Help! Bike cranks once but won't start.

TRath

Supercharged
Joined
Feb 19, 2009
Messages
350
Location
Calgary, Alberta Canada
Ride
'09 RIII Classic Custom, '82 GL500 Café, '82 CBX
Not sure what's going on with the Roc. Ran fine a few weeks ago when I last rode it, but this past Saturday it wouldn't start.

Turn key, wait for the sweep and the prime, hit the starter, it cranks over once on the starter and then goes back to the sweep and prime. 4 attempts at this and the 2 month old battery had had enough.

I figured it might be the immobilizer on the alarm so I have done a hard manual reset and recoded the rfid fob and tested all of the other functions but still just one crank and back to square one.

Boosted to full battery, tried running through gears and back to neutral, kickstand down and up, even checked the kill switch. I'm fresh out of ideas.

Anyone out there encountered this before that can help a poor fool get his toy back?
 
Have you checked your relays? maybe the starter relay is faulty behind the right hand side cover make sure everything is clean and tight at the startermoter also. if no joy there turn your bars from lock to lock and make sure you don't have a loose connection . I had the same symptoms one because one of the plugs on my harness wasn't engaging properly, they all looked fine but once you wiggled them the ignition would cut out and the gauges would sweep again . Lift your tank turn ignition on and wiggle all of your plugs mate.

Hope you get it sorted brother :cool:
 
Not sure what's going on with the Roc. Ran fine a few weeks ago when I last rode it, but this past Saturday it wouldn't start.

Turn key, wait for the sweep and the prime, hit the starter, it cranks over once on the starter and then goes back to the sweep and prime. 4 attempts at this and the 2 month old battery had had enough.

I figured it might be the immobilizer on the alarm so I have done a hard manual reset and recoded the rfid fob and tested all of the other functions but still just one crank and back to square one.

Boosted to full battery, tried running through gears and back to neutral, kickstand down and up, even checked the kill switch. I'm fresh out of ideas.

Anyone out there encountered this before that can help a poor fool get his toy back?

That sounds exactly the same when I had a flat battery, I know you have a new battery that is charged.... But I would connect jumper/booster cables from a car ... just to be sure... if the bike starts - take he battery back to the shop..
 
Also wrap her in a blanket and sit quietly beside her and apologise for not riding her for a few weeks - she might just be mad at you ;)
 
Boosted from the car to no avail, just went and checked connections and they all look good.

Word from a local Triumph facebook group is saying it might be the pickup ignition sensor. I'm praying it's not something that needs a visit to the shop, this early in the season and just coming out a few weeks of rain and cold it will take forever to get her in.
 
process of elimination...

Boosted from the car to no avail, just went and checked connections and they all look good.

Word from a local Triumph facebook group is saying it might be the pickup ignition sensor. I'm praying it's not something that needs a visit to the shop, this early in the season and just coming out a few weeks of rain and cold it will take forever to get her in.

You may want to try jumping B+ to the starter solenoid directly (fairly easy to get at ahead of rear tire). If you put the ignition switch in "ON" and use a nylon tie strap to pull the clutch in and hold it, you can crank the engine eliminating all other starter interlock and relay circuits. I suspect you have an intermittent or high resistance somewhere in the starter relay circuit itself. The test above will help verify this and then you need to start investigating portions of the starter relay circuit.
I should have asked this first tho......does your headlight remain on and bright even after the engine does its one crank thing?
 
You may want to try jumping B+ to the starter solenoid directly (fairly easy to get at ahead of rear tire). If you put the ignition switch in "ON" and use a nylon tie strap to pull the clutch in and hold it, you can crank the engine eliminating all other starter interlock and relay circuits. I suspect you have an intermittent or high resistance somewhere in the starter relay circuit itself. The test above will help verify this and then you need to start investigating portions of the starter relay circuit.
I should have asked this first tho......does your headlight remain on and bright even after the engine does its one crank thing?

How would you describe that to an idiot?
I only ask because I have one that does work on the bike whenever I can't afford to go to the shop and have to work on her myself...
I just got back to work after a few months unemployed and am in the process ending my marriage so I'd really like to try everything before I have to go spending money I don't have.
 
Follow your power from the battery to the starter and look for bad connections. Do this with the ground as well to the bike frame. Look for the voltage rectifier and check connections. The sweep will happen when the voltage drops below a certain level, this suggests a large amp drain or a faulty battery. I wouldn't rule out ignition switch failure either. You could also check the starter solenoid for problems.
 
You checked the connector on the wire from battery to starter. In behind the side cover. Connector can become un-plugged.
 
I agree with Gothlander. The times I have gotten multiple sweeps on the instruments was when there was either a dirty/bad connection, the ignition switch was on its way out, or the main fuse was bad but still functioning. Usually the trip meter would go back to zero indicating a complete momentary power loss.
 
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