Starter, Solenoid ??

[spchips]

take apart the starter to see what you can see, you might see a magnet that's supposed to be on the walls wreaking havoc. you can epoxy it back on with high temp epoxy

[SPARKSS]

Alright , I went to lowes and found the $10 relay and it fits with no modification. Only problem is i still get the click and no start. When I arc the terminals it starts. Whats the deal??? I do have the relay grounded directly to the battery.

The fact that you can cause the starter to operate and bike to start means there's no basic problem with the circuit. Other information is needed though:

When you "arc" which terminals - the 2 large ones? If this is what you're doing, then try this......(in neutral of course!) temporarily jumper the large post connected to battery positive (on the solenoid of course) to it's small control terminal.....if the engine cranks here then the problem IS that you have excessive resistance (voltage drop) in your bike's start circuit......this circuit is comprised of (typically) the clutch switch, kill switch, starter pushbutton, and maybe the sidestand switch (check and follow your wiring diagram).

A METHOD to finding out where the problem lies, is to take your voltmeter and make progressive measurements as you continue to try to start while hearing the click (which is probably the solenoid only weakly trying to switch). Put your voltmeter negative lead on the battery negative and positive on the control contact of the solenoid (wire still connected).....try to start and read this voltage. Now move the negative lead to the solenoid base and compare by trying again......this will determine if you have significant ground connection problems. If still low (you should have 12V initially and should the solenoid actually make, this will drop to say 10 or so as the engine cranks), then move your positive lead back to the next connector or switch in the chain and repeat......at some point you'll find the spot where the drop is occurring. Note that circuit is probably fused (if original!) and a good tip is to check the voltage with your wandering positive lead at THIS FUSE FIRST (not ON the fuse itself but on the output side connection).

Hope this is clearer than mud at least!

[andrewclaycomb]

I'm going to bring this thread back from the dead and report on what happened with my bike.

Today I remembered posting this so I looked it up. and reading that last post I realized that I had too many grounds. The terminal that was supposed to be wired to the positive terminal on the battery was hooked on to the negative terminal. I didn't think anything about it because i went through and grounded every component I could find directly to the battery.

Maybe that's a first in the GS forums, too many ground leads.

I also just got my carbs back from wiredgeorge (wgcarbs.com) so we'll see how she runs as soon as my battery charges up. They look incredible.

I also found where my oil leak is located. This bike might really be completely finished soon.