1998 VFR800 will not start

Hello, I believe that this is my first post.
I will get to the point below but I think it's kind of funny. I've had the motorcycle three years it has about 45,000 miles on it. Other than the usual low voltage which I sort of fixed up thanks to help from this forum it has been an extremely reliable motorcycle. I've had approximately 30 motorcycles over 40 years and rode across country one time and regularly commuted from the East Coast into the Midwest. I really enjoyed motorcycles. After my first son was born I stopped riding my 1977 BMW R 100 RS and left it in the garage. After a while I got the itch back but was worried about injuries so I started riding a Honda passport 70. I put 8000 miles on that thing in about five years and really had a good time with it. My back started bothering me so I quadrupled displacement and acquired a ninja 250. I would go touring on that thing and it really worked well for me. Well a friend I trusted said I need to get the Honda 800 and I did and it is a beautiful motorcycle. For whatever reason my riding skills have deteriorated and I'm just nervous riding so I decided I should sell it.

The bike is always in my garage. Last time I rode it was about six weeks ago. I put it up for sale. I charge the battery fully. I did not try to start it because I think it's more honest that a potential buyer see how the bike starts when it's cold. So the buyer comes along and I try to start it. I turned the key, listen to the fuel pump whine and I cranked the starter. It is in neutral and the engine cranks a lot but there is no sign of ignition. For whatever reason the buyer suggests that perhaps I have mice in the intake. I have no idea how he came up with that but we prop the tank and as I am fiddling with the intake a mouse escapes from the intake box. Open the airbox and there is a pile of chewed up towel and another mouse escapes between the cylinder banks. That's the funny part of the story. Clean it all out, pull out the air cleaner look at the throttle bodies and there's nothing in there and they open properly. Try to spray some starting fluid down there. Crank away and nothing. Well more accurately the engine turns over but it doesn't seem to hint at firing. Vapor is coming out of the exhaust pipe.

I have not gone between the cylinders to see if the mice have chewed up anything down there. Not certain if there is any electrics to chew up. I have not checked the spark on the plugs. Can I pull the plugs and lay them on the cylinder and look for spark without damaging electrics or electrocuting myself? If anybody has suggestions I would appreciate it.

 

Wow! You joined in 2015 and this is your first post?! Not knocking you, just 4 years is a long time to be sitting on the side lines. Anyway, as for your issue, I’ve done the spark plug on the outside of the cylinder trick before and did not suffer any catastrophic issues. I’m sure you’re aware of the dangers of doing that I.e. Don’t touch it and keep flammable/combustible items away from it.

As for the mouse issue, this is actually a thing, there have been several post where folks have found evidence of mice in the air box and in some cases a storage of food and “bedding”. It is possible that they could have chewed through some of the wiring, as the coils do sit behind the air box. Plus there is an entire wire loom in and around that area. I would do a thorough search of the wiring and see if you can find any chewed up wires. I’m pretty sure that the kill switch isn’t set to off, as the fuel pump wouldn’t run but that’s always something to double check.

 

Thanks for the help, maybe I am just shy.

I got the bike started. Even four days after the initial incident the plugs were still smelling strongly of raw gasoline. The old plugs would spark but not that strong. I put in fresh plugs all around. The bike started and the guy with me cranked on the throttle killing the engine. I tried to start the bike again and it wouldn't. Bear in mind it had been sitting for easily six weeks. The battery had been topped off but was old. Finally the bike started again, it steamed and smoked and I let it idle for half an hour and I think it cleaned itself up.

Bottom line, sitting in a garage for six weeks, weak battery and a serious mouse nest covering the air filter led to too rich fuel delivery which caused the problem. At least that's my opinion

 

You didn't say how old your fuel is ?
This has a real effect on how easy it runs..

 

place a screen over the intake hole where it goes onto the breather to keep the critters out. Or at least during winter storage, place a rag or sock in the intake, just remember to take it out in the Spring!