| Author | Message | ||
     Mikef5000 |
Apparently word made it to my cyclone that it was being replaced... so all of a sudden it WILL NOT START! The battery is only a few months old, and it's holding a charge fine. I have a battery tender connected to it, and the battery is full. Cross the battery off the list of possible problems, it's NOT THE PROBLEM! What I get when I hit the starter is RAPID fire clicking of the solenoid. I mean FAST rapid clacking. I've pulled apart every major electrical connection (including the battery connections) and cleaned them thoroughly, and reinstalled every wire with dielectric grease, and tightened all the bolts down tight. The only ones I haven't touched are the bolts on the starter itself, but I did pull the rubber boots back, and everything is clean and tight. I've used a voltage meter and tested voltage drop across all terminals (ground side, positive side from battery to starter, etc. and everything checks out fine. Then I connected it across the ground terminal on the battery and the positive terminal on the starter, obviously 13ish volts, and then I hit the starter button, while the thing is clicking away rapid fire style, the needle drops a bit, but not excessively so. Not so much I would think there's a problem. So I'm led to believe it's a bad starter???!!! Which leads me to these questions: 1) Is the starter going out common at all on these bikes? 2) Can I disassemble and repair this starters? 3) Can I test the starter some other way while still installed? I know how starters work, I've disassembled a few in the past, the magnet is supposed to kick over (that's the click), then make contact with another electrical post, which starts the spinning. Mine's kicking over (click) but then instead of hitting the other post and kicking on the spinning, it's loosing magnetic charge (loosing power) and kicking back (click), then it's repeating in a rapid fire sort of way (clickity clickity click click). Please help! This bike needs to get up for sale! Thanks! | ||
| Jos51700 |
Is it the solenoid (on the starter) or is it the relay, that's clicking? | ||
| Brinnutz |
It's a sign that you are supposed to keep her. | ||
| Mikef5000 |
Definately the starter that's clicking. | ||
| Tripp |
try cleaning the relays and diodes in the fuse box. and yes, you should definitely keep her! | ||
| Tripp |
maybe even give the relays and diodes a little wiggle when you hit the ignition. | ||
| Ratbuell |
Old fashioned trick from running headers on smallblock Chryslers for years - 'tap' the starter with something (I used to use the butt end of an axe handle on the Satellite - nonconductive, and it fit between header runners) to see if it's just on a dead spot. Is the "replacement" bike another tuber? If so, use it as a parts donor, ONE PART AT A TIME, until you find the culprit. Then, new parts go on the bike you're keeping  | ||
| Brinnutz |
Nope, he bought a 12R | ||
| Cbig |
You brought this one on yourself .... they know!  | ||
| Gowindward |
It sounds like you have lost the emotional connection with your Cyclone and her way of showing it is to not start. Like you think you can bring a younger motorcycle into your life, and then turn around and just ride the ole girl anytime you like without giving her some attention first. You should probably take her into the dealer and the two of you have a sit down with the Service Counselor and see if the three of you can determine the root cause and see if you can reconnect emotionally with your Cyclone. Parking her in the garage with a younger Buell has probably not helped one bit either. May I suggest the living room, or even the bedroom if you really want to save this relationship with your motorcycle. Oh and make sure you check the starter switch contacts for corrosion too. They have given me trouble a couple of times. (Message edited by gowindward on October 13, 2008) | ||
| Mikef5000 |
LOL! This threads getting good, but still providing info! That's excellent! Alright... Old fashioned trick from running headers on smallblock Chryslers for years - 'tap' the starter with something I've heard that, but I've always though it was to unstick the solenoid... and my solenoid is NOT stuck, because it's clicking back and forth. Nope, he bought a 12R Actually it's a 12S. Oh and make sure you check the starter switch contacts for corrosion too. Well, the switch is deffinately making contact since its throwing the starter into it's rapid fire clickity clack. Hrm. | ||
| Cyclonemduece |
bad ground, check the big strap ground | ||
| Maxbuell |
#1 for cyclone duece - the m | ||
| Thejuicer |
My x1 does the same thing just for a couple of seconds then fires...any other ideas would be great as im gunna work on her this week-end. Josh | ||
| Jos51700 |
Try cleaning the disk and contacts within the solenoid.    If the starter's clicking, it's not the relay. The last pic illustrated the solenoid plunger, that is probably carbon'd up from repeated low battery starts. Light-grade sandpaper is your friend, here. | ||
| Guell |
ya know, my cyclone might be old and heavy, but her rear end is about to get some good plastic surgery. | ||
| Mikef5000 |
On my way to check the ground strap and clean the contacts. THANKS GUYS! | ||
| Mikef5000 |
WOW! YOU GUYS ROCK!  I found badly corroded solenoid contacts AND a slightly loose main ground strap! Cleaned the hell outa the solenoid and added just a touch of dielectric grease (no globs, just a touch of it). Then took the ground strap completely off and cleaned the hell outa both the strap and the post. Then added a liberal amount of dielectric grease to that too, and bolted her down. BAM! Without so much as a hesitation, the beast started right up! So with this newly found BLAST of giddy motivation... I set out and attacked the rear rocker box gastets that I've been neglecting for the past 6 months. HAH! Now just shy of two hours later, I'm done with everything, and the bike should be ready to RIDE!  (All this inbetween classes, because I ROCKED a stats test this morning, and finished it in 30 minutes, instead of the allowed 3 hours.) What a GREAT day! | ||
| Jos51700 |
It's always good to check the grounds on rubber-mounted tubie Buells. The very first S1 I rode was one that had had a poor engine ground, and sent all the charging system current through the clutch cable, thereby catching the bike on fire. The resultant fire extinguisher powder gave the cases a beautiful golden luster that wouldn't wash off, but it "totaled" the bike. | ||
| Thejuicer |
Hope thats all mine needs too...thanks for the info. Josh |
