Newbie alert!

I just became owner of a Polaris 300 2x4 auto that has been in storage for 6 months. I know it ran "fine" before that. I do not know what year or model it is.

First issue is how to start it? Dead battery, old gas (6 month). I tried pull start. Key on, "run" switch on, tranny in neutral. Will not start. Feels like very little compression. Moved throttle (I think) a couple times, smelled gas. Still not start. Let it sit an hour in case flooded. Still not start. I don't know how to drain the old gas yet, so I'm hoping I'm missing something in the pull-start procedure - some switch or throttle operation. If choke, where would it be located? Any tips?

Extensive online search for "owners manual" indicates I will need to buy one, once I determine the year/model.

For now, any tips on pull-start greatly appreciated. -- S0L

 

welcome SOL (think i know what that stands for lol) if the gas is truely only 6 months old it'll be alright to start with. you need to first find out if its firing or not by removing the spark plug. if you can charge up or replace the battery to use the elec. start.

 

stendori- thanks, I'll have another go at trying to locate the battery.

 

is this an older bike? what is the ser. number and we might be able to the year of it for ya.

 

yes, older bike. I cannot find the serial number, do you know where it might be located?

 

should be stamped in thr frame rail some.

 

It would be a 1994. The year is on the front under the headlight by the steering post. The chock is the lever located by the key. It's like the Polaris sleds were. Flip the lever up and start pulling. The 300 has a decompession valve on it when the pull rope is used. I have the exact same bike that sits for months at a time and I always have to use the pull rope. It will go, just make sure you check that the injector oil take has oil in it. That would be the cap located by the front rack. This is a air/fan cooled unit so don't put antifreeze in there. These are great little bikes and I know them well. Let me know how you make out.

 

Also, the battery is located under the seat or you can see it from the left rear tire area. Check the water level and use a trickle charger to charge it up. Never use a 10 amp charger on a little battery. 1 amp is good.

 

HotDog- much appreciated. I finally reached the prev. owner, and while he could not pull-start it (citing "cold weather"), he did show me the fuel switch etc. That "low compression" changed when he flipped the choke [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]. So, trickle charge overnight, and I'll update tomorrow. Thanks all.

 

Update- prev. owner showed up, finally got it elec. started after much cranking, finally removing the seat/airfilter. He tried riding it, kept dying. By end-of-day it was dying less but still some. Then he tells me, "need to run it every day for a while to get it running good again." Next day same behavior- very reluctant to start and kept dying. Finally I could not get it restarted and had to tow it home- very disappointing.

He says he had the dealer replace alot of parts last year. So, I guess that leaves me with the obvious, one at a time and watch for improvement:
* Replace the old gas with new gas.
* Replace the air filter.
* Replace spark plug.
* etc.