Bike wont start

[RickHolt]

I bought a GPZ500 the other day. We had to run up and down the road with it a few times before we could get it started. Once running, it was fine.

When the ignition button is pressed, there is just a click sound and nothing more.

What I'd like is a list of things that could be wrong, doesn't have to be detailed, just a simple list.

Obvious one would be the starter motor, but what else could be causing this problem?

[BLOFLY 636]

either starter motor brushes are not making good contact with the stator, solenoid is not cutting in properly or a loose or corroded joint between the thumb starter and the relay-solenoid-battery
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Those bloody footpegs......they ought to do away with em!

[Hex]

Dead Battery
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[Scotsman37]

MY friend had the same problem and had several bike mechanics pondering over it but none of them could finally find out what was wrong with it. The only thing they all could confirm that the bike's battery was fine and including the solenoid and the alternator,etc. One mechanic used to stripping/rebuilding old bikes could start it quite easily by removing the cover to the solenoid and use a LARGE screwdriver with plastic handle and to make a connection across the two points of the solenoid. You MUST be carefull when doing this as to avoid electrocution! So theres a trick you can try with it and see if it makes it start up.

So what we did is to remove the fuel tank to get a better overall look at the wiring throughout the bike and low & behold we find another standard connection block clogged with crap from over the years and we thought we had clean them all earlier on even the fuse box was done, but we were wrong! Cleaned the last remaining connection block with WD40.

Doing the above finaly solved his starter problem and it hasn't re-appeared since then. At least we know what do the next time something like that happens, but a regular clean once or more a year would be even better!

[AcIdBuRnZ]

[Scotsman37]

To check if it's the battery you must use a multimeter and do the following but if you don't have one it's a good idea to have one. Maplins sell reasonably cheap ones;

Remember if you're removing the battery first disconnect the '-' cable followed by the '+' cable connection and you do it in reverse when reconnecting it to the bike after recharging/inspecting it.


Set the multimeter to the 0 to 20 volts DC range

Connect the '+' probe followed by the '-' probe to the battery's matching connections

On a 12v battery if the readings taken is below 10v then you need to charge the battery and test the voltage again and double check the liquid level (Electrolyte), but if it still doesn't improve after charging then it is your battery that is knackered otherwise you could try what I said in an earlier post.

[kasandrich]

Battery is favourite, take it off and take it to a bike dealer, they'll test it for you.
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Richard

CBR1000FM

[iCraig]

I hate to tell you but thats the symptoms my GPZ displayed just recently, it turned out to be the Alternator magnets had broken away from the rotor stopping the bike from starting and not charging the battery.

If yours is an A Series GPZ (the one with the 16" wheels and rear drum brake) then it is very likely to be this. Take it too a local mechanic and get it checked out, and whatever you do don't try and get the bike running as it may bump/jump start but this may end up sending bits of the magnet into the engine and that can be very costly!

[RickHolt]

Quick reply, hope this makes sence.

Where the wires attatch to the starter motor, there are some washers. One of them is an insulator to stop the wire connecting with the starter motor. Looks like that was the problem :p Everything seems to be working fine now, just haven't got the starter motor back in. Need to take off some case and don't want to do that yet, oil will probably go everywhere.