Manky Monkey Motors

Hi guys, I've got a bit of a hiccup with the xv535 went to go to work on thursday pushed the start button and just got a load of clicking. Had to take the car, bugger and b@ll@cks as it was such a nice day. I thought that the battery may have been flat but it wasn't. It never is as simple as that is it?
So today I went down and had a good check about. When I press the start button there's a lot of clicking, took off the cover and found that the clicking was coming from the starter relay/solonoid thingy (see I know all the techy terms, just need to use them in the right place :-[) The terminals and wiring is all clean so no problem there. Is the relay/solonoid thingy banjaxed or is it something else.
Has anyone else had this problem in the past? Most of my old bikes were kick start though a couple of the later ones had electric start as well.
Help/advice would be appreciated.
Regards
K

try jumping the starter motor before you do ANYTHING. It may be the starter motor windings gone down, if it is then it`s a straight swap for a goodun. I may still have the address for the people i got my 750 one from NEXT DAY DELIVERY!!!!!!ffs, I was very impressed and not greatly expensive for what it is. If it`s not the starter I have a 750 solenoid here that is exactly the same, I fitted a 535 one to my 750 (guess who didn`t check his starter mortor first!!!). Hope this helps  ;D ;D ;D ;D

Thanks for the advice cabman.
When I used the bike on wednesday It started fine, seemed to be loads of power at the starter. It turned the engine over really well.
Next questions: How do I jump the starter motor? Do I put the old solenoid back on first?
So do I just: Put a jump lead from the positive terminal of the battery to the positive terminal on the starter with the solenoid in place?
Thanks again
Regards
K

put a lead across both terminals of the starter motor wit ignition on an d out of gear

only one terminal on the starter put a jump lead from that to live terminal on a battery and connect the other battery terminal to a good earth on the engine. This`ll just see if the motor turns over under power. If it doesn`t it might be worthwhile taken the starter motor off and try it again to see if it runs with no load, it may have just got jammed on the starter gear, not likely but worth a try.

just had a thought. The solenoid can be checked by putting a multimeter across the to heavy connections (6mm studs) and pressing the starter button, when you hear the click the meter should read about 12 volts. If it doesn`t then the solenoid isn`t making contact inside so you`ll need a new one. I`ve taken others apart but never a Virago one so I`m  not sure if you can, could well be a sealed unit. If you can just clean up all the contacts inside, they`re bound to be burnt a bit, and then Robert is the uncle that used to take you to the circus.

That relay thingy will be the solenoid and yes it`s supposed to click, it`s like a mini electro magnet, when its excited (proper term) by the feed from the starter switch, it pulls 2 copper plates together, these when joined, conduct the large current needed to turn the starter over. The noise you hear are the copper plates banging together.
They are supposed to connect and stay connected until you release the switch, then they seperate again.
If you get a lot of clicking with the starter button depressed, it would indicate the copper plates connecting, seperating, connecting ect ect and that will be down to a fault on the excite circuit in the solenoid.


Correct, if possible, leave the starter in situ, it needs to be earthed, attach a lead to the + side of your battery and push the other end of the lead against the + terminal on the starter, be prepared for a spark or two and hopefuly the motor will turn. Don`t hold the lead against the terminal for long, it will get hot!
The solenoid does not need to be connected, you are bypassing it.

Of course i dont need to tell you not to touch the free end of the jump lead against the frame or body!

Thanks one and all,


Thanks for the reminder Tbone, I don't think I would have touched any where else but better to be sure, you  know what silliness you can do when you're frustrated.

Well my frustration has increased a bit coz the bike battery was nearly flat, something else again ??? ???, so I took a car battery to the bike, lots of sparks but that one was not properly charged either, so I'll have to wait untill tomorrow. The engine did turn over a bit but very sluggishly, so the car battery that was lying about was obviously a bit on the flat side....I hope that's what it is. I'll let you all know tomorrow weather permitting.
Regards
K

Well I charged the car battery over night and hooked it up to the bike, pressed the starter and away it went, no problem. So the bike battery was obviously as flat as a dab. The next question is this: how do I check the charge rate from the bike to the battery? I know nothing about electrics so could do with an explaination.... in very simple terms please.
I don't use the bike every day so it could be something to do with that but i would think that on a ten mile run in each direction it should put some back in the battery. I could be wrong though.
Thanks
Regards
K

A battery will sulfate if not used for a long time, a battery used infrequently will also deteriorate but at a slower pace.
Because the charging of the battery is of the lowest importance to the alternator, a failing battery will need more than a 10 mile trip.
I don`t know what battery charger you used to charge that car battery but i`m willing to bet it was only charging at around 4amps per hour after the initial boost, thats 1 amp every 15 mins, so imagine how much charge is put in on a ten minute run.
Anyhow, to check your charging rate you`ll need a voltmeter.
Start by fully charging the bike battery, check it with the votmeter, you should get a reading of between 13.5 and 14.4 volts.......bet you was expecting 12  ;D
Have a cuppa then check it again, anything below 12 means a duff battery!
Re fit the battery &/or cables,makeing sure the connections are clean and tight, start the bike, check the battery voltage, then rev the bike, with the engine revving, check the battery voltage, it should be higher than at tick over.

If the battery's charging ok and just losing power through lack ose you can buy a solar panel charger very cheaply this can be left on over a very long period as it charges vert slowly and costs nothing to run so long as it's got a source of light a very handy thing to have 

I have a solar trickle charger I bought from Maplins for about a tenner. I found my Viagra would run the battery down if left for a couple of weeks and then the battery would be sulphated beyond use. Lasted a bit longer if I disconnected the power lead everytime I parked it up. Ended up buying a gel battery and the solar panel and don`t have any problems anymore. ;D ;D ;D ;D

Thanks  guys, Tbone...yes I would have expected 12 volts because it's a 12 volt battery, how wrong can I get :-[ :-[ I've got the bike battery on charge and will get hold of a voltmeter and check the input to the battery hopefully tomorrow.
Solar trickle chargers never knew that they existed, should have realised it though because years ago when I used to sail a fair bit the boat had a small solar panel on top of the mast to trickle charge a battery. It's not a million miles from that to trickle charging a 12 volt battery is it :-[ :-[
Thanks again guys the help is appreciated.
Regards
K

solar trickle chargers on evil bay somewhere ,,pretty cheap  had a couple for years  used to prop one up in the caravan window to maintain the leisure batt it worked well.

even stuck the wire,s into an old transistor radio and it just about powered it without any batts in

I had the same thing with my Trike & it turned out to be one of my battery terminals was a bit dodgey 90% of the time it would start first time other 10% it just clicked...hope its sorted...Voodoo...

Latest news. The battery appears to be knackered, it won't take a charge......I know it's not the charger at fault as I charged a car bettery with no problem. Have to get a new battery and just to be on the safe side I'll check the charging rate too,
thanks for all the help and advice.
Regards
K

Thanks one and all. It was a knackered battery, it wouldn't charge above 10 volts. I bought a new one and all is well. While i was at it I took the exhaust system off and welded a coulpe of little holes so ....result.
Regards
K