Bike shuts off then just clicks...

[1lowdiesel]

Ok so yesterday i got my permit and finally got to take the bike out for some road time. I drove it for probably 2-3hrs and around 10-15 miles. I stopped 3-4 times for 10-15 min each time, everytime the bike started up with no issues. THEN, I leave my buddies house and get to the end of the road and it shuts off, Ok no big deal, I try to restart and it acts as though the battery is almost dead but it does restart. I then go another 1/2 mile or so into town and it dies at the stop light in the middle of town. So i run through traffic and onto the side of the road where now it's just clicking when i hit the starter button. All lights still working.

I finally get my buddy to pick me up and take the bike back home. I check the voltage with the key on and i'm seeing 12-13v. I hit the starter button and it drops down to 8-9v and just clicks. I load test the brand new week old battery and it tests weak. After letting it sit for a while with the charger on it, I try it again and BAM cranks right over. I take the charger off, let it sit again, try it again and BAM starts right up. All the while i have the bike in my garage in front of my giant fan thinking that maybe it was hot so i'll cool it down.

Now this morning. I go out and hit the button, BAM starts right up, SWEET! Ride it 1mile to work (8am), come out for lunch at 11 and bike starts right up. Get it home, sit for 30 min, go back out and starts right up. I get to the end of my street, and while sitting at the light i'm messing with the idle screw. I rev it up a bit to about 4k and let off, bike comes back down to idle and just dies. Go to restart and nothing again, just clicks. Walk the bike all the way back down to my house and take my truck back to work.

This is where i'm at now.



All my lights are still working fine, horn works, still have 12v, but when i hit the starter it just clicks, even if i try and jump the starter solenoid it just clicks and gets red hot. When i had the charger on it and i hit the starter it would still drop down to 8-9v but it would crank just like it should.

Any advice?

 

[bcware]

Put the voltmeter on the battery with the bike running, rev the engine, check the charging voltage.

 

[HoughMade]

Looks like 1 of 2 things to me....and another. First, you are either not charging enough, or there is too much of an electrical draw. Second, even though the battery is new, sounds like it's not good.

Out of curiosity, what kind of lights are you running?

 

[bcware]

Oh yes, some batteries need to be fully charged before use or they won't hold a charge. It always says so in the little pamphlet in the box.

 

[1lowdiesel]

Put the voltmeter on the battery with the bike running, rev the engine, check the charging voltage.

Yup did it it's charging, goes from 12.6 to 13.2-13.8.

Looks like 1 of 2 things to me....and another. First, you are either not charging enough, or there is too much of an electrical draw. Second, even though the battery is new, sounds like it's not good.

Out of curiosity, what kind of lights are you running?

I'm running all LED's except for the headlight, which even when i shut off and pulled fuses the thing still just clicked.

I'm thinking the battery is toast, which i'm not happy about. I still have my old battery but it also tested bad (I dead shorted it and blew all the acid plugs out) oops. I was thinking about swapping it out now while the thing is still giving me a fit and see if it starts.

 

[bcware]

I had an issue with a starter on my other bike randomly clicking and not working. I ended up pulling the starter, cleaning the terminals and such, and examining the inside. Apparently this worked, because I never had a problem again.

You could start by cleaning the terminals and checking for corrosion. If it comes to it, you can probably open the starter, clean the crap out of the inside, and inspect the brushes.

 

[1lowdiesel]

I just put this starter in there with all new wires, so i doubt it's an external connection issue. It could be the brushes not making a good contact, but if this were the case it would happen more frequently. Damn I really dont want to have to pull that thing back out.

 

[Drewcifer]

Guys, one thing we've covered ad nauseum on this forum is charging system issues.

Shall we start the betting? (given this is in fact a KNOWN GOOD NEW battery)

Drewcifer puts 250 on one of the three phases of his stator shorting out, leaving him with not enough DC to sufficiently restore battery amperage.

BCAWARE? HOUGHMADE? PSEUDO? DREWPS? Shall we start the bidding gents?

 

[Lou Ranger]

Can I bet on a wheel, somewhere, being unbalanced? That's all I know about electricals - other than red is positive and black is the colour of ground, so it's ground... right?

 

[xs400neophite]

Woah woah woah'Dcipher'... calling guys out eh?!! I like that. The benefit is.. 'diesel' gets some of this forums best minds analizing his issues!
Sounds like you did alot of wiring, maybe something not 100% connected?
Is your bike a '78-'79?
This is what I am going through.... RIGHT NOW!!

 

[Drewcifer]

xs yeah it's sort of a bikenerds/gentleman's bet about what is wrong and it's always fun to see who's had the issue, spots it and gets a fix the soonest. I always like to give it a day though for our guys on on the far side of the pond.

 

[vectra]

i'll go with a bad contact on the starter solenoid

 

[bcware]

If we're betting I will go with bad battery. It is most likely based on the symptoms and the fact that the bike is charging.

What size battery is it (cca)? What type? What brand?

 

[63-Coupe]

I will go with a grounding issue and put up a broken hockey stick and two 5/16 BSF (British Standard Fine) bolts from a David Brown Tractor.

So 1lowdiesel, since you have just put in the starter, first double check the two bolts that hold it in. It's a quick and easy thing to try without having to remove the starter. I had a similar problem that was solved by just a little extra tug on both bolts. They were tight enough to hold the starter body but not tight enough for a good ground.

 

[Drewcifer]

BC if we exclude bad battery (I'm hoping this was eliminated before posting) what else would you guess?

 

[bcware]

Excessive draw from accessories
Short circuit in wire harness (leak current)
Poor electrical contact
Excessive idling/short trips
Faulty reg/rect

 

[1lowdiesel]

Well after charging the batt all night it was still no go in the morning. I load tested it again and it was showing very weak (I tested it yesterday and it showed ok). Brought it back to auto zone and they swapped it out. It's back on the charger now and should be ready around 7. I also found that my float adkment was off and filling the carbs and flooding the plugs do I readjusted them as well. I'm about to adjust the valves and go over all the wiring once more. Then I'm gonna go through the manual and figure out how to check the charging system a little better.

Of course today is one if the nicest days of the year so far and the damn bike is down.

Edit update: I got it to start on the old batt and when I disconnected it the bike kept running so I assume that the charging system is working. Also got it to start by kicking it. Still working on the right carb. After adjusting the floats it's still flooding. Prob not sealing somewhere.

 

[Drewcifer]

Make sure the new battery is slow charged at least overnight on 1.5 amps or so. Do not quick charge it.

Looks like we didn't start with a KNOWN GOOD BATTERY after all.

 

[1lowdiesel]

Yea yea. The batt wasn't perfect. I put the new batt in and it's still starting slow. I put the charger back on it so hopefully it'll get better. It runs great though once its going. Still having some issues with idleing but that should be an easy one.

Why the hell are there do many wires, it's a freaking motorcycle lol

 

[arfstrom]

I am going to bet on the Carbs, are shot, pitted, and or cracked. What ever it is, its leaking fuel into the Floats, take it out, and shake it, one of them is sloshing, and ifs as bad as my bike,The flooding went into the crankcase. Don't light that welder near your crankcase. With the floats I had, I could only start it if it wasnt flooded.

As far as a bet on the charging system? I cheated I previewed his bike again, (short term memory) Cool bike, Voltage reg turns on when a charge is lower than expected, and the Rectifier converts AC to DC, Hummmmmmm. What was the first 3 digits of you engine serial number???? it looks like my bike, before the mods. Grounding, Shorting, Voltage Reg is Ok.

Okay, I am going to with the Rectifier. Somethings not sharing power evenly with the rectifier.

Based that Voltage is reported at 13 to under 14 volts, so I am thinking that under load Rectifier isnt sharing the energy, so its begining to sound like a short. The Test is to find the Rectifier connector, it has 3 white wires, and one red, and a black wire. The Put your Multimeter, on the horseshoe looking symbol (Ohms) Bike off, Put the Red meter probe, on the Red, then Touch each of the white wires one at a time. The numbers should be same on any combination. Then reverse that, put the Black meter probe on the red, and then touch each of the red wires. Repeat that process on the Black wire. Four test total.

The purpose is that the rectifier is not going to let a power out backwards, it creates a way for power to only go in, and then out, where the AC part of the power created isn't compatible with most of the bikes gear. so the rectifier creates a DC power. Getting tired. Good luck!
Tobie