| Author | Message | ||
     Sasquatch |
My 2007 Buell Uly won't start. When I turn the ignition I just get a rapid popping sound like the starter slipping over the flywheel. It started doing it a little bit periodically when I would start it in cold weather. Now it just does it continually without turning over. Anyone ever had this happen? How big of a pain is it to change? Thanks! | ||
| Reepicheep |
Sounds like a weak battery to me. To find out, you can jump the bike off a car battery. Make sure the car is NEVER running any time it is hooked up to your bike, and be really careful you don't end up turning the jumper cables in to arc-welders while trying to jump start it. If it fires right up, you just need a new battery. | ||
| Sasquatch |
Oh, I forgot to mention that. When this first started happening I listened to the sound for quite a few seconds repeatedly. Then I smelled smoke. It was coming from under my seat. Took the seat off and the pole on the hot connection had melted.........MELTED.... into the battery. So, I changed out the battery with the battery from my Vulcan Drifter (same size battery). No melting but it is still making that slipping sound. I will try what you suggested, though. Thank you! | ||
| Reepicheep |
Hmmm. That may be the starter then. The symptom I am thinking of is just clicking... like a really loud relay going on and off. Not banging like gears bouncing over gears. To replace the starter, I suspect you have to rotate the motor down and remove the header and primary cover, and chase down all the wiring. Remove the clutch assembly and stator bell and primary chain as a unit. You will need some "big freaking sockets" for the crank nut and transmission output shaft nut. Not rocket science, but you don't want to do it without a manual and torque wrench. Probably an hour to get it rotated down with header off the first time, and an hour to get it back together, with whatever "in between time" you need to actually do the starter replacement. | ||
| Sasquatch |
I hooked it up to my car and it started. Made that sound a little bit but it turned the engine and started it up. I suppose because the sound is so loud I assumed it was the gears. But it is more akin to a loud fast clicking. Thank you sir. Nice Chronicles of Narnia name too. | ||
| Tootal |
Sounds like you might need to check your battery grounding point. This is a common problem. The Amps of the car battery might have been able to jump a bad connection but a stock battery might not. Pull the ground wire off and sand or file the coating off. Put some dielectric grease on there and screw it back on. Hopefully it fixes the problem. | ||
| Rays |
There is another out of the box possibility - the neutral switch can become quite resistive. The neutral light draws very little current so will still light up with a resistive switch but the extra current draw of the starter relay can drop enough voltage to put it on the edge and then the battery voltage drop of the starter will be enough to have the relay drop out. Of course you still have your thumb on the button so it pulls in again and that is what the machine gun sound can be created by. It is the same basic reason as a low battery or poor ground / battery connection causes the starter chatter. It is pretty rare (I have only seen it twice) but will take you 10 seconds to check - pull the clutch in to bypass the neutral switch. Exercising the neutral switch will change the resistive connection and in my case drove me crazy with a very intermittent case of starter chatter. | ||
| Reepicheep |
Check the battery terminals closely as well... if it was hot enough to melt the battery, they may not be happy. Make sure they are nice and clean and not melted. | ||
| Fordhotline |
Rays, My 06 Uly once and awhile will do the same thing. Pull in clutch and she starts. So make that Three! lol |
