Starting blues!

[londonrob]

Well, up till now the B11 has been a good reliable lump raising lots of smiles, but recently its been having some issues with starting.
Switch on, watch the lights do their thing, press the button and click, the starter engages but doesn't turn.

I took JohnK's advice and fitted a relay so the solenoid gets full battery voltage when you press the button, the bikes got an Oddysey battery which reads 12.60 volts across the terminals.
I also swapped the starter for a known good one from my 1000S.
It worked for a few days but after a trip to wiltshire (1 degree above freezing, Brrrr!) the bike refused to start when i had unloaded the top box.
Too cold and dark now to start pulling bits off it but I'll have a look after work tomorrow.
In the meantime the CTEK charger's plugged in and will stay on overnight.

Has anyone else had starting issues like this, and how did you cure them?

 

[guzzibob]

I did have something like this happen on my Norge & on a friend's Griso that turned out to be a neutral indicator issue. I don't recall hearing a click, but it costs nothing to try, so here goes. Tranny is apparantly in neutral meaning it will roll without pulling in the clutch, neutral light is on, push button-& nothing happens. My Griso owning friend says, try shifting in to first while it is sitting there, then back to neutral. Boom, starts right up, never happened again. Happened a couple times (I think, pretty sure more than once) to my friend. Probably not it, but what the hey, costs zero $ and minimal effort to give it a shot.

 

[Brian UK]

Interesting, had exactly the same on my norge last week.
Check the earth connection onto the engine, behind the top fastening for the starter motor cover. These can come loose, and the thread on the bolt is far too short anyway.
Also check that the battery connections are clean and tight.
But in my case it turned out to be a dud battery, Charged it up with the CTEK, and 2 days later the same problem. This time the CTEK did the christmas tree lights trick, which suggests the battery plates are sulphated.
best new price for replacement battery in the UK - 105 sterling. Best price for same Stateside - 75 USD (approx 50 sterling) :evil:

 

[xenarchi]

Same issues here too. Never sure what the problem was in the end but for a few weeks before I put the bike away for the winter, no more problems. I'll see what happens in a week or two when the bike comes out of storage. I sure hope the problem 'goes away.' (I had my generator/alternator replaced for another reason but never had this problem before the new generator/alternator)

- New battery
- Re-wired my GPS direct inline with the brake light vs. direct to the battery.
- Covered terminals in more vaseline and tightened. I think with the GPS hooked up via a pig back type connector the battery terminal bolts weren't 100% tight. Might have been enough for the bad starts?

 

[nel]

My b11 had a new battery and still failed to start intermittantly with everything seemingly working. It was the starter button on the handle bar. I opened the switch and the copper was green with corrosion. Cleaned it no problem since.

 

[londonrob]

Well, things have got better.
Took the starter off and hooked it up to a slave battery and it spins like a good un.
Put it back on the bike and "click, click" same as before.
Touched a wire between the battery lead stud on the starter and the solenoid spade and it spins :huh:

Tried it on the button and it fired first go, and has stayed working.

I think I'll have a look at that starter button though, just in case mine is corroded as well.

Oh, and the magnets had fallen off the original starter and had scored the armature, so now i'm on the hunt for a replacemement starter for the 1000S :S

 

[Brian UK]

I thought Valeo were using better glue these days.