 2011 Posted June 16, 2011 Hi, I had one back in the late 80's. From what I can remember you just pulled out the choke plunger kicked it once and it started. I'm a bit suspicious that the bike was running already when you arrived though! Firstly check the obvious..... Handle bar kill switch is set to on / run. you have enough fuel, the tank if I remember works in on a vacuum so you have on-reserve- prime. If you have enough fuel, try switching to prime to fill the carbs up, then switch to either on or reserve. Failing that try popping a plug out is it wet(fuel getting through)? Is it sparking?
Moderator Cynic Posted June 16, 2011 Moderator Posted June 16, 2011 Hello in the 70s I had a cracking machine,76 RD 400,which I bought new. For my 57th birthday I bought what I always wanted a 350R YPVS,when I bought it,it was running.The lad who sold me it ,had started the motor. I cant get it started,its been 20yrs since I last rode a bike,my starting technique must be wrong,please could someone tell me the correct starting method so I can go for my first ride out on it. Thanks in advance. Starting 2 strokes especially older ones is an art in many cases, they will all have a 'way' you just need to find it. The old Yam is more forgiving than most. See if this helps..... Turn on ig, idiot lights on ( oil/neutral and the wirr wirr noise of the power valve) making sure kill switch is in the run position. Be sure fuel is on then pause for a moment to be sure the carbs are full, if you are having trouble starting go safe with the res(erve) option to be sure you have fuel. Turn the engine over, not a proper kick just use your foot on the kicker to prime everything with a couple of slow 'prods' You should have felt some resistance at some point on the stroke of the kick start during the 'prods', stop at that point once you have it , that will be one of the pistons nearly at the top of its stroke and after the priming strokes should be ready to fire. Let the kickstart return to the top, turn the choke on now. If you had done it earlier with the slow kicks there is a chance of wetting the plugs. Deep breath cross your fingers and opperate the kickstart as fast as you can, note i said FAST, not hard its not a 600 single. Hard will just damage the kickstart stop. Da Daaaaaaaaaaa, well thats the plan anyway. Once its running cut the choke as soon as you can, they don't like it cap'n unless you like swapping plugs. If the engine is in good nick and running well you should be able to start it with your hand. I can with my TDR250. Hope this helps. If it doesent you may need to whip the plugs out and TBH put in new ones. They aren't expensive and 2 strokes destroy them anyway especially if the bike isn't in full time use. You should keep a couple with you as one going down will stop both cyl running so it is easiest to just swap out both plugs to be sure. Oh yes one last thing, there is 20 years and 20+hp between you and the 400. When she hits 6000rpm be ready to grin (and hang on)
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