Diversion ignition........

[Purplepill]

Ok iv had my divvy 600 ('97) for about half a year now with no serious problems, its on 56k miles....

For the last few weeks iv been having to bump start it everywhere, its not a light bike and its getting on my tits now.....for some reason when i press the electric start all i can hear is a loud 'click', so i took the seat of and traced the 'click' to a small metal cylinder which had 3/4 wires going in, one of which going directly to the positive battery terminal, on the right hand side of the bike, i think its the solenoid/relay? not too sure...... anyway i put it in my hand (all insulated) and pressed the electric start again, and not only was the click coming from this small cylinder, its was making a small vibration/knock as i pressed the button....

So iv had a go at cleaning all the connections up but it hasnt made a difference, (except one connection as it was something stupid like a 5mm bolt) but the clicking/vibration suggests theres power there......

Batterys fully charged and all lights and other electrics seem to work fine, so im just looking for suggestions really or ideally someone whos had the same problem and fixed it!
I have very little money so only want to replace something if its absolutely nessesary/definatly goin to fix problem, aint got the money for buy and hope
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''He had the confidence of a baby-goat dared to tickle a t-rex's nutsack''

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Sound's like the starter motor relay (the part you were holding with the wires attached to it).
Replacement from a bike breakers/ebay will be really cheap so definately worth a punt.
Have you tryed shorting the starter motor directly to make sure it's not that?
EDIT* If it were on a car,i would touch some wire from the thick red wire on going to the starter motor selanoid,onto the smaller wire on the selanoid (usually black-red stripe) which by-passes the rest of the wiring.If the starter works like this,then the fault is not in the starter itself.
Being a bike,it would work similar to this,and would point to the relay..

HTH
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DRZ-400sm

[alun111]

Try the shorting the relay across the two big terminals with an (insulated handle) screwdriver. It will spark so be prepared. Try and put equal pressure on both terminals and if the starter motor spins it's either your relay or the actual button you press to start the bike. Also check the starter cut out relay on the back right hand side of the bike (near the indicator relay). Check that no connections are corroded. Also clean (with sandpaper or wirebrush) the terminals on your battery. Link the bike to a known good battery (either directly or with jump leads) if it then starts on the button it'll be your battery.
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Summer: '00 Honda CB600F Hornet
Winter: '93 Suzuki GSF 400 Bandit VP Variable Valve
Past Bikes: Lifan LF100-5 Lifan LF125-A Honda C70

[smeg918]

Hi, yep your right it's the starter solenoid, if you know somebody thats good with electrics get them to test it. if not there is a more basic test procedure . get an old screwdriver or something like that and very carefully cross the two main connections,(large red cable and large black cable) be carefull as there will be sparks. If your starter motor turns it's the solenoid thats duff, if not then your problems with the starter motor. I know you said the battery was fully charged. Even though it may still be enough to power the lights etc if a cell in the battery is poor it could still give you the problem. hope this helps

[Pete.]

It is indeed the starter relay.

The large wire coming from the battery should be clamped on the top with a nut. There will be another similar wire going from the relay to the starter motor opposite the first. Inside the relay is a moving plunger with heavy electrical contacts on the top. When you press the starter button it energises a coil inside the solenoid that makes a magnetic field and pulls that plunger up to the top and makes a contat between the two heavy wires sending battery power to the starter. This is what you are feeling when you hit the starter button - the plunger moving inside.

The proceedure I use to test that solenoid is very simple. Make sure the bike is not in gear firstly - be very sure about that. Now find a large open-ended spanner that will bridge across the two nuts on the solenoid that hold the heavy wires. Connect these two nuts together using the spanner jaws. If you get a large spark and the starter starts to turn, your solenoid is faulty as it is not making contact inside. If nothing happens when you short across the two nuts, you have a fault on the starter motor.
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a.k.a 'Geri'

132.9mph off and walked away. Gear is good, gear is good, gear is very very good

[Pete.]

Lol @ three people typing the same answer at the same time.

One thing I forgot to add: you can have these symptoms if your earth lead from the battery to the engine is loose or making a poor connection.
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a.k.a 'Geri'

132.9mph off and walked away. Gear is good, gear is good, gear is very very good

[smeg918]

you have entered the twilight zone

[alun111]

I was first

Just remember that even if the screwdriver/spanner test works it could still be your starter button that is at fault, or the battery.
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Summer: '00 Honda CB600F Hornet
Winter: '93 Suzuki GSF 400 Bandit VP Variable Valve
Past Bikes: Lifan LF100-5 Lifan LF125-A Honda C70

[Purplepill]

Very helpful guys, il be right on its case tomorrow
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''He had the confidence of a baby-goat dared to tickle a t-rex's nutsack''

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[alun111]

[iooi]

Side stand and clutch switch OK ?

Try to start with the clutch pulled in, works on mine.

If when you press the starter button the oil light comes on or the solinoid clicks then the switch is OK.
Could be the motor has stuck. Not uncommon.

Owners club
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Just because my bike was A DIVVY, does not mean i am......

[Purplepill]

Ok.....well when i went to start it today it actually turnd the starter moter? well tried too anyway then just slowly died sort of thing and on repeated presses of the start button it continued to make the loud click noise noise.....

Anyway i tried bridging the terminals idea, and it didnt do anything so im guessing its not that, iv looked at the earth and it seems like a good connection although it was too awarkward position to undo so im guessing abit there....

So im now thinking its just the battery is screwed, which wouldnt surprise me as im guessing its as old as the bike... when apparantly fully charged it doesnt start, but i know that doesn't rule it out,

It was at first an intermittant problem that slowly got worse (in the course of 2 weeks) i do very short jouneys 5 miles usually, 15 miles max, and it started not starting (tryed but died) so i assumed the battery was dead from short jouneys, so id take it for 20 miles on the A12, and this worked a couple of times and the electric start would work for a couple of days but then one time i tryed the electric start after about 20 miles of driving and it was just 'click' straight away but very rarely it will try and turn over for some reason...

Anyway so im guessing i need a new battery but il try a jump start first to make sure....
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''He had the confidence of a baby-goat dared to tickle a t-rex's nutsack''

[iooi]

What does the battery read when engine not running and when it is running.
Could be battery going or could be solinoid is duff.

A 5 mile trip should be more than enough to keep battery topped up. Try a trip with your lights off.
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Just because my bike was A DIVVY, does not mean i am......