Suzuki GX 125 starting problems.

[Random Guy7]

In fact, I think it's just an electrical fault in general. Upon turning the key to the "on" position, the neutral light (if it's in neutral) turns on weakly, and will turn off with a click sound any time any sort of electrical thing is enabled, which will not turn on e.g. headlight, indicators, brake.

Called a friend who is a mechanic, who said it could be a blown fuse, looking for any extra help here :).

Sadly, I do not know the service history of the bike. It has approximately 13000 kms on it.

Thanks in advance.

EDIT: I realise that this is a fairly small amount of information to work with, I read your Mechanics Forum Guideline sticky. It's just I'm fairly new to motorcycles so my diagnostic skills are sorely lacking in the mechanical department.

[NinjaNanna]

sounds like the battery is very very flat, put it onto charge for a day and it'll probably come right.

[Random Guy7]

Not to sound like a noob, but how would I go about doing this? Would I need to remove the battery before I proceed with charging?

[NinjaNanna]

borrow a battery charger or head down to repco/super cheap/partmaster and buy one somewhere between $30 and $50.

Bring it home, connect the red clip to the battery terminal marked "+" and the black clip to the terminal marked " - "

Turn the charger on at the switch or wall and wait until it tells you the battery is fully charged.

A battery charger is something you'll use 100's of times over your lifetime once you have one, so its money well spent.

I personally have never bothered removing or disconnecting a battery to charge it and have never had any problems. Make sure the key is in the "off" position though as you don't want to try and use the charger to power the bike electrics themselves, it could ruin your charger.

[Murray]

Wht sort of mechanic is your mate. If a fuse was blown you would not be getting any light at all. Definately battery problem. Hopefully recharging it will fix it but if it keeps going flat either time for a new battery or check of all connections from and to it and check it is charging when the bike is running.

[Random Guy7]

Unsure about what sort of mechanic he is, but he builds bikes in his spare time. I did not tell him about the neutral light being dim because it slipped my mind.

I will charge the battery then, thank you very much for your help.

[notme]

Agreed, charge your battery first, then see if the symptoms are still there. It could simply be a flat battery. Has the bike been ridden recently or has it been sitting?


Upon turning the key to the "on" position, the neutral light (if it's in neutral) turns on weakly, and will turn off with a click sound any time any sort of electrical thing is enabled, which will not turn on e.g. headlight, indicators, brake.

When you release the brake lever or whatever other electrical device you try, does the click happen again and the neutral light come back on?

Do you have access to a multimeter or test light? If you are thinking of buying a battery charger, you should pick up one of each of these as well. You should also check the battery voltage before putting the charger on it, the charger should be fairly polite with what it does if it is a decent one, but some real cheap and nasty ones can boil batteries and so on it the battery has an internal issue and has very low terminal voltage, so it's worth a 2 second multimeter test to avoid that.

If you wanted to spend $0 and get an indication that your battery is really flat or if the problem is elsewhere, you can test with a 12V bulb (maybe from your indicators or brakes) and a piece of wire.

[Random Guy7]

Affirmative, the click happens when the electrical device is released as well.

I had some progress today, upon checking my insanity (doing the same thing expecting different results) I actually had some. The neutral light was stronger than before, and I could engage the indicators (they would make the click noise that indicators do, and the bulbs would glow *very* weakly), what would this mean?

EDIT: Bike has been being ridden.

[hayd3n]

Affirmative, the click happens when the electrical device is released as well.

I had some progress today, upon checking my insanity (doing the same thing expecting different results) I actually had some. The neutral light was stronger than before, and I could engage the indicators (they would make the click noise that indicators do, and the bulbs would glow *very* weakly), what would this mean?

EDIT: Bike has been being ridden.

so the motor is runing? does it die as soon as you turn the headlight on?
if so its either a charging issue or a dying battery

[Random Guy7]

Motor will still not engage, if you press the start switch the bike clicks but is then rendered silent

[Murray]

If a battery is left to sit it will slowly gain some charge, hence the increased brightness etc. However it will not charge to the extent that it provides enough power to turn over the engine if it has gone completely flat. I would still try charging it or replacing it. You could also use jumper leads from another vehicle to see if this solves the problem. If it does then its definately battery

[Taz]

Ensure the bike is 12 volt before turning on that 12 volt charger. It should be but just make sure Mmmmkay?

[notme]

So you're saying the bike was being ridden regularly, then one day this fault suddenly appeared? If that's the case, then the battery is probably faulty. A charger might be a waste of time (but always handy to have) but you need a multimeter. You are going to have to borrow a good battery and check the charging system.

[Random Guy7]

Actually, completely forgot to tell you that I moved the rear wheel back to tighten the chain and tightened up the rear brake. Sorry about that. But the bike started and worked for a few days, then one night over night it wouldn't start, and symptoms began.

[notme]

Time to check the charging system, the chart here will tell you what's wrong.

[NinjaNanna]

On some bikes its possible to accidentally turn the park lights on. This has caught me before, once on a ZX9 and another on an R1 (though fortunately I noticed both before walking away from the bikes)

If you left the park lights on over night they would definately flatten your battery.