I thought I needed a new battery

[karl61]

I thought I needed a new battery because it was getting hard to start and it seem liked I kept having to charge it after each ride.  I tried to start it a while back and the lights in the dash and headlights wouldn't even come on. I bought a new battery and charged it  and put it in and same thing - no lights no nothing. What's after the battery? If the little computer was going wouldn't it give some indication when I was riding like running rough. I was getting really slow starts before but all the electrical worked. Any thoughts - anyone have this happen before.

This is a video of me starting it before.

tanknfender


It does pause a second when starting but it usually turns over real slow - like and old air plane engine.

[mrbreeze]

i would start by checking all the grounds

[karl61]

i would start by checking all the grounds

thanks -  I was removing the battery quite a bit. Maybe I disconnected or broke a wire.

[karl61]

okay - everything looks good. Now is the next thing the starter solenoid switch and using something to by pass it. I think I need to go buy one.

[karl61]

also here are some pictures I took: Is the gold thing the starter solenoid.



http://img717.imageshack.us/i/ignition8.jpg/

http://img830.imageshack.us/i/ignition6.jpg/

http://img585.imageshack.us/i/ignition3a.jpg/

[RACER111V]

 My experience (and I believe many others) is that it's not a component but a connection,wire or ground.I've cleaned every connecting block and handle bar switch at least once.I have even replaced several wires that were green an inch or more from the connection.Getting the carbs right is also important.My bike fires off after about half a revolution, hot or cold.I have replaced the key switch, but it was really whipped out.

[RichBaker]

Yep, check the grounds, all cables for corrosion(I've seen the stuff get down inside the insulation and eat the copper, I pulled on one end and the cable stretched a couple inches. Cut it open where it stretched and there were a couple strands left that broke under the pressure...).
Clean all connectors in the harness and coat with di-electric grease or vaseline... check the wires where they pass around or thru the frame for wear or separation.

[karl61]

Hey I'm a N00B at this - give me something simple. I can take out the battery and charge it and put it back in. I see all the wires. I can disconnect those plastic things and clip them back together. One thing that the mechanic said a while back was he thought there was a problem with the starter button connection. When you start it you see the green neutral light come on just for a second, there's a second pause and then starts up and the light goes out.  The bike started up and ran fine.  The kick stand safety thing  disconnected. So really after the start if you put it in neutral the green light is not on and the stand can be down. I bought an Ebay black plastic thing that the start button was on but it was broken on arrival. The starter button was rusted in. When I think starter I think push button on the handle bar but I guess it's really all in the area of the battery where the action is taking place. Remember I'm on a 2+2 level. No algebra for a few months. The cool thing is that it's likely all the problems about the kick stand, the green light and these issues (and my bouncing fuel level lever problem - I bought that special oil for the instrument) can be solved.

[shuggyboy]

I had problems on my bike with the wiring, but after a bit of messing about It turned out to the the 2 big block connectors under the tank, that connect the main wiring harness to the front harness (Under the tank on the right hand side) there was some corrosion, I unplugged the blocks and stuffed loads of vaseline in the connector blocks then reconnected them, unplugging them a few times and reconnecting to try and make a good contact,,, that seemed to fix the problem, i would try that,, also, i painted my engine and the starter was very sluggish i had to tap it to get it to turn,,, it turned out the starter was fine, it was a bad earth where the starter bolts on,, it was bolted on solid, but the paint  on the mounting points was giving me a bad earth, i cleaned it up and all was well.... you might try and take the alternator off and clean the mounts to make sure its getting a good connection.

let us know how you get on.

cheers