New bike starting woes

[pshorter]

Hi all

I am looking for some experienced owners to give me a hand. I brought a second hand 2005, 26k miles, R1200ST, the bike isn't very common but as it is near as damn it an R200RT I thought someone might have some tips. So here is the tale of woe:

Viewed bike (trade clearance from a dealer, so no warranty), it fired up on the button despite sitting there a few months.
Came back the following day to collect, again started on the button.
Went to refuel, only managed to get a few litres in but was worried about stale fuel so squeezed in what I could, started fine.
Rode about 10 miles, stopped and restarted fine. Engine was smooth and pulling really well.
Next morning -2C sluggish to turn over, lights failing, solenoid clicking, classic flat battery. Jumped it off the car and it leapt into life on the first prod of the starter.
Drove to work where it has refused to start ever since!
So I replaced the battery, cranked over but lights kept dimming and no start.
Waited 5 weeks for parts but today I have replaced the starter, added additional battery cables and recharged the battery, tried the TPS recalibration on reconnecting the battery.
Multiple attempts but all I got was a little weak running that didn't continue on to a full start and then a flat battery.
I had the fuel tank off to do this and a good job too as the quick disconnect fuel connector snapped at the lightest pressure, now replaced with metal versions. So;
I suspect stale fuel so tomorrow I will syphon and replace with fresh stuff.
Does the bike need the fuel system bleeding somehow once the tank has been off?
There is a fuel drain hose (according to haynes) that I removed to get the tank off, it seemed blocked by rusty deposits. Anyone know what that hose does?
Are there any other common failures that maybe I haven't thought of?

PS no waring lights on the dash.

Any info would help.

Thanks

Peter

[David.]

It's difficult to diagnose these kind of problems online but could it be the fuel pump.

This thread has some useful information about the fuel pump and ignition coils, even mentions an ST. viewtopic.php?p=47882&hilit=fuel+pump+filter#p47882

[pshorter]

For anyone else who needs to know I solved this today. Changed the fuel and still no joy. Scratched my head for an hour and realised I couldn't hear the fuel pump at all.
Quick google, one fuel pump controller bypass lead later and it started and ran first prod of the button.
Cleaned all the contacts on the old controller, it looked fine with no corrosion or obvious damage, put it back on and dead bike again, so replacement controller order and that should be that.
Maybe just a bit of bad luck it failed on the first cold morning I had it, or possibly it was getting troublesome before so the previous owner chopped it in at the local Honda dealer. Either way hopefully fixed for £108 (plus the £400 I spent on a new starter, battery and upgraded wiring but at least I now it is all good now)!
I will update once the part arrives just to confirm for anyone else interested.

[David.]

Thanks for the feedback, questions are quite often asked without any conclusion being posted.