Getting Bike to Start after 5 years in Storage

I've got a '98 VFR that's been in storage since 2002. I added fuel treatment and put oil in the cylinders per the manual before putting it away. I'm finally in a position to have some time to ride again, so I pulled it out today. Put in a new battery, cleaned the spark plugs, put a teaspoon of oil in each cylinder, and cranked it; but it won't start. I think my next step is to completely drain the fuel and put in new fuel.

My question is- It has been so long since I've run this bike, I cannot remember if I should hear the fuel pump run for a few seconds when I first turn the key or not. I have a fuel injected tractor that does this, but I can't remember if the bike is supposed to or not. Can anyone tell me if I should hear the pump?

Any other suggestions for putting the bike back in service after such a long period of storage would also be much appreciated.

Thanks,
Jim

 

Yes, turning the key on you should hear the pump whirling for about 5 seconds to prime the fuel injectors, then it stops.
Fuel stabilizer makes the fuel good for like a year, not 5 years. Consider the fuel varnish - the good news is that you don't have carbs to clean out, but you still may have clogged fuel hoses/pump and you may have rust in the gastank.

 

Yeah, the stabil won't work for 5 yrs. Ditto what chesthing said about the tank, lines, and pump. You may even have varnish on the injector tips. I've had to take the injectors out of an '00 that had been sitting for @ a year and use some carb. clean on the tips to remove the varnish. Good luck.

 

Thanks for the feedback. You guys were right. The fuel pump was locked up due to the varnish. I soaked the pump in Yamaha carb cleaner, but that did not free it up. I finally carefully took the end of the pump off and was able to spin the pump free with pliers. After that I could connect it to 12V and it would spin. I pumped cleaner through it and let it soak some more (several times) until it seemed like it was pumping pretty good.

Put everything back together and tried to start the bike. Now the fuel pump does run for a few seconds when I turn the key. Bike wants to start but would not quite catch. I checked the fuel pump flow per the service manual and it was low (only 80 cc in 10sec; manual says it should be 150 cc in 10 sec).

I'm going to replace the entire fuel pump assembly which includes the pump and fuel filter and see if that makes a difference.

Once I do get it started, is it okay to add a fuel injector cleaner to the fuel?