A Little Tinkerin', A Little Drinkerin'

[Leigh]

Well, today was a loss.
I spent an hour in the shed trying to get the pig to start.

A couple of interesting observations to make.
It showed signs of a flat battery even though the multimeter says the battery is kicking out 12.4. freshly charged and a relatively new battery that has been working every other time I tried to start it.

The bike turns over a lot easier with the choke on than off.

The 15amp fuse looks a little warped and a couple of the 10s are a bit suss too.
I'll change them out tomorrow and see if that makes a difference.

The small pot next to the fuse box.. Is that the starter relay?

It got warm after a bit of cranking..

Looks like I have a bit of searching/reading/head scratching to do.

 

[Leigh]

Secondly..
Does that RR look like a stock unit to you guys?
3 yellow wires would say otherwise to me..

 

[Leigh]

OK, I just went back out to the shed for a look-see.

I think I've figured why it won't start. The tank is dry.
Always the last thing you check, eh?

That doesn't explain the weird cranking though.
I'll replace those warped fuses in the morning, fuel it up and see what I can get out of it.

 

[Guest]

Ok... first things first...

Your electrics look ugly Have you checked voltage other places than the battery? Wondering if you're having some fun with nice big voltage drops across the harness.

Measuring at the coils is usually a good way to see what's going on there as it's passed through both the ignition switch and kill switch by that point.

Next up, yep, that's your starter solenoid there.

Next... not sure on the R/R, those three yellow wires appear to be part of your harness so not sure that's a giveaway...

A dry tank will do it!

Just thinking... how long since you've started the beast? If it's been a while, did you yank the plugs and give it some cranks until the oil light went off first? It may or may not help your starting issue but will at least get some oil around the shop before kicking it over...

All in all that was a rather useless post though wasn't it?

 

[Leigh]

Nah, all good mate.
I'm ok when they're running but I get easily baffled by electrics.

I'm not so sure about the RR now.
As far as I can see from the photo, those yellow wires continue into the loom.

 

[Guest]

Let us know what you find, MotoGP starting now

 

[SVSooke]

Looks like a stock Suzuki R/R to me.Under sized POS.

 

[Leigh]

Thanks Sooke.
It confused me a little after reading about the Zooks having different coloured wires.

 

[Guest]

Looks like the connection at your starter solenoid could use a little love . Looks dry/corroded and horrid . A little bit of a clean and some vaso before you tighten it won't hurt .
Is that a black wire from your R/R to the mounting screw for the starter solenoid ? If so , take it straight to the negative of the battery .

Cheers , Simon .

 

[Leigh]

I was looking at that too, Simon.
I'll give it a scrub tomorrow when I start poking the probes around.

Yes, I spotted that earth wire as well. That will be changed.

 

[Guest]

Those three yellow wires should terminate in bullet connectors, and your stator wires should plug into them.

I think the different colours come into play when the stator's been replaced...

 

[Leigh]

Oh, I've read the stator pages back to front, probably.

 

[Leigh]

Rightio.. New issue.
I got the bike started.. Nice and easy once there is fuel in the tank it seems.

At 2500rpm, the multimeter started off at 12.6 and worked it's way up to 13.4 volts.
Then I put it up on 5000rpm (man. does it sound good) and the meter said 13.9 volts.
Is that top figure a bit low?

I shut the bike off and started it again.. No sweat. It started and idled like it was electric.

While I was reading the test procedure I printed out from here, I let the bike sit.
Then I went to start it again and it gave the flat battery impression.
A couple of slow winds with big gaps in between.

I put the meter across the battery and it was reading at 12.5 volts.
That still should be enough to crank it faster than it was.

What say you, dear brains trust, where do I look next?

(No, I haven't cleaned the solenoid connection or changed over that RR earth wire.)

 

[Guest]

Pull your starter motor out and give it a good clean . Inside and out . (Even if that's not the problem , it's not hard and it's worth doing) .
You'll need all your BIG wire connections to be clean and tight .
I clean them with a bit of wet and dry then give them a bit of vasso . Not big gobs of it , just a bit of a smear . Wipe it with a rag . It's just to stop the connection from corroding .
Replace ALL the bullet connectors (especially the three coming from the stator) and use a ratchet crimper (if you can) , if you use those insulated lugs . The spade ones are the go .
If you want to unravel the mysteries of the dark art of 'lectrics , get a wiring diagram and blow it up a bit (so you can read it and follow each wire) . If you get a multimeter and trace out each wire , see what the connections are like , where it runs in the loom , replace/repair as necessary , then colour that wire on the drawing with a highlighter . You'll find it won't take that long , and if you fix everything as you go , you can forget about 'lectric problems for good .

Sounds like there's not to much wrong with it anyway . If you put a multimeter across your battery while you crank it with the starter , it'll drop a fair bit . If it goes through the floor , your battery is rooted .

Good luck grasshopper .

Cheers , Simon . :-\\\

 

[Guest]

P.S .
If you need to get a battery , take look at those AGM (absorbed gel mat) jobbies . Good cranking battery those . Peshially when it's cold .

Cheers , Simon .

 

[Leigh]

Rightio. That will be tomorrows job.
It's 29 degrees with 28 knot Northerlies at the moment.
I'm hiding inside.

 

[Guest]

+1 on everything Simon said... Simon says... fix the electrics... haha

I was thinking today it might be a dodgy battery too... I'm thinking of one of these when I get that far:

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Suzuki-G...ccessories&hash=item41517b96a9#ht_2906wt_1074

Surely they'll have one suitable for yours...

But I'd definitely cover off everything else above as well, it will definitely be worth the effort!

Those voltages you're showing indicate to me that it should actually be charging ok, but I suspect dodgy connections and dodgy grounds are stopping it working properly.

The reason I know mine's buggered is because I've already done all that and rev'ing makes the voltage drop from 12.5 to 12.3 volts... that ain't supposed to happen

 

[Leigh]

I went back out tonight..
The bike started again without an issue. Hmm Odd

At idle it showed 13.4
At 2500 it showed 13.1
At 5000 it showed 13.9

At idle, when I put the headlight on it dropped to 13.1
Same with the blinker. It would pulse to 13.1
With both on, the headlight would shine but the blinker would stop. 13.1

Then after a bit it would crank really slowly but wouldn't start.
The battery was on 12.6 and dropped into 8.something when I hit the starter button.

 

[Guest]

That absolutely stinks of dodgy connections...

The fact that your battery seems to recover between cranking attempts leads me to think it's probably ok, and that the whole circuit is simply dropping too much voltage and drawing more current than it should.

Oh, and I lied when I said I did everything Simon said... I haven't pulled my starter to pieces and cleaned it, but I did everything else...

 

[Leigh]

It certainly looks like a day in the shed with vaseline and the crimpers for me.


Ooh err, matron..