e-current flow and temp

Ugarte

Turbocharged
Joined
Mar 5, 2006
Messages
671
Location
Northern California
Ride
2005 Rocket III
The infamous no-start happened again to me today. That is, press the starter button and nothing, not even a relay click. Up until a couple of weeks ago I have always gotten it to start by cycling the clutch or kickstand. Recently though, that has not worked. Two weeks ago I was just about ready to call for a tow, decided to try one more time and it started. Today, I actually made the call for a tow and then decided to try one more time and it started. This has never happened to me in my garage, it only happens after riding the bike for a while. Heat is obviously playing a factor.

So what is the "final" solution so to speak. The problem could be in the clutch/kickstand safety switches, or the starter button or all three. I am going to clean and grease all three and hope that solves the problem. However, it would still be good to know if there is a way to get electricity to the starter that bypasses all three. It might not be a bad idea to rig up an alternate starter button.

For those of you that end up having this problem, try what you can to get it started, but hold off calling for a tow until after the bike cools down and you have tried once more.
 
I've had a similar problem on my '08. Each time its resolved itself in a few minutes but always seems to happen when I forget to lift the kickstand before hitting the starter. I've only done that probably 7 or 8 times but at least half of those times the starter did not engage on the first try. Its taken several cycles of the kickstand each time before the starter would catch.
 
Well this turned out to be blatantly obvious, just pull back the rubber boot and bridge the clutch safety switch wires to bypass. Solder it in place if you want it permanent. Duh. :rolleyes:

The kickstand safety switch does not engage in neutral so just put the bike in neutral to bypass.

So if you have ignition but the starter button is giving nothing, and cycling the clutch does not work, put the bike in neutral and bridge the clutch safety switch, if it does not start, check starter relay fuse, if it still doesn't start, replace the starter relay (keep one on hand), if it still doesn't start it likely is somewhere in the starter button.
 
Soldered the clutch safety switch wires together to bypass it. Went out on a short ride, came back to the garage, shut it down then tried to start and no start. Kept trying to start it a nothing but since it was so quiet in the garage I did hear a very faint click. So I pulled out the relay and put it back and the bike started right up. Went out for another ride, came back to the garage, shut it down then tried to start but no go.

I installed this relay only 1000 miles ago and now it is shot. Apparently it would heat up to a certain point and then malfunction. Pulling it out and reinstalling I guess reset it. But it would still malfunction again after heating up a bit. I noticed that it was leaning against the bike frame and probably drawing some heat off of that. I bought a new relay and put some insulating foam around it and now the bike starts up just fine every time. Hopefully this relay will last.
 
My bike is at the dealership tying to be fixed under warranty. They called me and told me the bike is fixed. When I got there and was going to leave it would not start. Your dilemma sounds like mine before I took it in. It has cut off while going down the road. I would wait about 10 minutes or so and it would crank!
 
If it cuts off going down the road its not the starter relay, probably the ignition switch. They get erratic before going out completely.
 
I'm thinking the issue I've experienced has to do with the sidestand switch. The only time it has happened has been when I've forgotten to retract the sidestand. I then have to repeatedly deploy and retract it until finally the starter will engage.

I should probably just order a new one before it fails completely.
 
I'm thinking the issue I've experienced has to do with the sidestand switch. The only time it has happened has been when I've forgotten to retract the sidestand. I then have to repeatedly deploy and retract it until finally the starter will engage.

I should probably just order a new one before it fails completely.

The sidestand safety switch does not engage when the bike is in neutral. So if you think its the sidestand, put the bike in neutral.
 
If it cuts off going down the road its not the starter relay, probably the ignition switch. They get erratic before going out completely.

Funny thing is I took the bike in for the "recall relay" in which supposedly prevents the ignition switch damage awhile back. I told them when I took the bike to them it was the switch.
 
The sidestand safety switch does not engage when the bike is in neutral. So if you think its the sidestand, put the bike in neutral.

Yes, I fully understand how the sidestand switch works. Perhaps I didn't take the time to explain what's happening.

On the rare occasion that I have caused the sidestand switch to intervene, last time I recall doing it was by dropping the bike into gear before retracting the stand, the switch seems to stick. I have to deploy/retract the stand several times before the starter will engage. Perhaps its just mucked up and a good cleaning will resolve the issue, but I can't imagine it will cost that much to replace. I'd hate to have screw around trying to bypass it out in the middle of nowhere.
 
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