Intermittent Bike Won't Start Help Thread

Smudgemo

Smudgemo

Intermodal Man of Mystery
Joined
May 17, 2019
Messages
573
Location
Berkeley, CA
Bike
'08 GS / '78 CB550
I did some searching but I'm not sure how to ask the Great Gazoogle on this one. Yesterday I went to run some errands on my '96 1100, sunny day, 60*, started fine and made it to my first destination about 15-20 minutes from home. Started fine for the trip over to Home Depot about ten minutes away. I'm ready to leave and my wife calls and says get home quick, so I go to start the bike and it declines.

Something loose or intermittent seems to be at play. I can't recall the exact series of events, but it involved all the dash lights not working, then working but dying when trying the starter button (this included the clock.) I assumed the battery had died because the starter never kicked in, but at one point I turned the key and everything worked as it normally does and the bike fired right up. This was over the course of five minutes or so, so not much additional cooling down would have occurred.

The battery is under two years old if the PO was accurate, and the connections should be good as I just cleaned/silicon greased them a couple of weeks ago when I installed heated grips. I keep it on a charger in the garage, and it has never once failed to turn over. Seat of the pants testing with the tender shows the flashing green light that moves to solid green fairly quickly when I get home and plug it in, so no big drains that are obvious.

So I'm trying to figure out where to start. I've got designs on doing the ignition bypass mod at some point this winter, but I don't have the parts on hand at the moment, and obviously not going to fix anything if that's not the problem.

Thoughts?
 
I'd probably start with a double check of all connections, followed by having the battery load tested, since its history isn't known for sure.

another thing to try is connect the battery to a car battery with jumper cables, but don't start the car, just use the battery with the car off. If the starter system seems normal with the car battery attached, then that would make the battery suspicious if it performs differently without the jumper cables. Corrosion or issues in the starter system wiring would show up even with the jumper cables attached. However, if your problem is intermittent, then that adds a little complexity to the problem, so load testing the battery is the best way to remove that important variable early on.
 
I can try cables later today and run the battery down to OReilly tomorrow for a load test just to eliminate those variables, but it feels like something else is going on. Although, I guess I'd rather pop for a new battery than chase down an intermittent electrical problem that only happened once.
 
Also check your earth (grounds) for good clean connections. Fuel tap can also play up on these, try bypassing the petrol tap. See articles for further tips at the top of the page..
 
The lead going to the starter relay has let me down like that in the past.

Digs deep into what is left of a memory.....

It is behind the left hand side panel, forward end. (The lead, not my memory). A harness terminating in a 4 pole connector. Connected near a fuse.

It seems to be prone to corrosion. Melted plastic connector is possible. Mine failed after stopping at the Honda dealer, so I just left it there. They had to cut back about 6" of the harness and splice in some new cable.

Sorry - its clutching at straws, but its an easy check to find out whether or not it is a candidate.
 
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In most cases on the ST1100 this is caused by the main starter relay connector and fuse. These are a known issue when the connection gets weak and the connector/ fuse overheats and melts. This is located under the LH side cover in front of the battery. I would bet money that if you unplug the connector going into this relay you will find that it is melted. Search on this site for "Red Wire Bypass" and you will find a lot of information about how to fix this and prevent it from happening again.

Dan
 
Isn’t there a main ground connection, low on the left side. Seems we had to fix one on an 1100 at FLSToc a few years back.
 
Still looks good, I think. Do I need to unplug it and take a look inside?





So just to be clear, I didn't really do anything deliberate to get it running again yesterday. Today I tried the key a number of times and it all lights up and the starter engages like I'd expect it to. I have not gone our riding since getting home yesterday, though.
 
Ryan.
From my own inadequacies I would say it is wise to check the work you recently did first, if it was running OK before and you've done some work then that may be where the fault has arisen.
But that might be just me?
Upt'North.
 
Uncle Phil said:
Definitely check the battery connections as was mentioned.
The ground cable has been known to work loose over time and cause strange symptoms.
Click to expand...

I have had both the ground cable problem, but more frequently, the positive battery connection has loosened and caused an intermittent starting symptom.
 
I would disconnect the starter relay connector John mentioned. Do a quick visual, it looks ok in the picture, but ... Pull and check the 30 amp fuse while wiggling it. There is a spare fuse right beside the connector. Maybe soak the kill/start switch with WD 40. If that seems to work, you can clean & lube it later. Or soak it again every couple months. :) Can you disconnect the battery and connect another battery to see if that's the problem?
 
Yes, @John OoSTerhuis - that's exactly how I remember it !

Smudgemo said:


So just to be clear, I didn't really do anything deliberate to get it running again yesterday.
Click to expand...

And that is what it should look like. I assume that there is a lead hidden behind the red lead? There is a yellow one on John O's picture.

It would be a good idea to disconnect any earth leads from the battery before checking this further. I may be wrong, but I think one of those leads may be always live. Disconnecting the earth prevents the chance of any live wire shorting out to the frame.

But as Ron said - unplug it and check the male and female metal terminals for any sign of oxidation. Also - make sure that the terminal do not shift when you press on them. It might be that one terminal isn't locked into its housing properly, so when you clip the connector on, one terminal is just resting on the other, rather than mating properly.

Then inspect your earths - disconnect, clean up the ring terminals, clean up the metal work to which they are bolted and maybe fit new bolts and washers. Grease all around to keep the air and water off them.



Also - there is an odd black twin core cable, flapping around in front of the battery, unsecured and unprotected.
 
I had a similar intermittent no start problem on my '97. I replaced the right hand switch set that includes the starter switch and the problem has not returned. That part wasn't too expensive from the dealer, but I understand supply might now be an issue.
 
If that red connector is burned out, you can replace the connector with individual insulated female spade connectors. Take a photo of the wires in the connector so you can use that to orient the individual wires when hooking it up. If you don’t there is a possibility of shorting out the clutch diode. This will then cause the neutral light to illuminate no matter what gear you’re in. The diode is located on the left side of the air filter taped in the harness.
 
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