Super Tenere refusal to start

[Sjoerd Bakker]

My brother owns 2015 Super Tenere and has had a recurring problem of the bike refusing to start when there are no good reasons why that should be so .
Twice it happened and the bile was hauled to the dealer where it was got going again the first time but they did not explain ( or know ) what was wrong other than suggesting the battery was getting old and they replaced it . Bunk the first battery had enough juice , but okay , almost two years old .
Second time was later with the new battery . Many attempts to start it , recharged the battery, ,used boost cycle on charger while cranking .No go . Hauled to dealer , and itstarted when they cranked it with the starter .
The other day he started the bike and moved it out of the shed and shut it before getting suited up for a ride a half hour later. THEN it refused to start . Many attempts and two days later it still refuses .

Seeking info on the internet I find some advice , but nothing that was of much help .
- It was suggested by one source that shutting the bike off after a very short time does not bring engine temperature up to a level needed for the bikes computer memory to be able to figure out what is needed.
When cranking over the engine it makes some sounds as if it might be willing to start, the right side exhaust pipe does warm up , not the left side, it will simply not " catch " and start up.

It looks like this is a known , not a rare ,problem .
If A bike is in good tune and operating normally , and starts normally , what is the excuse for such a problem ?
I suspect it has something to do with the fuel injection computer brain being
somehow scrambled in its thinking , It seems to be not sending a spark signal or adding fuel for some reason.
Could they reprogram its chip/
Any advice ??

[Sjoerd Bakker]

1 nothing wrong with fuel , it was filled the day before with good new clean
gasoline ; the bike started normally 30 minutes earlier
2 we did the disconnect- battery routine , did not work
3 The battery terminals are shiny and clean , as would be expected after only
one year
4 Not a single add on- accesory to sap current. Battery is strong and was recharged after all the cranking of the engine . Even with the added power of start-assist from said charger it still refused to start .

[turboguzzi]

with fuel injection i only have experience with cars, and these usually have the OBD2 so you can easily plug into ECU and see error codes.
I would download the workshop manual and enter the diagnostic mode that lets you read error codes. you dont need any specific reader for that

Then go item by item and check if everything is to spec

[jjrider]

I'd suspect there is a sensor that either is out of spec or send the wrong signal in certain conditions . have you ever taken one or both sparkplugs out and see if they're sparking or if they're wet or dry ? That will give some idea as to which side of the problem to look at - spark or fuel . Do you here the fuel pump building pressure ?

maybe twist the throttle backwards while attempting to start , trying to close the throttle harder and then see if it starts . There can be sensors reading the throttle is open if cables are tight thus the ecu won't send a spark , however , if your one pipe seems to be getting warm it many suggest there is spark, just not fuel or too much and it's flooded badly (the reason I want to know if plugs are wet or dry ).

One other thing to try , turn key on , twist throttle to half while cranking, pause then go wide open all the while cranking, doing all this in a span of 4 seconds . This would be an attempt to clear unburnt fuel . If the bike is getting flooded , i'd swap the plugs to the Iradiums . I have them in just about everything nowadays , not for any perceived performance gain but soley because they will not foul and will spark covered in oil or fuel where std plugs short out at any little covering .


.

[Mezo]

Faulty 02 sensors are a cause of problems on all FI engines, try THIS.

Mezo.

[turboguzzi]

Originally Posted by Mezo

Faulty 02 sensors are a cause of problems on all FI engines, try THIS.

Mezo.

luckily dont have even one injected bike, but in cars it's definetely true
my subaru forester started running like crap and an "check engine" light appeared. One quick scan with the OBD2 reader and it was indeeed the O2 sensor

just seen the manual and the Super1200 has a built in diagnostic mode you can access

[dubber68]

had this a few times on my S10 and it is a known common fault. Basically, as I understand it, everytime you turn on the ignition the injectors pump in a small amount of fuel as the fuel pump primes (the whirring as it powers up). This floods the engine in effect and to avoid it you should turn off the bike using the kill switch and when turning it back on leave the kill switch in the kill position until the clocks etc have cycled through the start procedure. It has worked for me and I haven't had a problem since following this procedure.

[streetbob2521]

Im having the same trouble with my Tenere 1200xtz 2016.
I had previous and never had any probs despite doing a lot of mls on it.
Would be interested in knowing how you get on?

[Sjoerd Bakker]

Now , 4 December , the bike has been in the shop for a month and still no phone call back as to how their research is going . Not a big loss at the moment , there hasn't been any good riding weather since the problem emerged again and they are welcome to keep the bike till spring if necessary . (Today is clear,sunny and freezing so I will go for a December ride later today and give them a visit )

Recently I have received some feedback from another Super Tenere owner who is an experienced car technician and who has also had similar non-start problems with his.
He confirmed my suspicions ; it is a problem ,well known to Yamaha , with this model of bike , but not every owner may experience it .
The technician correspondent said his has done it twice thus far and that the general experience is typical . It happens during cold weather and appears to happen if the starting drill is interrupted , as when the finger slips off the starter button , or if the engine is shut down shortly after starting .
That correspondent also stated that the bike may eventually fire up if it is hooked up with booster cables to a running automobile and is then cranked over with the starter motor while the bike throttle handle is held WIDE OPEN .
Considering that bike manuals generally suggest that a starter not be run for excessively long at a stretch it is a good way to burn up a starter.Clearly
one would need to tie up or tape the throttle handle open and do the cranking in short spells .
Not being a computer wizzard I have no idea of what is involved , but the Yamaha shop technician said that they can hook the bike " brains'' up to their computer to analyse problems and supposedly program in "fixes " .
That sounds good but why then has Yamaha not already fixed this problem at the factory level ?
It would seem that this would be a good problem to throw at the annual master mechanics competition which Yamaha runs for their best and brightest.

[Cobi]

Have had this happen and it is normally down to repeated starting at short intervals. Cold cranking amps need to be high and I found connecting bike and car batteries was the best solution then once started make sure the engine is up to operating temperature before turning off ignition.

Starting the bike to pull it outside turning of the ignition and then trying to restart was when the problem occurred.

[Sjoerd Bakker]

All is sort of , maybe , well.
As I said I would on Tuesday , I went for a ride on my bike and stopped by the Yamaha dealer where they told me we could take the Super Tenere . Went home and stayed all suited up as brother drove us to the shop in his truck ,and I rode the bike back.

They did nothing to the bike other than eventually getting it started and then over the following weeks starting it and running it for a while , then shutting it down and repeating that at intervals when the bike was cold .
Basically it was like a sick person being in hospital only for observation.
The mechanic did say that they were in contact with Yamaha office (somewhere) but did not get any info on possible new developments or some sort of computer fix , but they do know about it and that it does happen to other bikes ,commonly during cold weather .
The shop guys were not really happy for not being able to give a root cause nor a sure resolution of the problem and since they actually did nothing but start and stop the bike they did not charge anything , so that was nice of them.

So , Yamaha may be working on figuring out how to correct this issue, we don't know. In the meantime it would be nice of them to include a message in BIG PRINT on a card included with the keys and in the owners manual that tells riders to A not accidentally interrupt the starter motor when it is cold autumn or winter weather and the bike is stone cold , and B to not shut the bike off or let it stall until it has run long enough to thoroughly warm up the engine , until the radiator fan comes on.

Sure , if one knows the potential for this non-start problem it may be easy to avoid it . But NOT providing a warning and a good explanation to the new owners is not very sporting of them.
Imagine the fun a rider could have if on a frosty morning at a campsite in the remote wilds of the Yukon or Labrador with no town for 200km and the cold finger in a clumsy mitt slips off the start button .
This bike is actually a rolling self propelled fuel injected computer , so it is time that YAMAHA puts its brightest computer genii to work to diagnose and to correct the problem so that the bike will start EVERY TIME as long as there is combustible gasoline in the tank and a battery that is able to turn
over the engine past one TDC ( or less as on some sophisticated car engines ) . No " if or maybe or but-when ..." is acceptable.

[tremens]

my xt660z does that too sometimes when not used in colder weather, simply crack it with gas wide open.