Starting problems

[Pedrostt500]

A good battery, should sit around 13 volts when freshly charged, can be up to 14 volts, when the battery is dicharging under load ie lights on, or cranking over the engine, the battery should not drop bellow 12.5 volts, the esiest test we came up with was to buy a 100watt halogen 12v light bulb, hook a wire and aligator clip tp each terminal, fully charge your battery, with a mains powered battery charger, once battery has charged take a reading with a multimeter, take note of the voltage, hook up your halogen bulb, the voltage will drop reasonably rapidly at first and the after a while plato out, this plato should be at or above 12.5 volts, if the battery keeps dropping charge bellow 12.5 volts its time for a new battery. But if you battery has been in storage for some time, a few good recharges and discharges may revive it, obviously topping up the battery with disstilled water and not allowing it to dry out helps the life of the battery.
The halogen light bulb and multi meter are a good bit of cheap test kit to keep in your tool box.

[BMWST?]

bin the HID and Hot gripsMake sure the water level is good in the battery too

[YellowDog]

Steve mate, what you have described is precisely what starter motors do when they are on their way out.

Best advice: Only ever Park on hills OR get a quote on a new starter motor

[CookMySock]

Steve mate, what you have described is precisely what starter motors do when they are on their way out.

Best advice: Only ever Park on hills OR get a quote on a new starter motor

yeah thats what I am thinking, bud. Brand new starter - US$85 + freight.

Steve

[scumdog]

Had a similar problem with a modified car once, battery (in good order) was in the boot.

Cold start was no problem, if it was slightly warmed up was still good, fully warmed up and the starter wouldn't spin the engine, (but even a very low-speed 'bump' start would kick it into life).
If it was left to cool off for 15-20 minutes and it would start - just.

Tried replacing the starter with a new reconditioned one - no difference.

Tried rebuilding THAT starter with new components - no difference

Tried fatter cables to earth and to the starter motor - minor improvement.

New bigger battery - happiness was mine, the car started hot or cold.

[sinfull]

battery !......

[erik]

Ride it home - one hour, and get the test meters out while the engine is still idling. Batt terminal volts 11v. No current flowing in the 12V batt plus red lead. 10-15A flowing in the Batt negative lead from the loom to the large chassis strap.

Is the alternator charging the battery? On the sv650 (and bandit) the test is to rev at 5000rpm, the voltage across the terminals should be between 13.5 and 15.0V (for a full battery) and if not to inspect the stator coil and reg/rec.

I don't think it's possible for current to be flowing into the battery but not out?

[breakaway]

It IS odd that the battery terminal voltage is only 11V with the bike running. It should be 13V, so either the battery has dropped a cell, or... what.. theres still plenty of power otherwise.. the bike ran well all day. Actually, it did give a slight but clear miss or two - just a wee stumble at low speed - it doesn't normally do that.

Doesn't that mean your alternator or reg/rec are poked? I had this problem with a CBR400RR that a friend bought. He had to get the alternator rewound, and that fixed it.

Even if your battery is fucked the bike should be pumping out power in an attempt to charge it right?

[CookMySock]

Right, now I don't mean to ignore everyones' comments, but here's what happened this morning ;

Pull cover off bike, check batt terminal voltage 11V, key in, choke, normal start, "whirrr.." no go. I figured it would do that.

Swap battery from another bike. Try starting BOTH bikes. BOTH bikes start normally!! Yep, both of them. Growl...

I shut down the donor bike and put its cover on.

Back the bike in question - now idling sweetly, I go over it with the test meters. Batt terminal rising, 12V ish, batt is taking about 1-3A from the charging circuit depending on revvs as expected, unplug hotgrips and batt (still charging, terminal voltage slowly rising) adds an amp or so off the charging current, as I expected.

Sigh, I shut the bike down, confused. And just for interest sake, try to immediately restart it, and "whirr.." same old fault is back (this is with the donor battery.)

Clamp meter goes on starter cable, hit starter, starter motor stalls, dash lights go out, batt terminal volts go down to 6V and meter hits 120-200A.

Fucked starter motor innit?

Steve

[Pussy]

Fucked starter motor innit?

Yes it is!

[FJRider]

The battery connections may be tight, but are they clean ??? Disconnect terminals, and pour a mixture of baking soda and boiling water over them (battery AND connections) ... reconnect and try again. Often connections are just not making good contact.

[CookMySock]

Battery connections that I can see are clean and tight, and passing nearly 200amps.

Just went and tried it right now - bike starts perfectly. Stop it. Try again - won't start.

Tomorrow the fairings come off and I check over the starter solenoid and cabling. If I find nothing, off comes the starter.


Steve

[Fatjim]

You've spilled ice cream in your starter button.

[The Stranger:Me]

A good battery, should sit around 13 volts when freshly charged, can be up to 14 volts, when the battery is dicharging under load ie lights on, or cranking over the engine, the battery should not drop bellow 12.5 volts, the esiest test we came up with was to buy a 100watt halogen 12v light bulb, hook a wire and aligator clip tp each terminal, fully charge your battery, with a mains powered battery charger, once battery has charged take a reading with a multimeter, take note of the voltage, hook up your halogen bulb, the voltage will drop reasonably rapidly at first and the after a while plato out, this plato should be at or above 12.5 volts, if the battery keeps dropping charge bellow 12.5 volts its time for a new battery.

This IS step 1.
Follow a logical trouble shooting sequence.
Next step AFTER this one is to test the charging system.
None of this is expensive or difficult to test.

But you need to check both. If you don't your new or existing battery (if it is still ok) could be poked buy a dud charging system adding additional cost.

If you aren't getting 13 volts at just off idle and about 14.5 at say 5k you have a problem in your charging system.
Post back your results - if you want to resolve it.

If both check out then perhaps it is the starter motor.

[FJRider]

Keep battery ... biff bike ...