Another Starter Issue

[1997 fxstc]

Sunday went on about a 100 mile ride.  Stopped and grabbed something to eat, came out and the bike was dead.  Got a jump and made it home.  After the bike was off a short time it would not start again.

I put the bike on charge for the evening/day. 

Today I tried starting the bike and nothing.  I preformed the following checks:

•   Battery Check-was good 13.7
•   Charging system voltage check-Jumped the bike again with car and preformed check-good at 14.7
•   Checked all the wires/connections and did not observed any issues
•   Did the 3 stator/rotor tests everything is fine
•   I was unclear on the regulator checks

I am dumb founded on this problem.  It will not start with a fully charged battery, in will not start with my battery charger hooked up but will if I jump with my car.  Any suggestions on what might be the issue with this.  The starter is new (last year) and shows no issues when jumping. 

Thanks for any assistance you can provide.

[JamesButler]

Bad Rectifier?

[yankee dog]

Was the 13.7 volts on the battery when running? Battery at rest should read more like 12.7 volts after it has sat at rest (no charger) overnight.

Replace the starter relay. Cheap enough to replace. I think 40 amp relay. My thoughts are high resistance due to age/use/oxidization of the contacts in the relay. Just make sure you replace it with one of the same or better amperage rating.

The other thought is a bad ground wire. When you say "checked all wires" does that mean disconnecting them and checking resistance? Check the ground wires and make sure they ohm low to a ground on the frame. Check the battery posts and their connections by removing and cleaning, then reinstall. YD

[BUBBIE]

Even though you show 13.7 on Battery check.... Might be Still a Bad Battery...

Test:
Remove/Disconnect the Hot side of the battery on the bike (totally loose of the battery).....

NOW, Hook Jumper from your car ground to ground on battery then the Hot jumper From car battery to the Disconnected  Hot wire on the bike.... NOT the post on The Battery...

Does it start OK? with Car Jump??? IF it does, You JUST eliminated the Problem... The Battery... 

signed....BUBBIE

[guido4198]

I'm gonna add my stock reminder, which came to me from someone else on this forum.
For pretty much EVERY "starting issue", I'm going to recommend you get the battery LOAD TESTED by someone who knows what they're doing.
Don't EVER do what I did when I had a starting issue a while back. I started replacing parts, without having the battery load tested because...well, you know...IT'S A NEW BATTERY...!!! 
Turned out, it was a NEW battery, with a BAD CELL. 
Sooo...I now have a few perfectly good parts on my shelf, for whenever I might actually NEED them, which...after all, for a 1985 bike isn't all bad. 

[Hossamania]

Check the battery!
I will second Guido's post. My starter would kick back and grind quite often, this went on for years, even after a new battery. Well, must have gotten a marginal battery, because just got a new one, and the problems are gone.
A bad battery can wreak havoc on a charging system. The fact that a jump start works points to the battery.

[Pete_Vit]

Check the battery!
I will second Guido's post. My starter would kick back and grind quite often, this went on for years, even after a new battery. Well, must have gotten a marginal battery, because just got a new one, and the problems are gone.
A bad battery can wreak havoc on a charging system. The fact that a jump start works points to the battery.

just last year I replaced mine on my 96 that was not 2 years old, always kept it charged, but would do that same as Hoss described, new battery no more kick back no grinding.

[1997 fxstc]

Bubbie, tried your tip and the bike started up so Ill be picking up a battery tomorrow.  I was concerned because it didn't fire right up and was really sluggish.  It didn't click like it was dead though; nice not to hear.  Ill put the new battery in tomorrow and go from there.  I was getting ready to be like Guido and order the stator, rotor and regulator.  Thanks and ill report tomorrow.  Thanks for everyone else that posted. 

For Yankee, I am not quite sure how to go about checking the grounds you mentioned.  I checked the connections to make sure they were tight and the wires didn't appear to be cracked.  Which grounds and how to check the resistance?

Thanks all

[Dan89flstc]

Don`t just check to see if connections are tight, take them apart, clean them and reassemble.

Don`t assume anything is good until you check/test it.

[Grayrider]

I always remove the ground cables and any ground wires on the frame and scrape the paint underneath them so the wires and cables are on bare metal. Most times I have found right out of the factory the grounds are on a painted surface and you rely on the bolt to be the ground. But the bolts rust and you get a marginal grounded cable / wire.

[1997 fxstc]

  effin starter; thanks much thanks for the tips.

[Hossamania]

Stupid starter.....

[farmall]

Don`t just check to see if connections are tight, take them apart, clean them and reassemble.

Don`t assume anything is good until you check/test it.

Roger that!

It's not a bad idea to upgrade old cables as they can corrode internally. I use light gauge welding cable and get the starter and solenoid lugs from my local welding supply.  Auto store battery cable and every motorcycle cable I've seen isn't even close to welding cable quality. It's fine-strand, heat-resistant for obvious reasons, flexible and tough.

1/4" stud size lugs fit most motorcycle batteries and are not typically carried by welding supply stores. I've been using these lately: http://www.ebay.com/itm/262105253936?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

You can also get lugs, and quality industrial heat shrink tubing with the internal adhesive, from Fastenal (many local stores) or other industrial suppliers.

Basic load testers are simple and worth owning to check all your vehicle batteries. They are basically a resistance element (think "toaster") in a box with a switch.
The ~20 dollar cheapies work fine (we flogged ours at a used car lot) from Horror Fright or similar.

[1997 fxstc]

Opps meant the battery

[Hossamania]

Opps meant the battery

OK, now you got me confused. It was the battery that was bad, not the stupid starter?

[yankee dog]

Bubbie, tried your tip and the bike started up so Ill be picking up a battery tomorrow.  I was concerned because it didn't fire right up and was really sluggish.  It didn't click like it was dead though; nice not to hear.  Ill put the new battery in tomorrow and go from there.  I was getting ready to be like Guido and order the stator, rotor and regulator.  Thanks and ill report tomorrow.  Thanks for everyone else that posted. 

For Yankee, I am not quite sure how to go about checking the grounds you mentioned.  I checked the connections to make sure they were tight and the wires didn't appear to be cracked.  Which grounds and how to check the resistance?

Thanks all

The short answer: Remove wires, check ends like eyelets that bolt to frame, battery, other components etc. with an Ohm meter. Check resistance of the wires just like checking resistance of spark plug wires. As far as ground wires, once you check the wire, clean the connector on the wire with a wire brush, and then clean what ever that connector connects to (like battery post, starter post, frame hole, etc).

Then connect/bolt the ground wire to where ever it belongs on the frame and say battery post, and using you ohm meter again check the resistance from say the battery post to somewhere else on the frame. You checking for a good solid, clean connection with low resistance (low or no ohms) showing on the meter. 

But it sounds like you found your problem! YD