click click, slow crank, click click, slow crank - full battery.

[Guest]

My 81 GS450S has recenty developed an interesting condition
But first, let me establish the condition it's in right now. It's mid-restoration/project bike. Bought from a guy who had it in storage for years, was partially apart when I got it. Cleaned the carbs, had fuel tank cleaned and coated, new battery and ignition switch, and bike has been starting and running great for the last couple of months. We drag it out on the weekend, it fires right up and we tinker on it a little more.

Now, to the condition. Day or two ago, we tried to start it and it just clicked, loud solid click from the solenoid, we thought maybve enough juice to trip the solenoid but not enough to crank it. Had another brand new battery sitting on the bench on a charger, light was green, fully charged, put it in, same condition. If we keep hitting the starter button, it'll just click the solenoid, over and over as we try, then suddenly we'll get a lucky connection and it'll crank but it's very weak. The only thing that's different is I just put a headlight in the bike. Until then, it was an empty bucket. And the clutch lever switch is disabled, has been for weeks, the wires are jump together in the headlight bucket. I'm wondering if I disturbed them and that's causing the condition, I still have to check that out but...thought I'd ask the community if there's something else I should be looking at.
What say you all?

[chuck hahn]

Starter armerature is sticking in the bushings most likely. It can be opened up and cleaned. May as well see about replacing the bushings and brushes while in there. Selinoids clicking in and then a second or two delay for the startere to budge. And recheck all the connections first though. Remember the ignition switch is right there too and you may have a weak connection in there as well.

[chuck hahn]

Another thought would be that even though the battery showed a green light doesnt mean its producing the proper cold cranking amps. If the selinoid is clicking then the system is closing it with ample voltage.

The selionod is just a magnetic bridge that makes a straight thru connection directly from the battery to the starter motor..so that being said, the more I think about it I am narrowed down to the starter motor being gunked up inside.

[derickson104]

Starter armerature is sticking in the bushings most likely. It can be opened up and cleaned. May as well see about replacing the bushings and brushes while in there. Selinoids clicking in and then a second or two delay for the startere to budge.

I agree. My 850G displayed the same symptoms you described Kym, no matter how 'charged' (or replaced) the battery was. Old starter motor had shattered brushes and poor interior connections - new one brought it back to life.

[Spiff]

Same things happened to mine.... The brushes and interior of the starter where full of filth, cleaned it up and it's been working fine ever since

[Redman]

If solinoid is clicking, then no need to suspect anything in the starter button-solenoid circuit (such as your bypassing the clutch switch).

Since you say the battery is good, my next suspect would be the starter itself. Starter can develope problem over time and get more and more noticicable .. or can just get worse real quick.
I would suggest taking out the starter and inspecting the brushes. I suspect you are going to find them worn real short.
Look for Stocker Electric motor for rebuild kits.
You will need to look at your starter motor first to see if it is a Mitsuba or a Denso to know which kit (2 brush or 4 brush) to get.


Is more we could talk about relative to replaceing the brushes, but first would suggest you inspect yours.

If you suspect the solenoid, you could check with a volt meter, see that it is passing full battery voltage when it is trying to crank.

Ohter suspects could be the battery connections... or the ground connection, the negitive cable there to the back of the engine.

[portdave]

If you want to take a ride I can look at it for you. You might want to put a volt meter on the battery when you are trying to start it to make sure the battery does not have a bad cell. I agree with the starter being an issue though. I just cleaned out the one on my 850.

Other thing to check would be the main wires for positive and negative. Make sure they are not corroded and make sure they ohm out close to same reading as your leads. Should be very little resistance.

[cableguy]

+1 on starter

Rebuild kits are cheap enough and at the very least you should take it apart and clean it out. Years of storage in your location can mean corrosion in spots where you would never see it. Don't forget to inspect your cables!

[TooManyToys]

How about jumping across the terminals of the solenoid to make sure it's internal contacts are OK.

[barnbiketom]

no matter what anyone says, put a voltmeter on it first. Why assume anything, especially about batteries???
check the voltage while cranking, then do a voltage drop on all the cables.

[megatwin]

How about jumping across the terminals of the solenoid to make sure it's internal contacts are OK.

You can also check the voltage to the starter side of the relay,while holding the starter button.
You can have good battery voltage at the battery,but if the internal contacts in the relay are bad,the relay will still click,but may not put 12 volts to the starter.
As said above,jumping the terminals will isolate it too.

[argonsagas]

When the solenoid clicks in and the circuit is closed, voltage has to flow to the starter, but unless both the positive and negative connections are all good, then sufficient amperage will not follow.

It does sound like a bad starter, but you will get the identical result from a bad ground cable. (negative side of the battery to the frame).

This is common on GSes as the ground point corrodes.

It is a good practice to clean every connections, but it is also a good idea to add a second ground cable to another point on the bike frame to ensure good electrical flow continues to be good..