I have noticed that my 2011 Bonneville SE is hard to start after having been ridden for even relatively short distances. Is this a common issue? Timing? Spark Plugs? What is the most likely culprit in this situation? After trying to start it, cranking it multiple times, there is a fairly strong fuel smell. Any help would be appreciated. It would be nice to rectify the issue. It can be a little annoying.
Interesting; Both my friends zzr1100 and my Thunderbird suffered from this yesterday. I put it down to high ethanol content in fuel causing vapour lock in the carbs but your bike is injection so it's wierd. I test rode a T120 the other day and it stalled whilst idling. Seems something is up with our petrol. I also read about the ability of ethanol to absorb water and If left long enough it becomes water saturated. Now if you add that in the mix it saves money as it baulks out the quantity. Okay in a car that regularly used but really bad in an infrequently used bike. Sometimes I drain all my fuel from the bikes and use it in my car and put brand new super just before I ride as fuel nowadays only seems good for a month.
Are you using the “choke” knob when trying to restart? Most need it pulled out halfway even when the bike is warm
The suggested remedy, choke one click, don't touch the throttle, worked perfectly. Thank you all so much for the help!!!
