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So I recently acquired a ‘93 Yamaha sr125. It passed its MOT in 2017 and was running for a while but has now been sat for over a year.

I’ve replaced the battery, stripped and cleaned the carb.

I drained all the old fuel left over (maybe half a cup), and refuelled with fresh.

When I tried to start it (electric start) initially i got a chugging noise but it wouldn’t start.

Now when I’m trying to start, it’s doing this: (https://youtu.be/49CGAwdr_jU)

I’ve done some electrical work so the battery has been used a bit since fresh but I dont think that would be enough to run the battery out.

How do I fix this and get her starting again?

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  • It sounded as though the engine turned over like twice but not after that. Perhaps you used more battery charge than you thought. Commented Oct 13, 2019 at 19:29

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I will listen to the video again when I am in a quieter place, but it doesn't sound like the engine is turning over. That tells me it is probably a problem with the battery (best case scenario), or the starter motor.

My first 2 checks would be:

  • Get the battery tested at an auto parts store
  • Try jumping the bike using a car battery. Car red (+) terminal to bike red (+) terminal, and motorcycle frame (-) to car black (-) terminal. DO NOT START THE CAR.

Motorcycle batteries are less "tough" than car batteries. Letting a bike battery sit for a year has probably drained it. Hopefully this is the problem.

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    Be careful about jump starting from a car battery: some bikes have 6-volt electrics. And make no assumptions about positive or negative frame ground, or whether it is the same on the car and the bike. Commented Oct 13, 2019 at 19:25

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