T300 Trophy 1997 Not Firing Been Stood 3 Mths

Though it's only been a few weeks since it was last started she has been stood since the end of September went out to run her up and not firing at all this was yesterday so put battery on charge overnight to make sure it is fully charged battery was new in May/June 2025 when I bought the bike.

This morning have removed tank and yes it has fuel in in well above reserve level check. With tank out of the way checked LH carb for fuel by slackening the drain screw and yep fuel ran out so we have fuel to carbs. Got a new spark plug and unplugged LH lead put new plug in and held it against the engine top cover and spun her over and yes there is a spark but weaker than I would expect.

Seller said he fitted new plugs but I don't think he actually did a I had 3 brand new plugs sitting on top of one of my tool cabinets not sure now if I bought them or not when I bought a new lot of oil. Anyway after much hassle got plugs out and they do not look like they had only done about 3-4,000km si I don't know.

Choke is working on the carbs and currently have a remote bottle connected to carbs with tank off and it did cough once but it's not firing as it should. Now as far as I know it has it's original coils but before I go ordering replacements would like to narrow down as to why it's not firing....

Now who on ever thought this was a good set up especially the middle plug!!! Access is just shit now I think that we can safely go with the fact that I have a more comprehensive tool selection that many having built it up over decades, well rebuilt it after scumbags stole a lot of my tools from the lockup that also had my Dolomite in. As usual even back then Plod was useless even though we had a good idea who it was and most of my spanners had my name etched onto them then were just not interested.

Plezier

 

Well had already gone through most of it. Anyway had to go out so whilst out called in the hardware store in the little town down the hill and got a new can of Engine Start cold weather start spray took a couple of squirts and a bit of spinning over to suck it in but she fired up on two .................... silly me had gone out on the errand and not put No3 cap back on now running on three. Ran her until the rad fan came in.

Next need to put tank back on and check she runs off the tank as per normal. That will be fun might need some hot water to soften the hose ends to get them back onto the tap and it's pretty chilly still freezing over night but in the sunshine it's actually about 8-10 degrees.

Plezier

 

Tank is back on and had it running on the tank as per normal the test will come in the morning when I try to start it with frost around although the bike is under cover so will be dry the battery charge read 12.6V when I checked after reconnecting the indicators and testing them again will check that again in the morning see if it's dropping in the cold.

Plezier

 

Nope not certain it's a battery issue I ran it down yesterday trying to start the bike that is why I charged it up will check it in the morning as I said and see what it reads voltage wise and if it's dropped much then see if the bike starts OK or not.

I have been considering replacing the coils that as far as I am aware are the originals the sparks I saw were yellowish not bluish that I would expect. Had been thinking maybe upgrade to the "modern" stick coils? No rush it's winter too cold and we usually get snow not riding in snow ever if I was allowed too.

Plezier

 

OK it's late next morning battery voltage read 12.75v so no problem there. Choke on key in hit button and she fired right up in fact quicker than she was doing so before this incident idle also seems smoother too .

Of course it was not quite such plain sailing as that as silly me forgot to plug the fuel gauge wire in so had to unbolt the tank to lift it enough to get at the connectors and plug it back in . Oh well it's all done now.

My thoughts on this whole episode is that my starting it and running it up every week or few weeks had dropped the voltage down a tad as it was not running long enough to replace the charge taken to start if especially if it took a bit longer to start up. Add the dirty plugs and what looks to e a weaker spark perhaps the fuel level had dropped just enough to be near reserve, I did add fuel from a can probably about 7 litres. need to refill the can when next out! All I can do now is keep and eye on it and see how it goes but for now it's fine .

Plezier