I've been riding my ST to work on nearly a daily basis. Rode it on Wednesday and parked it. It literally runs like a top. Went to ride it on Saturday and I turned the key and absolutely nothing happens. Battery shows about 13.5 volts. All fuses are good. I'm assuming it's something simple but I haven't a clue on where to start. It's a 91 ST1100
Turn the key and absolutely nothing happens
- Thread starter xteacher
- Start date
wild guess............thinkin' voltage regulator plug-in(right next to batt. location).
I'll take a peek. I don't get any lights, sounds, nuthin!
John OoSTerhuis
Life Is Good!
Including the main fuse? [30 amp main fuse located in the starter-relay/main-fuse unit that Brant mentioned]
John
battery should never show 13.5 volts without the alternator running, that's almost a full volt higher than what 6 lead-acid cells create for voltage. I've also seen it happen where I rode the bike home from work, came out 45 minutes later to go somewhere and the battery was stone dead. Battery would be my first suspect, get a set of jumper cables and a non-running car and hook it up.
JPrieST
Don't squat with your spurs on
I'm with dwalby. Check the fuses first as they are cheaper, but I lean towards the battery as well. I have ridden all day with many stops. No problem. Stop for dinner and when I came out I had the exact same symptom. When I took the caps off the cells in the battery they were dry. Odd how it did great right up until it didn't.
Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk
Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk
Thanks guys. Keep them coming
By nothing happened, you mean no lights, no dashboard panel, nothing? Or simply the motor does not turn over? If latter, is the kill switch enabled? If the former, it could be the battery, main fuse, or ignition switch (latter is rare but on a bike 25 years old, any part of the electrical system could be faulty).
I'll vote for the kill switch as well.
The kill switch would be the first place I start not because it might be the cause but because it's easy it's close and I'd be hoping by some magic that it fixes the real problem whatever it is. I'd suspect the ignition switch or it's connections before the kill switch.xteacher said:
moddy
the mod
All of the posts previous to this one are good points, 12.5 to 12.8 resting voltage, the kill switch. Does it make any sound when you hit the starter? Does it turn over? If you find that 30A fuse blown before you read this is my bet.
....another good place to start......kill switch completes the 12v circuit, even with bike running. Cruddy contacts WILL incomplete the 12v circuit.
When I had my nothing happen moment it was because of a blown fuse from an accidental short. Check the 30amp fuse in the starter relay - ALL power runs through that if I recall correctly.
- Joined
- Oct 17, 2015
- Messages
- 1,960
- Location
- near Harrow, Ontario, Canada
- Bike
- '83 BMW R100RS
- STOC #
- 8870
The fact that your bike is utterly dead - no instrument lights or anything suggests to me that the issue may be with the battery cables themselves. Forgive me if this info seems obvious but the negative ( - ) cable (usually has black coloured connectors) should bolt to the bike frame so where fairly close to the battery itself and the positive ( + ) - usually a red connector - should go into some circuitry.
+1- ST1100s are bad about this. Happened to me. Clean and tighten the battery connections at both ends. Mine was loose at the frame ground. Deader than a hammer, cleaned and tightened, good as new.
Thanks guys. Great suggestions. I haven't had much chance to look at it yet. But at least I have options now!
Not the brightest hammer in the bag; deader than a hammer. What do we have against this poor tool?
Very true. So the voltmeter is reading about a volt high. I would get a second voltmeter and read the battery voltage again.
So what do you mean that " nothing happens " ??? You need to define the problem better before we can give you some intelligent troubleshooting suggestions.
Do the instrument lights come on ? Does the horn work ? Headlight ?? Does the solenoid "click" when the starter button is pressed. Etc, etc, ......
And try this : Turn the ignition switch on , press the starter switch ( and keep it pressed ) and turn the handle bars back & forth. Did the starter engage ??
even my free Harbor Freight multimeter measures DC voltage to within a couple hundredths of a volt vs. my Fluke meters. DC voltage is a slam dunk in the instrumentation world, this would be a waste of time and money unless you happened to already have a second multimeter available at no cost. FWIW, I have 4 multimeters, in DC volts they all read either identical, or so close that its meaningless.
edit: if in addition to battery trouble, you have animals burrowing under your lawn, this Fluke meter may be able to detect even the smallest of weasels.
http://orangecounty.craigslist.org/tls/5816569639.html
Last edited: