BIKE NOT STARTING... Help! (Throttle and choke kill electric start)

[Cornhusker]

Hey guys, so after getting my bike back from the shop two weeks ago, where it left running, it has decided not to start.
When I attempt to start the bike with my electric start, if I have the clutch out or if I give the bike throttle, my electric starter hits a dead spot and sounds like it's grinding against something.
I've taken the carbs out and cleaned them, but that has not done anything.

1. I'm wondering if my battery isn't getting enough power to the starter?
2. But why would it not work with the choke out?
3. Does that suggest something with the carbs? Perhaps maybe the jets are set wrong?

Here are some videos of the issue... for your viewing pleasure.

 

[BBS360]

I'm not experienced enough to offer a suggestion based on experience, but if it weren't for the throttle affecting it I'd lean towards the starter clutch failing.

Is it the choke, clutch position, or throttle position that affects it most?
Is it just one of them that causes the issue?
Is the bike in neutral?

Edit: Oh yeah, why the jumpstart? Does the battery hold a charge? Do you have a separate battery charger?
Shouldn't need to have the car running at least.

 

[Wolfe_11B]

Car battery could destroy the tci. Maybe you got lucky.

 

[xschris]

Is gas getting to the plugs? Are you getting spark?

 

[Cornhusker]

Thanks for the responses guys.

BBS360 - I would agree with the starter clutch suggestion, but I have rebuilt the starterclutch (new caps, springs, etc.) and it didn't seem to do much good. I also replaced the entire starter thinking that may be the issue. No luck.
The throttle position seems to affect it the most. If I pull the throttle when I'm starting it, it immediately makes "the noise". On the other hand, sometimes I can get a few good cranks even with the choke out, but eventually it starts whirring.
The bike is in nuetral. My dummy lights went out right before I filmed those videos. Also, since you asked about the battery, one of the new issues is that it isn't holding a charge anymore. The battery is only three months old, but I took it off and charged it, and it's not getting above 9 volts, hence why I had to jump it for the videos.
I tried to kick start and bump start it the other day, both of which strangely drained the battery as well. Do you guys think this issue could be from some wire grounding out?

xschris - I haven't checked the plugs since I got it back from the shop. I'll put that on my to do list this morning. I was getting good spark before though.

Again, thanks for the replies. I really appreciate the help.

 

[troy7548]

Did you check the points and the gap? Mine was doing the same thing then we adjusted the gap and points and it fired right up.

 

[Narratis]

Hey Cornhusker,
I have the same bike I think ('80 Special but in much worse condition), which had VERY similar symptoms, and made an even worse noise. I more or less got rid of my problem, but as it was the result of a miriad of issues, I can't tell you the easy fix... but here's most of what I did:

- After many troubleshooting sessions I found that, even though both plugs were getting wet, one cylinder wasn't firing along because of a lack of fuel. Turns out I had a plugged pilot jet which I missed (due to inexperience). Started better afterwards and I could throttle!
- The other main thing I think was Carb synchronisation,. I had eyeballed the synch while the carbs were of, but with my uncle's help managed to synch them by ear with the carbs on. This made the throttle much more responsive and keeps it from dying away when revs are low.
- Other things I adressed multiple times are points gap and ignition timing. Neither had a great impact on the symptoms mentioned, but both are worth checking I guess.

See if you can get your bike running the same way with only one sparkplugcap on to determine if it is one of the cylinders that's giving you problems. If so, the bike should run "better" with the one sparkplug taken out...

The awful noise I got is also mostly gone, honestly I have no clue why, but I can live with that...

I hope this helped, good luck!

 

[Cornhusker]

It's alive!!! Whoop whoop! Went for my first ride!
Thank you everyone for the suggestions. After removing my spark plugs I realized there was hardly any spark. So, cleaned them, adjusted the fuel mix (they were pretty full of carbon so I leaned it up a bit), and she fired right up.
"The noise" isn't gone yet, but it is better (although I'm not sure why )
Narratis, I'm going to keep going over your suggestions to see if I can eliminate it.

After going for a nice long ride today, definitely noticed it was running too lean, because my idle was way too high. A bigger concern I have though was that it can get stuck over 3,000 RPM. Sometimes it will slowly crawl back down, but especially later in the ride I noticed that it wasn't coming down at all, and was pretty much pegged past 3,000... until I killed it at a stop light I'm definitely going to blame the stall on being preoccupied with the tacho.

Anyway, could the high idle/high RPMs be another sign of a lean fuel mixture, or is there something else to blame?

Again, thanks everyone for the help. I greatly appreciate it.

 

[xschris]

After you set the valves and make sure the carbs are not too lean sync the carbs with a manometer. Another thing to check if that don't work is to check for holes or cracks in the carb diaphragms.