| Author | Message | ||
     Jjoehler |
I have an 03 buell xb9s and the bike won't start I have a brand new battery it wasn't that, and it's fully charged. The solenoid for the starter just chatters and the bike won't start, and yes my connections to the battery are tight? Any ideas? I can push start the bike but that sucks. Is my starter shot? Thanks | ||
| Drfuyutsuki |
Sounds to me like either a connection is loose or corroded thus not letting enought juice get through to actually turn the starter. | ||
| Rr_eater |
check the grounds!!!!! | ||
| Pwnzor |
Yeah definitely start with the ground cable where it connects to the frame of the bike and work your way out.  | ||
| Moonrunrs |
this is weird but the same thing happens to me. Loosen your battery connections then retighten. For me, the bike will now start. I have to do this periodically, it's strange. I Need to take it in. | ||
| Aeroe |
Sounds like you're getting some corrosion and it's messing with your connection. Any auto parts store should have something to help defend against that. | ||
| CJXB |
Lately when I start my bike, it hesitates before starting making me think it’s not going to turn over. Then when it does finally fire up the trip meters and clock reset back to 0 ?? This has happened about 4 or 5 times now. After the bike starts and you kill it, then it starts up fine and no resetting of trip meters, so if I’m out riding I’m not too worried about it starting if I stop for gas or something. The trip meter re-set isn’t good for me, because I don’t like waiting for my gas light to let me know I need gas, I use the trip meter. Someone told me I need a new battery, others say not, any thoughts ?? CJ | ||
| Darthane |
CJ, that's pretty classic behavior for loose/corroded battery terminals. Before blaming the battery, I'd pull the terminals, scrub them with a wire brush, and reconnect them nice and tight and see if the problem persists. | ||
| CJXB |
Just scrub with a wire brush, nothing else ?? I'll give that a try first and see what happens, does make sense because when it does start it doesn't seem like the battery is weak at all ! Thanks, CJ  | ||
| Darthane |
Yeah, just a stiff-bristled wire brush. It should remove any corrosion (do the terminals and the battery posts) and allow a good contact. Corrosion isn't always visually apparent, and even just being a bit loose can cause that kind of behavior. | ||
| CJXB |
Thanks Darthane, I'll give it a try this weekend !! | ||
| Pwnzor |
CJXB, the ground cable on your battery is most likely at fault. It took me a long time of being frustrated and throwing things around the garage before I figured this out. (1) Use Loc-Tite on the threads (2) Torque the battery terminals to factory spec. 72-96 in-lbs (3) ALSO Loc-Tite and torque the main ground fastener where it attaches to the frame. Same torque value for all 3 locations, positive terminal, negative terminal and main ground fastener (where the negative cable meets the frame of the bike) This cured every electronic and electrical gremlin I ever had. I bought a new battery before I figured it out, and it was confusing at first because when you put in a new one you have a hard time believing that it's anything having to do with the battery. | ||
| CJXB |
I'll try that as well, so far 2 things to try that don't take a whole lot of effort and/or cost !! | ||
| Swordsman |
Crazy as it is, you can pour a bit of carbonated beverage (Coke, carbonated water, whatever) on the corrosion and it just disappears. Some kinda' chemical reaction with the carbonic acid. A quick way to clean your terminals if you don't have a wire brush handy, though it can get a bit sticky if you're using a soda.  ~SM | ||
| Moonrunrs |
Where's the main ground fastener on the battery? | ||
| Josh_ |
>Where's the main ground fastener on the battery its bolted to the negative terminal | ||
| Josh_ |
>Crazy as it is, you can pour a bit of carbonated beverage mythbusters says any liquid works just fine |
