Bike won't start in neutral. Clutch doesn't disengage.

[bryanfz]

Hi all! I'm having a problem with my bike today. I went to go clean and lube the chain this morning and when I went to go start the bike for a test ride she wouldn't start in neutral. It cranks but doesn't start. I thought the battery had a low charge so I tried a rolling start down my drive way and found it very difficult to roll the bike in gear. I then tried to start in first gear with the clutch pulled in and the bike violently lurched forward. Same in second gear.
 
I tried adjusting the slack on the clutch cable same results.
 
I was researching online and another forum said the clutch plates might be stuck together and to roll the bike back and forth in gear with the clutch pulled in until they break apart. I attempted to but they never broke apart. Maybe I'm not doing it hard enough?
 
Please help! My FZ is my daily ride and the last time I started the bike was the two days ago. I also just changed the oil and filter a little over 1000 miles ago.

[wickedtwister]

when it is in neutral and cranking over do you get any error codes? not sure why it wouldn't start here. If you have the bike in gear and clutch all the way in bike does not roll freely? have you checked the clutch lever where it goes into the side case? Is it in the full rear position and depressing the clutch lever pulls it forward?

[pineappleunderthesea]

I've had low battery issues in my previous bike and it did all kinds of weird things that were solved with a new battery. Maybe try charging it first to see if that works? Otherwise the first things that come to mind are spark plugs or fuel pump (do you hear it running when you first turn the key on?)
 
By the way, my bike lurches just a bit when starting in gear. When the bike is cold, I also have trouble moving it initially when it is in gear, so I'm not sure that's related to the trouble you have since mine starts right up. But what do I know...!

[bryanfz]

Thanks for the help guys but the problem seemed to fix itself. I tried starting it again in neutral and it fired up but quickly died. Then I tried it again with some throttle and it took a while but it started. It smelled like gasoline was coming from the exhaust for a little bit but eventually went away. The clutch issues also seemed to go away.
 
I'm not sure what was wrong but I'm going in for my 6000 mile service soon so I'll mention what happened and see if they can find anything.

[rick]

Was also gonna ask if you could hear the fuel pump prime. That you smelled raw gasoline in the exhaust says you had fuel but either no spark ( or it's weak) or the mixture at cold start was not correct - maybe a misbehaving IAC.
 
Don't believe the clutch is a concern. The plates will always stick together until there's a quick enough force to break the static surface tension the oil creates. Next time time cranking in 6th gear.
 
If you do a lot of short runs and don't routinely have the battery on a tender when the bike sits, an anemic battery might have just enough juice to crank the starter, but then not enough voltage remaining to produce a hot spark and keep the rest of the electronics happy.
 

[bryanfz]

Okay I'll put my battery on a tender just to be safe.
 
When it wouldn't start I could hear the fuel pump prime on some of my attempts to start it but not all.
 
I'll ask them to check the fueling and IAC when I go in for my service.

[Guest Ralph]

When the engine is cold you may find it goes into gear smoother if you pull the clutch in
give it a short sharp little rev just before you put it in gear this lets the oil drag brake the plates free.