starting problems

[seaninis]

gents...just tried to the beast up and when I press the start button there is a clicking sound and no engine turn over...any ideas gents. Sean

[greywolf]

The click is probably the starter relay. In that case, a low battery is the usual cause. It may also be a marginal connection.

[Theflyingscot]

Check your wires on the battery for corrosion/lose wires. Happened to me a few weeks ago.

[Jacko]

+1 for low battery.

[kwackboy]

+2 for battery ..

[Timmo]

Check earth leads to bike check behind connection to frame for good contact with metal on frame rather than powder coating gone cruddy giving poor connection.Buy a motobatt battery boy are they good.

[kissofdeath]

is it the new or old DL1000?

if its the old 1 have a look here for some of my results for the same problem
viewtopic.php?f=58&t=21370

[seaninis]

gents..I've followed the good advice given from my previous post but I still cannot locate the short/bad earth which is effecting the starter motor and hence I'm still getting the 'clicking'. I've got her booked in for a service on Friday and wondered if I can just bump her to get her going and at least get down to the mechanics??

sean

[Hugo Magnus]

Have you tried charging/changing the battery?

[seaninis]

hi magnus...yep unfortunately first thing I did, battery fully charged!!
seanseaninis

[greywolf]

It isn't a short. If wiring is the problem, it's the opposite, an open circuit. Did you try tightening the battery posts? Did you have the battery load tested? It can show good voltage with a meter on the terminals when it isn't trying to crank the starter but still be bad. You can jump it. If that works, it points to a bad battery. Please keep further posts to one thread. Multiple threads on the same subject are counter productive.

[MartinW]

Please keep further posts to one thread. Multiple threads on the same subject are counter productive.

Both posts merged together  

[Hugo Magnus]

Any joy yet sean?

[Juvecu]

My money would be on the battery too. Just to give you an idea of how deceptive bad batteries can be. I recently replaced a dud battery that was showing perfect voltage (13.7V) when it wasn't loaded, but if I turned the ignition on it was reading less than 1V. This is what Greywolf is talking about, load testing shows the real condition of the battery under load. Unless there's decent load on the battery, don't trust voltage to tell you if a battery is in good condition.

I'd just jump the bike from the car/another bike/another known good battery. If it starts you know it's the battery.

[kissofdeath]

where abouts r u sean, I have a spare battery and a starter solenoid if you close

[Gassoon]

My money would be on the battery too...
I'd just jump the bike from the car/another bike/another known good battery. If it starts you know it's the battery.

+1 to that. Are you charging your batterys with a 'smart' charger, such as an 'Optimate' type? They can often indicate deep-seated problems with a battery through their led displays - an investment!

[Parademic]

A good clue if it's the battery...  - the lcd clock on the dash flickers off if u try to turn the engine over.  If your battery is fine,  it stays on...  

Gareth

[greywolf]

A good clue if it's the battery...  - the lcd clock on the dash flickers off if u try to turn the engine over.

That would be if the battery was extremely low. It can be low enough not to turn the starter motor but have plenty of power for the clock. Having a good clock doesn't rule out a battery problem.

[Parademic]

I had a battery that was showing 12.5v when off after being on charge,  but it made the clock go off briefly when starting...  Eventually it died completely but I worked out that if the voltmeter says it's a good voltage,  it doesn't mean the battery is fine.

G

[greywolf]

A battery needs to be checked with a load to see if it is good. A voltmeter on a sitting battery is not enough. Check the voltage when it is trying to spin the starter motor for example.