starting

my latest issue, my 1980 XJ650 Maxim is having an issue starting as of a few minutes ago. I pulled it out of the garage, parked it out front and shut it off. I came back out of the house to start it up and go for a ride and i had nothing. The selenoid was making a clicking noise. Not even turning over. I just started it and drove it 500 feet and parked it. Why the sudden issue. I pop started it in the driveway with no problem. I then took a multi-meter and checked the battery. 13.48 volts at an idle and 14.42 volts around 3500-4000 RPM. Everything looks good. Also, I keep my bike on a YUASA float charger when I park it. I unplugged it from the float charger when I pulled it out of the garage earlier. I have no idea what the problem could be....maybe time for a new battery?

 

Likely causes:

Starter Brushes may need to be replaced.

Carbon Dust shorting Commutator from turning.

Select Neutral.
Short an Old Screwdriver across the two Main Terminals of Solenoid.
Starter spins?
Yes. Electrical issue triggering Solenoid.

No. Brushes / Carbon Dust.
Replace / Clean

 

WOW...that was a fast reply. I put the bike in the garage and parked it for the night. I decided that rather than going for a ride and risking stopping somewhere and having the pop start it and embarass myself I would park it, have dinner and go try to figure out what the issue might be. I was thinking the same thing....most likely a dirty starter or old brushes with tollerances that are just getting too "spacey"I will try to diagnose the problem using the selenoid/screwdriver trick after dinner. I'm hoping it's the starter. I will be able to sleep easy knowing that I just need to rebuild my starter than not knowing if there is an electrical gremlin lurking in my bike. Thanks- Brad

 

OK, So I went out to the garage and did just as I was told. The starter kicked the motor over and started it right up with no problem. NOT WHAT I WAS HOPING FOR! any thoughts on where my issue might be? Could it simply be the selenoid itself? or is it an issue somewhere between the starter button and the selenoid? I'm going to do some continuity testing and see if i can figure it out but if anybody has any pointers to get me headed in the right direction i would appreciate it because it's gorgeous outside and I'd love to go for a ride.

 

I pulled the right handlebar switch assemby apart to get at the start button. I saw in a few older posts that this was an area of concern. So here I go jumping to conclusions. I'm no electrical engineer but here is what I found, I found that one lead on the starter button had continuity with the left post of the selenoid regardless of whether or not the starter button was depressed or not. That was the only time there was any continuity between the selenoid and the start button at all on any leads or posts. I also tried to bypass the start button by jumping the two leads that tie into it and I had no luck. I"m lost. Any ideas?

 

I narrowed it down to an issue with the selenoid! The bike starts when it wants to....it seems to be an intermittent issue. It starts 50% of the time. I have spoken to Len and got the information I need to get a new selenoid. I am going to order it from him on payday and get this thing back up and running at 100%