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Disclaimer: Any advice or technical information given here is to be used at your own risk. The author or KatRiders do not take any responsibility for damaged bikes, injuries, and/or further problems caused by do-it-yourself repairs. Please consult a professional mechanic if you do not feel comfortable or capable of working on your own bike. And always take the necessary safety precautions when working on your bike.
Guess what? Your bike is dead. You're a bit panicked, and you're totally ****ed off, and you've come to us for help!
It's a good start, but help us, help you.
When an electrically started internal combustion engine doesn't start, it can be any one of a few problems. Your battery is dead, start relay is bad, You're not getting spark, and You're not getting fuel, without spark or fuel, you aren't going to get combustion, aka, get that engine running.
Before you go through the trouble of checking all this stuff, make sure you check your fuses and the circuit breaker! Since every bike is wired a little differently, there's no way to tell you which fuse may be the culprit--Something that may seem unrelated, like the gauge cluster/cockpit lights fuse may be a part of the fuel pump or ignition circuit, so if you find any burnt fuses, replace them before you start wrenching.
Make sure your kill switch is in the right position and/or functioning properly. Because you'd be surprised how many times this one will get ya
So, when you thumb your starter, and the starter motor doesn't crank/nothing happens--something's up with your starter or your battery. A rapid "clicking" noise is a tell tale sign that your battery doesn't have enough juice to actually run the starter (and the starter motor takes up a lot of current, more than any other single function on the bike) and the clicking noise is the sound of your starter solenoid opening/closing. Luckily, this is fairly easy to fix: charge your battery overnight on a trickle charger and start it again; or, get a new battery. (If you got a new battery, and you've been riding regularly enough to keep it charged, and it's low on juice--then you may have a problem in your charging circuit, which is a whole 'nother set of problems.) Generally, a healthy 12V motorcycle battery should be metering about 12.5V-13.0V with the bike off, and 13.5-14.5 with the bike running at idle. (Some bikes are more sensitive to low voltage output, like the 675 and will not start when the battery is putting out less than 12.5V) Make sure you buy a multimeter, as it's one of those essential tools everyone should own.
Now, a low battery isn't the only reason why your starter may or may not work. The starter motor itself could be burnt out or the solenoid could be faulty. If you suspect that your starter motor may be dying out, check your bike's service manual to see what the mfr's recommendation is for troubleshooting it.
No spark. If there are no discernable issues with your starting system, and the bike will crank and crank and crank, but never fire up, it's time to check spark. The easiest way to check spark is to take the spark plugs out of their holes and ground them to the engine case, aka, hold them close to the case and look for a little spark to emit while you're thumbing the starter. (make sure you insulate your hands because you will shock yourself if you're holding the wrong part of the plug) Each cylinder's spark plugs should light up, so you should check all of them.
The reasons for not having any spark will depend on your bike. Older bike with points and condensers may need a points adjustment or new pts/condenser or faulty ignition coils; a more modern bike with electronic ignition (basically everything made in the last 20 years) may have a short or require new ignition coils. the point is, if you establish that you have no spark on 1, 2, 3, or any amount of cylinders, you know you've got a problem that will require more research and trouble shooting.
No fuel. Fuel may be the trickiest thing to figure out. Especially on carbed bikes with unknown or questionable jetting or a broken choke system. On a modern Fuel Injected bike, it's a little easier to isolate problems, but sometimes something exotic will really throw you for a loop.
Anyway, the easy way to check for fuel is again, the spark plugs. If you've thumbed the starter a few times with no starting, and then pull the plugs and smell them, they should smell like gas or be damp with fuel (though sometimes, it's not that easy). If they are not, you might not be getting any fuel (or, alternately, not getting enough fuel). For carbed bikes, check for any kinks in the lines of the fuel delivery system, check flow from the petcock, you should get free flowing fuel from the Prime position and none from the On and Res positions without vacuum. Check that the vacuum line is connected as well as for cracks in the line that will keep the petcock diaphragm from opening to allow fuel flow. Check to see if you've got any varnish in your float bowls, idle and main jets. Make sure your float level is correct, your floats are not punctured, and your float valve is in good condition.
Faulty Clutch switches or Kickstand sensors also can keep the bike from starting. A bad clutch switch will not detect when the clutch has been pulled in, which will keep the bike from starting. An easy way to troubleshoot this is to jumper over the terminals on the harness side of the clutch switch harness (aka, a paper clip into the terminals) and try starting it. If it starts, then your clutch switch is faulty and needs replacing, or if you aren't worried about starting your bike in gear sans clutch, you can permanently jumper over the wires. You can take the same approach with the kickstand switch: jumper over the terminals and try to start the bike. If the bike starts, you need a new kickstand switch.
This is just a small taste of the possible troubleshooting you need to do when trying to get your bike to start. When you ask us questions, here's what we need to know:
1. Fuses ok?
3. Battery charged, tested?
4. Starter sounds like?
5. Got Spark?
6. Got Fuel? Fuel Pump is priming?
7. Sensors/switches working?
and from there we can work it all out. Good luck!
Disclaimer: Any advice or technical information given here is to be used at your own risk. The author or KatRiders do not take any responsibility for damaged bikes, injuries, and/or further problems caused by do-it-yourself repairs. Please consult a professional mechanic if you do not feel comfortable or capable of working on your own bike. And always take the necessary safety precautions when working on your bike.
Guess what? Your bike is dead. You're a bit panicked, and you're totally ****ed off, and you've come to us for help!
It's a good start, but help us, help you.
When an electrically started internal combustion engine doesn't start, it can be any one of a few problems. Your battery is dead, start relay is bad, You're not getting spark, and You're not getting fuel, without spark or fuel, you aren't going to get combustion, aka, get that engine running.
Before you go through the trouble of checking all this stuff, make sure you check your fuses and the circuit breaker! Since every bike is wired a little differently, there's no way to tell you which fuse may be the culprit--Something that may seem unrelated, like the gauge cluster/cockpit lights fuse may be a part of the fuel pump or ignition circuit, so if you find any burnt fuses, replace them before you start wrenching.
Make sure your kill switch is in the right position and/or functioning properly. Because you'd be surprised how many times this one will get ya
So, when you thumb your starter, and the starter motor doesn't crank/nothing happens--something's up with your starter or your battery. A rapid "clicking" noise is a tell tale sign that your battery doesn't have enough juice to actually run the starter (and the starter motor takes up a lot of current, more than any other single function on the bike) and the clicking noise is the sound of your starter solenoid opening/closing. Luckily, this is fairly easy to fix: charge your battery overnight on a trickle charger and start it again; or, get a new battery. (If you got a new battery, and you've been riding regularly enough to keep it charged, and it's low on juice--then you may have a problem in your charging circuit, which is a whole 'nother set of problems.) Generally, a healthy 12V motorcycle battery should be metering about 12.5V-13.0V with the bike off, and 13.5-14.5 with the bike running at idle. (Some bikes are more sensitive to low voltage output, like the 675 and will not start when the battery is putting out less than 12.5V) Make sure you buy a multimeter, as it's one of those essential tools everyone should own.
Now, a low battery isn't the only reason why your starter may or may not work. The starter motor itself could be burnt out or the solenoid could be faulty. If you suspect that your starter motor may be dying out, check your bike's service manual to see what the mfr's recommendation is for troubleshooting it.
No spark. If there are no discernable issues with your starting system, and the bike will crank and crank and crank, but never fire up, it's time to check spark. The easiest way to check spark is to take the spark plugs out of their holes and ground them to the engine case, aka, hold them close to the case and look for a little spark to emit while you're thumbing the starter. (make sure you insulate your hands because you will shock yourself if you're holding the wrong part of the plug) Each cylinder's spark plugs should light up, so you should check all of them.
The reasons for not having any spark will depend on your bike. Older bike with points and condensers may need a points adjustment or new pts/condenser or faulty ignition coils; a more modern bike with electronic ignition (basically everything made in the last 20 years) may have a short or require new ignition coils. the point is, if you establish that you have no spark on 1, 2, 3, or any amount of cylinders, you know you've got a problem that will require more research and trouble shooting.
No fuel. Fuel may be the trickiest thing to figure out. Especially on carbed bikes with unknown or questionable jetting or a broken choke system. On a modern Fuel Injected bike, it's a little easier to isolate problems, but sometimes something exotic will really throw you for a loop.
Anyway, the easy way to check for fuel is again, the spark plugs. If you've thumbed the starter a few times with no starting, and then pull the plugs and smell them, they should smell like gas or be damp with fuel (though sometimes, it's not that easy). If they are not, you might not be getting any fuel (or, alternately, not getting enough fuel). For carbed bikes, check for any kinks in the lines of the fuel delivery system, check flow from the petcock, you should get free flowing fuel from the Prime position and none from the On and Res positions without vacuum. Check that the vacuum line is connected as well as for cracks in the line that will keep the petcock diaphragm from opening to allow fuel flow. Check to see if you've got any varnish in your float bowls, idle and main jets. Make sure your float level is correct, your floats are not punctured, and your float valve is in good condition.
Faulty Clutch switches or Kickstand sensors also can keep the bike from starting. A bad clutch switch will not detect when the clutch has been pulled in, which will keep the bike from starting. An easy way to troubleshoot this is to jumper over the terminals on the harness side of the clutch switch harness (aka, a paper clip into the terminals) and try starting it. If it starts, then your clutch switch is faulty and needs replacing, or if you aren't worried about starting your bike in gear sans clutch, you can permanently jumper over the wires. You can take the same approach with the kickstand switch: jumper over the terminals and try to start the bike. If the bike starts, you need a new kickstand switch.
This is just a small taste of the possible troubleshooting you need to do when trying to get your bike to start. When you ask us questions, here's what we need to know:
1. Fuses ok?
3. Battery charged, tested?
4. Starter sounds like?
5. Got Spark?
6. Got Fuel? Fuel Pump is priming?
7. Sensors/switches working?
and from there we can work it all out. Good luck!
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