Starter relay clicking. Need ground wire connections help please.

[Guest]

Hi

i have a black wire with a white tracer running from the wiring harness to the place where the starter solenoid connects to the mounting plate and to the metal battery holder. Another black wire runs from the wiring harness to one of the battery holder mounting bolts (which connects to the frame of the motorcycle). Another black wire runs from the motorcycle frame to the negative post of the battery. Finally, the rectifier/regulator negative lead currently connects to one of the two screws that mount the rectifier/regulator to the bottom of the battery holder. Initially, the starter motor was firing when the ignition switch was hit. I almost had the motorcycle started and then i hit the ignition switch again and the starter relay started clicking and the motorcycle starter motor stopped functioning. The battery positive post was 12.3 volts as was the post at the starter solenoid that the positive lead wire from the battery connects to. When the ignition switch was hit, no voltage was getting to the post on the solenoid that runs to the starter motor. Could my problem be a poor ground wire connection??

[chuck hahn]

Yes it could be. temp a wire from the selinoid mount bolt directly to the battery negative and see what happens. If it still just clicks, then remove the starter cover and tap the starter with a hammer. And check where the positive wire hooks to the selinod and the starter.

[eil]

How sure are you that you have a good (and charged) battery?

[ATM]

I ran a temp wire from the solenoid mount bolt directly to the battery negative post. I hit the start button and the solenoid just clicked. I then checked the connections for both posts on the solenoid (the post that has the lead wire running from the solenoid to the starter motor and the post that has the lead wire that runs from the solenoid to the positive battery post). All connections were sound. I then checked the battery. I used my smart vector charger and charged the battery. I then hit the start button and again the solenoid just clicked. Next, i hooked my charger up to the battery and tried to see if she would fire up that way. Guess what?? When i hit the ignition button, the starter motor was working and i started the motorcycle!! So, does this mean the battery is shot (it took a charge from my smart vector charger though). Does anyone have any ideas concerning this?

P.s. I should probably mention that at the solenoid post that gets the power from the battery, i have two lines running off that post. One positive line goes to a box containing a single fuse and stops there. The second line runs to the main fuse box which contains four fuses (a main fuse, a headlight fuse, a turn signal fuse, and an ignition fuse).

Also, i did dismantle everything that connects to the mounting plate and also removed the battery and the battery holder at an earlier time when i was trying to take a closer look at the electrical connections (as i was having problems with the charging system, especially at idle and with the lights on). I have a feeling that perhaps my main problem is that i did not put things back the way they were before any of this happened!! Lesson learned the hard way i guess. Any ideas??

[ATM]

I am starting to wonder if the current from the battery is taking a path of least resistance with some of it getting diverted (if this is possible) to the positive line running from the solenoid post to a single fuse in a small fuse box which connects to the mounting plate. What this single fuse accomplishes i do not know.