| Author | Message | ||
     Abtin2 |
My starter is not rolling over, but clicking... WHAT SHOULD I DO?! I held the starter for a bit this morning because it was cold out and the bike was cold. Did i damage something? Why would it be clicking? Thanks guys, everyone here is the best!!!!!!! | ||
| Swampy |
I am hoping that you have a Gel battery in it? If so they take alot of abuse. Make sure the battery is charged and all the connections are clean and tight. It is probably not the starter. By the way....how cold was it this morning? | ||
| Abtin2 |
I think the battery is charged, because the horn sounds fine, and the lights work. I can recharge it, but could it be something else? I'll have to check to see what type of battery it is. I'M A BIG NEWBIE to motorcycles :-) This is my very first bike. I rode it around, and LOVED it. haha It was about 45 degrees. My girlfriend told me she was messing with it's throttle, could she have flooded the carbs? well please give me more feedback if you get a chance. Thanks again. | ||
| Jprovo |
ABTIN2, First off, you G/F didn't screw this up by playing with the throttle. Used bike?? I see it's a 2000 model year. The battery might need replacing. I'd check to make sure that it is charged, check the cable from the negative terminal of the battery to the frame to make sure it is tight. Also, check the ground strap between the frame and the engine. It is located by the Horn. You will need a pair of 9/16 wrenches to tighten it up. If none of those things fix your problem you need to check the starter wiring connections. James | ||
| Abtin2 |
Thanks James and Swampy: I bought a 15 dollar battery charger and just put some juice in the battery. Turned on just as good as new. Thanks again for your help!! - Abtin | ||
| Jprovo |
Good deal I'm glad that the bike is running again. James | ||
| Abtin2 |
so i was completely wrong... the recharge was merely for a few starts. The battery loses all power after a few starts. There are other problems it seems... sometimes when I cold start the bike, in the cold, around 40 degrees, i'm just holding the starter button for around a minute before i hear the engine even ACKNOWLEDGE that i'm trying to start it... what could be the cause of this? I check the gas level... if that was the problem, it would have been resolved when i put the bike on reserve.... there is fuel in the bike... after a few minutes, or two starts in one day... the battery starts to lose serious power... is my battery bad? is there a more serious problem with the bike not turning on right away? it putters... then eventually starts... I know it has too much oil in it, but i don't think that could be causing this problem. I think the guy that owned the bike before me used start fluid... he told me to do the same. He gave me a can of it and said... if the bike doesn't start after a few minutes, just spray some of this in the intake.... I recently learned HOW TERRIBLE that stuff is. could he have created some sort of problem for this bike and that is the reason it is not starting correctly? PLEASE HELP :-( I finally got all my gear together and was going to go for it's first nice ride, and I COULDN'T GET IT OUT OF THE GARAGE!!!! thanks guys | ||
| Gearheaderiko |
Bad battery! The blast when sitting for a while can be hard to start if you have an old, weak battery and old gas. Also the colder it gets the harder it will start esp w/ a weak battery. Starting fluid is a way to get around a cold weak battery. Even with a new battery trying to start it at 30 degrees or less means getting it right the first try. Multi cylinder engines have an easier time of it in adverse conditions. Using the starting fluid in this case probably didnt do more than possibly tear the intake boot. The problem you are experiencing can be caused by other things (loose connections, bad cables,etc) but its more than likely the battery. (Message edited by gearheadErikO on November 03, 2005) | ||
| Abtin2 |
THanks Gearhead :-) I have to get the service manual... but for now, I've recharged the battery over night. Hopefully I can get the bike to start tomorrow. There has been the same gas in the bike for over 2 weeks... (it just received its tags). I was planning a ride (to include the gas station). I think what I'll try, unless you think I should do something else, I'll put some fresh gas, make sure it's full... check the connections... including the ground connection which I haven't seen... and give it a go. Keep it on for a while, possibly ride it for 20 miles. We'll see how it works out. I think the battery may be bad as well. I shouldn't have to charge it this much. I'll repost :-). Thanks! | ||
| Jprovo |
You probably have a bad battery.... James | ||
| Gearheaderiko |
Old gas (2 months or older depending on where you live) wont make as near much difference as a bad battery. If its the original battery - its definitely bad. | ||
| Swampy |
Yes, battery, with the Gel batteries, you should not leave them in a discharged state. The Interstate Battery experts say to full charge them before putting them away, disconnect them to prevent any parasitic drain and forget about them till next year. It is possible your carb is varnished up with gas residue, so before you do any more, put a larger primary jet in it and a larger main jet in it. If all else is OK on the bike, ignition, compression, then the richer primary will absolutly cure your starting problems and shorten your warm up and slow speed engine problems. | ||
| Gearheaderiko |
Before you go changing jets, fix the starting problem first. The more things you change at once, the more likely you'll create more problems than you started with. A bad/weak battery will make it very hard to start. Fix that problem first. Then see what happens. | ||
| Swampy |
NEW BATTERY........JOB 1 Right! I didn't mean to lead you astray. Once that is done though.....change the jetting, it will be the single cheapest improvement you can do to affect over all starting and running of this bike. | ||
| Abtin2 |
Rode all weekend!!! The battery is definitely not a "good" one anymore (it is the original, making it around 5 years old). I charged it thursday night and it started the engine so I rode friday, saturday and sunday. The start time was MUCH LESS on saturday, and almost NON-EXISTENT on sunday. On all days, I did NOT use starter fluid... and the bike hasn't needed it. After a few minutes of letting the "auto-choke" (which I don't like) warm the bike, i rode off. :-) I plan on trying to ride through the winter with this battery and switching it out in the spring. As for rejetting, I have to read up on how to actually accomplish the project, then I will start it over the winter. Any suggestions on where to get info and supplies? Thanks. (Message edited by abtin2 on November 07, 2005) | ||
| Ezblast |
See the carb section, at the top of the page, and any HD dealer will have the jets! GT - JBOTDS! EZ  | ||
| Jerzydevil |
Abtin, FYI, the battery will get much worse. At some point, you will be able to start it in the a.m. and when you get out of work, or get out from lunch or where ever u stop, it'll be dead. I tried waiting for spring too, but it didnt work too well and I got stuck at work about 60 miles from home. |
