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Message started by islandwahine on 08/13/07 at 00:10:30

Title: Powerless!!
Post by islandwahine on 08/13/07 at 00:10:30

Well today started out great! Went for a great ride, sunny, perfect weather all around. On my way home I stopped for some grubs and wished I hadn't.
I could not get the bike started again. I had absolutely no power, no lights no horn nothing!
The battery was brandnew, purchased and charged the day before, and the connecters were nice and snug.
I was in the parking lot and a guy on a Goldwing stopped and offered to jumpstart it. We connected the jumper cables, but still nothing, not even a turn signal.
He suggested it might be a bad ground. Where is the ground? (on the negative clamp?) And where should it ground to?
Does anyone have any ideas what else could cause this?
I left the bike at the fire station (my nephew works there)
but I hate to leave it there for too long. Got to get it started again so I can take it home.

Title: Re: Powerless!!
Post by Max_Morley on 08/13/07 at 00:48:43

How did you try to jump start it? It is very difficult to access the + battery cable as I think you know from another post. I use a long phillips SD with a piece of clear tubing slid down the shank so I can get to the terminal w/o causing any sparks. (-) can go anywhere on the engine.

Other things that can cause a no crank are the switch on the RH handle bar turned to off. I like to use the key to shut the bike off, but the the MSF beginners course encourages you to use that switch so you are familiar with it. I have bumped mine too off on occasion and it usually take a little messing around to figure out why it wont go. I thnk other time wise guys have toggled it to off just to see what happens when I try to start it. Other problems have been in the clutch lever, kick stand and neutral switches which are wired to be safety feature. They won't crank the bike over in gear with it sitting on the kickstand, very embarassing as it falls over.

Not sure what year yours is but I think the new ones ('05 & newer maybe) delay the lights on until the engine is runnning to provide extra cranking power if needed. My 96 light comes on with the key on regardless.

There has been some talk of corrosion on the frame end of the ground lead from the battery. It needs to be shiny clean and tight to work properly. Just follw the lead from the battery - . Max

Title: Re: Powerless!!
Post by T-Mack1 on 08/13/07 at 06:03:33

Horn and Brake light should work with key on.

So, here's a question that has to be asked and I know it's a dumb question but always check the OOP's first. I assume that you had the key to the on position and not the Park "P" position. I did that the other day, shut the bike down using handle bar switch to talk to friend and then after talking, clicked the key one click to start up and nothing.

With that said, like the Goldwing guy said, check the ground. There should be a fat wire and a thin wire coming off the negative battery connector. Fat wire goes to the engine, thin wire goes to the wiring harness. I believe you need the thin wire to run the lights and maybe the CDI. Maybe changing the battery damaged the thin wire, then riding, the vibration finished it off, but.....I wonder if the bike would even run without the thin wire. (would have to dig out the service manual wiring harness diagram).

If both are good, then get a voltmeter and test the battery. Maybe it's got a problem, but the bike should have still "jumped".

Title: Re: Powerless!!
Post by slavy on 08/13/07 at 07:26:09

The 2 fuses are in in a rubber holder on the right side under the seat . You don't have to pull the seat to be able to unhook the holder from it's little bracket, but I'd suggest to take the rider's seat off.
99% sure You have burned fuse. It is supposed to be 20A. Replace the fuse and start the bike. Get home and start thinking why the fuse burned.

Title: Re: Powerless!!
Post by islandwahine on 08/13/07 at 09:58:16

T-Mack1 wrote:

Horn and Brake light should work with key on.
There should be a fat wire and a thin wire coming off the negative battery connector. Fat wire goes to the engine, thin wire goes to the wiring harness.

Nothing worked, not even the lights, and yes I did have it in the on position.
The fat wire you are talking about, I assume you mean the ne that goes to the sparkplug?
So the thin wire is the ground?
There are a lot of wires that seem to run down the bike behind the belt cover, but it's really hard to see where they go without taking that thing of. I think that's where the ground wire is running to as well.

Title: Re: Powerless!!
Post by islandwahine on 08/13/07 at 10:03:21

slavy wrote:

I had started thinking about that as well after getting a ride home and looking at the manual.
I dreamed about nothing but my bike last night and trying to fix it (aaahhhhh!!!)
I'll go put a fuse in and see if I can get it started. Our island is on a hurricane watch at the moment, so I need to get it into the garage.
Thank you for the suggestion.

Title: Re: Powerless!!
Post by T-Mack1 on 08/13/07 at 14:09:07

Sorry for the "dumb" question. I've helped many people with computers where their "better" halves had shut it down differently.

Fat wire goes to engine case...... from battery. Yes it is pretty hidden behind the front pully cover. Spark plug wire comes from the high voltage coil which is located under front part of Gas tank.

Since the battery was just replaced, I would concentrate on looking around that area for something wrong.

Absolutely no power is one of two things, dead battery or disconnected wire. Dead battery is easy to test but hard to find out why a new battery went dead. Disconnected wire is hard to find but easy to fix.

Title: Re: Powerless!!
Post by T-Mack1 on 08/13/07 at 14:16:18

Forgot to add, Good luck with Hurricane Flossie.

Title: Re: Powerless!!
Post by islandwahine on 08/13/07 at 22:12:31

FOUND IT!!!!!
You'll never believe what was going on.
I had pushed the bike from the fire station where I left it, to the bike shop across the street so I could work on it.
I checked the fuse and sure enough, it had popped! So I went in the store and bought 4 of them seeing something probably caused it to pop. I put the fuse in and voila! it started right up, a little chokey and choppy but it started. Put on my helmet and jacket sit on the bike and back it up..........it died!
AAAHHHHH!! Checked the fuse again, sure enough it had popped! The kid working at the bike shop took pity on me and helped me check all the lights and brakes and anything requiring electricity when not running yet. We kept trying and after popping 5 fuses I turned the steering wheel and the kid goes, "hold on!!!" Turns out the cable coming out of the back of the headlight that's also connected to the turn signal had gotten jammed between the frame and the steering wheel.
You should have seen the inside of that cable!! 3 utterly shredded wires!
No wonder I had a short!
He gave me some great tips, use lots of zipties! tie down anything that hanging too roomy!
So now my bike purrs again! better then it ever did. I guess that short really messed with everything,even the idling.
No change in that hurricane yet, bought tons of food! Last time I was unprepared!

Title: Re: Powerless!!
Post by FreeSpirit on 08/13/07 at 22:15:40

Islandwahine,

I am of no help,sorry, but.....good luck with everything and I hope you get your bike home soon!and find & fix the problem!

Title: Re: Powerless!!
Post by FreeSpirit on 08/13/07 at 22:22:22

Oh my gosh! I guess you posted as I was typing my post !

I'm so glad you got it fixed!Yeah!

I don't mind problems as long as I can find a solution,so I'm glad you did find out the problem and the solution :-)

and got your bike home!

Title: Re: Powerless!!
Post by mornhm on 08/14/07 at 05:19:58

Way to go!

Feels good to fix something and have be better than before.