SuzukiSavage.com - Lights come on but starter won't turn

Max_Morley Serious Thumper Offline LT650 Luxury Touring & sidecar rig Posts: 1490 Moses Lake. WA Gender:	Re: Lights come on but starter won't turn Reply #15 - 07/18/08 at 18:51:00 Loose or corroded connection(s) ?? Either battery, ground, solenoid connections or stater motor connections. Max
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T Mack 1 - FSO Serious Thumper Alliance Member Offline sold 2001 LS650 for a 1986 XLH1100 Posts: 2919 Emmaus,Pa Gender:	Re: Lights come on but starter won't turn Reply #16 - 07/18/08 at 19:45:46 When I'm trouble shooting bikes, I grab my trolling motor battery from the boat. It doesn't have the big amps like a car battery but it can go a long time. Hmmmmm ... I sound almost like ReelThing ....
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justin_o_guy2 Serious Thumper Offline What happened? Posts: 55279 East Texas, 1/2 dallas/la.	Re: Lights come on but starter won't turn Reply #17 - 07/19/08 at 00:34:31 Just turning over isnt good enough. If turning it over draws the voltage too low, the ignition wont fire right. I bet you need a battery. I'd hook a jumper up & get the starter some juice, or maybe, just haul that battery in for a good test in town.
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Charon Serious Thumper Offline Posts: 1811 Harvard, NE Gender:	Re: Lights come on but starter won't turn Reply #18 - 07/19/08 at 06:46:57 Depending on the year, the lights are supposed to die. That is supposed to reduce the load on the battery while the starter is running. Motorcycles are somewhat weight and space limited. Batteries are bulky and heavy. So, motorcycles tend to have batteries that are already marginal even when new.
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justin_o_guy2 Serious Thumper Offline What happened? Posts: 55279 East Texas, 1/2 dallas/la.	Re: Lights come on but starter won't turn Reply #19 - 07/19/08 at 08:57:42 I'd call that a right sharp observation. One of those" I knew that, just never thought it out loud"deals. Thats a great explanation. The Big Crank is a real good replacement.
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Yonuh Adisi FSO

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Re: Lights come on but starter won't turn
Reply #20 - 07/19/08 at 12:00:00

Yeah, I do believe my battery is fubar. I just tried it again and it ALMOST fired but not enough to catch. It can barely get the starter to crank past the compression stroke and I have had the charger on a slow trickle charge all night.

So, new battery is in order.

Not surprising with as many times as I killed it and had to re-charge in such a short time.

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Check out Flight of Destiny http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00H9130XC

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Bear_Rider

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Re: Lights come on but starter won't turn
Reply #21 - 07/19/08 at 12:18:07

Yonuh Adisi FSO wrote on 07/19/08 at 12:00:00:

Yeah, I do believe my battery is fubar. I just tried it again and it ALMOST fired but not enough to catch. It can barely get the starter to crank past the compression stroke and I have had the charger on a slow trickle charge all night.

So, new battery is in order.

Not surprising with as many times as I killed it and had to re-charge in such a short time.

I had problems with my "new to me" 2001. It started very easily when I first got it, then I killed the battery a couple of times getting used to the key location and that worthless "parking light" feature. The bike would still crank smartly but was very hard to start. Finally the battery did me a favor and just kicked the bucket.

I put in a new battery and the lady immediately returned to her former faultless behavior.

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Charon

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Re: Lights come on but starter won't turn
Reply #22 - 07/19/08 at 13:05:15

If the stories are true, you can thank California for the "worthless parking light feature". The story has it that California in its infinite wisdom decided motorcycles, like cars, should be able to be parked with a light turned on for the benefit of other road users. The requirement was that the light should be able to stay lit for a minimum of a half hour. The only way to meet that requirement was a battery and some sort of charging system. Once those were in place it was an easy matter for the makers to add electric start and electric or electronic ignition instead of magnetos. So, indirectly, that "worthless parking light feature" probably led to electronic ignition and electric starters for motorcycles.

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Eschew obfuscation.

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Bear_Rider

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Re: Lights come on but starter won't turn
Reply #23 - 07/19/08 at 19:42:20

Charon wrote on 07/19/08 at 13:05:15:

If the stories are true, you can thank California for the "worthless parking light feature". The story has it that California in its infinite wisdom decided motorcycles, like cars, should be able to be parked with a light turned on for the benefit of other road users. The requirement was that the light should be able to stay lit for a minimum of a half hour. The only way to meet that requirement was a battery and some sort of charging system. Once those were in place it was an easy matter for the makers to add electric start and electric or electronic ignition instead of magnetos. So, indirectly, that "worthless parking light feature" probably led to electronic ignition and electric starters for motorcycles.

Well, "California" and "Worthless" do tend to go together.

Of course, I'm predjudiced since I'm from Oregon. I think that I was twelve years old before I figured out that "darnedcalifornia" was supposed to be two words. Grin

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Yonuh Adisi FSO

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Re: Lights come on but starter won't turn
Reply #24 - 07/21/08 at 14:56:08

I think I have a wire grounding me out somewhere. It was cranking fine for a while there then suddenly I hit the switch and all power is gone, no lights or anything.

I just bought me an AGM battery. Not a Bigcrank, but one called a Supercrank by Exide.

Going to inspect my wire harness then put in the new batt and see what happens.

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Check out Flight of Destiny http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00H9130XC

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