Sidestand Issue turns into Starter Issue

[Kgizzle1]

Ok well a week or so ago. My sidestand switch broke so i ordered a new one and put that in and i was able to engage the starter but i no longer had enough power the crank the motor. The relay just clicked without turning over the starter.

I figure its the battery and go and get a new one. Charge it up overnight and put it in. Still nothing, just a clicking relay. I try and hook it up to my truck battery, this helps but it only turns a few times before the relay starts clicking.

Well i know some of you prob think this is a bad idea but i started the truck and then i was able to the turn over the starter on the bike fairly easily (still not as fast as i'd like.)

well i take the bike out for a 15 min cruise and when i get back i turn off the bike and immediately try and start it and just a clicking relay again.


sorry for the long write up but does this sound like a very tired starter or something else

[Kgizzle1]

Well i bypassed the starter relay. and the starter barely turns over. Held it a little too long and the plastic covering started to melt. looks like i'll be changing out the starter next week.

That is unless someone else has any ideas.

[number9]

The times I've experienced the "click" and no start has been either a bad battery, or a bad connection to the battery. When you talk about your truck, do you mean to say you used jumper cables and started the bike that way? From the truck battery?

Though if you're using the truck battery and the bike is still turning over slowly, I think you're right to suspect the starter itself...

[andito77]

You might want to try putting in better cables to the starter and solenoid. Motowheels.com has a good kit that isn't too expensive.

If you find out that it's the starter, then I have a starter that I can sell you for $140 plus shipping.

Good luck!!

Andy

[Kgizzle1]

Originally Posted by andito77

You might want to try putting in better cables to the starter and solenoid. Motowheels.com has a good kit that isn't too expensive.

If you find out that it's the starter, then I have a starter that I can sell you for $140 plus shipping.

Good luck!!

Andy

I might take you up on that offer but not right now.

Anyone know whether a starter from a 97 916 will fit my 01 748s?

[Fariborz]

Before you start tearing things down and replacing parts, I recommend you do some simple tests.

The fact that starter relay is clicking but starter is not turning only means few things:

1) There is not enough juice in the battery (you have eliminated that by your tests and replacing the battery).

2) Bad/loose/corroded connections to and from the battery terminals, starter relay and starter terminal.

3) Bad ground wire to the battery or bad power wire to the starter relay and from starter relay to the starter terminal.

4) Bad Starter Relay.

5) Bad starter.



Number 2 is very easy to check. I recommend you remove all the wires (battery, starter relay and starter) clean the terminals on all the wires and battery well and put some dielectric grease between the contact surfaces and put everything back together.

#3:
It is possible that one of the wires (battery to relay, relay to starter and negative terminal to the case) has developed some kind of resistance. Only few ohms can cause the starter not wanting to start. Most of the time the problem is where the wire meets the terminal. If the crimping is loose or corroded it will increase the resistance and will cause the starter not wanting to start. I went through this on my 748. I had an intermittent starting issue similar to yours. I took apart my starter about 7 to 10 times checking all the contacts and measuring the resistance between different points and everything checked out. But the problem did not go away. I eventually was able to find the source which was a bad crimp in the ground terminal to the case. The resistance of all the wires listed (battery to relay, relay to starter and negative terminal to the case) should be close to zero Ohms. Even a few Ohms will have a huge impact on starting. While you are doing number 2 above check the resistance of each wire. Make sure you jiggle the terminals and see if wire resistance changes. In my case the resistance was about 4 ohms then the bike was not starting. If I jiggled the wire the resistance will drop and the bike would start. If I remember correctly down to 1.5 ohms my bike did not want to start.

Check your starter relay to make sure it has not arched between its contacts. Most starter relay failures are caused when the battery voltage drops and people still try to start the bike with a bad battery. When there is not enough juice in the battery, it causes the contacts to arc which in turn will increase the resistance between the relay terminals. This extra resistance is very similar in behavior to corroded terminals, loose terminals or bad wire. To check, disconnect the power terminal to the starter relay from battery +12V. Put your voltmeter on that terminal and the terminal that goes to the starter from the relay. Hit the starter button and measure the resistance between the two terminals of the starter relay. Any resistance between those two terminals when the starter button is pressed means the relay is bad.

If everything checks out to this point, then you can look at replacing the starter.

-Fariborz

[Kgizzle1]

Ended up checking all the connections and took a wire brush to them and she started right up. Still a little too slow of a cranking but the starter may last me. If not, i already have alot of info on how to replace it, if the time comes.

Thanks for the help guys

-Kyle