Hey Everybody,

Couldn't get my bike started yestaerday, just a loud clacking noise coming from somewhere near the starter.

Currently taking some time off the road due to a few bad decisions early in the year, but once a month; I head down to the car park and kick my bike over, then run her around for ten minutes or so.

But yesterday, I went down to the car park and couldn't get her started - just a very loud clacking sound (Like a "kakakakakakakakak!" a bit like a toy machine gun).

It's a 2008 Street Bob with a Screamin Eagle stage 1 - not much else.
All lights turn on, alarm activates; and you can hear the fuel pump push fuel through the lines.

I'm hoping it's just the battery running a little low, and there's just not enough voltage to fully engage the starter. 

But I figure before I go faffing around with electrics - I'd ask if any of you have had something similar?

Cheers,

Simo

 

 

 

Simo,

 

sounds to me like you've hit the nail on the head, if the battery isnt charged sufficiently, there isnt enough power to fully engage the starter solenoid. If youre planning on keeping it off the road for a while, and have power in the shed, I suggest an Optimate trickle charger or similar..........

 

Carlos

Sweet as - cheers Carlos.

I'll pedal over to a Repco and let you know how it goes.

 Could try a jump start.

thye reckon starting the bike for 10 minutes here and there takes a little ore off the top of the battery every time until you get under critical voltage and eventually - no start.

Not getting everything up to hot soak temp , thats engine , gearbox etc means that the condenstion doesnt burn off and sits in the bottom or worse the top exposed areas of bearing etc and creates accelerated wear. In the US owners "winterise" their bikes and use a system called "fogging". so once you get the trickle charger do yourself a favour and give it a nice long run if you can, than park it and leave it or if it's gonna be a while off the road remove the battery altogether and follow the US storage experiences and winetrise and fog the bike and leave it at that then freshen it up before you bring it outta storage.

Thanks Spanners - definitely good advice.
I've probably only been kicking her over for 10/15 minutes at a time; so this one is probably my bad.

Thanks mate.

Mate had it just the other day in me Puslux. Thought it was a dead battery but all it was were dirty terminals and posts on the battery. Give it a go

Apparently it takes at least 15 minutes of engine run time (above idle. ie.general riding) to replace what was drained on start-up.

If you can afford it get an odyssey dry cell battery, Expensive but I have had one for 5 years now and starts the bike every time, even if the bike hasen't ran for 6 to 8 weeks.

Hey folks - forgot to check back.

All sweet, just needed a good charge. Got a new charger, the SCA microprocessor unit from Supercheap - $35, great unit if you need one.

License back in 2 weeks... can't farking wait.

 Trickle chargers are good.....but keep an eye on your fluid levels as they can cook your battery if your'e not careful!

Burto.