81 xs400 loud clicking sound/bike not starting [Video included

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newbiexs400

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Hey guys, i am new to the forum and new to riding. I bought an 81 xs400 with about 18k miles. The bike is in really good condition,however since i am still practicing for my drivers test, i dont really drive too far from my house. Anyway, after about 3 minutes of driving around the block, i tried going up a gear from 1 to 2. well i got stuck at Neutral, and couldnt go to 2, i was starting to lose speed at this point so i decided to go down to 1. which then suddenly turned off my bike. I pulled over and walked my bike into my school's parking lot because i was sitting on the road trying to kickstart the bike with no luck. But suddenly my bike started making this clicking noise. In this video
all that i did was turn on the bike, flipped the switch from off to engine, and pulled out the clutch. Suddenly this weird clicks started occuring. Anyone know what it is? Seemed to be coming from the battery. The guy who sold me the bike rigged the battery in a way that i can charge it when the lights get dimmed, and i was running on a full charge.

Thanks in advance guys.
 
I can't tell for sure from the video, were you holding down the start button?

Sounds like the starter relay. Or one of the relays under the battery box.
Starter is behind the battery box.

Not sure what that modification would entail but it sounds sketchy. The battery doesn't charge well at idle but should charge well enough at speed.
 
BBS360 said:
I can't tell for sure from the video, were you holding down the start button?

Sounds like the starter relay. Or one of the relays under the battery box.
Starter is behind the battery box.

Not sure what that modification would entail but it sounds sketchy. The battery doesn't charge well at idle but should charge well enough at speed.
Click to expand...


I dont have a starter button on my bike so i have to kickstart it. Although before i rode the bike, in my garage as soon as i started up the bike, i squeezed on the brakes to make sure the lights were working and something weird happened. It was the same sound a car makes when you turn the key in the ignition and the car doesn't start. It has never happened before and i feel that its somehow a correlation.
 
Is the starter button missing? I didn't think there were any 81s without starters. The car sound could have been the starter motor being triggered somehow.

Either way, it sounds like a faulty/miswired/not-fully-engaging relay. Follow the sound, determine which relay it is.
Also investigate whatever modifications were done. They sound questionable and you will want to verify that everything is OK with them.
 
You need to cap off or fix the starter button/wires. It sounds like it is engauging the starter. It also sound like the starter motor or starter clutch is messed up.
 
sounds like the starter is permenantly engaged and it got burned out whilst riding. that will kill the battery.
 
newbiexs400 said:
Can you give me instructions on how to fix this and avoid this from happening again?
Click to expand...
Depends on what the exact problem is.
Like xchris mentioned, you'll need to fix the start button or properly isolate the wires so that it doesn't misfire again.

I'd still look into the previous owner's modifications.
 
This is what my '81 sounded like when I tried to electric start it with a battery that was to small. Definitely resolve the issue with the starter button first then check the charge on your battery.
 

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