bike won't start!!!

[Kerry]

While I'm at it....  If you add a power source to the simple testers described in my last post, you end up with a "continuity tester".  You use one of these just like an ohmmeter, only instead of a resistance reading you get a brightly-lit bulb or a dimly-lit bulb or a NOT-lit bulb.

I'm not sure about sources, but here are the ones that GB (Gardner Bender) makes.  They're the guys who made my multimeter, which I bought at ... WalMart I think, for about $13.



I found these on page 7 of their Full Line Catalog.

EDIT: Changed links from sisna.com to bbburma.net

[TonyW]

First, Kerry your posts are incredibly helpful!  Thanks!  

Second, I'm troubleshooting a starting problem myself (Starting Problem post), and here is some stuff that's helped me:
- Clymer page 45 has decent wont-start troubleshooting procedure.  If you know your bike runs once started you can skip some steps (check to see if bike runs by push starting or screwdriver method).  
- Clymers test procedure refers to info on pages 271-273, 280-281, 290 and 422.
- Pages 282-283 are helpful for dissasembling headlamp in order to test starter switch.  (Is there an easier place to test this switch?).
- Despite what Clymer says, you can test the neutral switch (at the diode).
- I think there is a typo on page 272.  Item 6 should read "once again connect an ohmmeter to between the no. 1 and no. 2 terminals..."
- Kerry's picture of the clutch switch is also very helpful for dunces like me who didnt even think to look for switch-wiring connectors at the clutch lever.

[Kerry]

Thanks for the extra info, Tony!

I never even looked for a Starter Troubleshooting section....

(Frost, the info Tony describes may be on different pages in your later Clymer manual.)

[Frost]

i did the screwdriver shorthing out the relay last night...it was hard to do since my left hand is in a cast...so hopefully i did it the right way...i doubt it though...so gotta wait till my friend is free so we can check it out...

anyways...i tried...but there was no clicking sound...so does this mean that the starter relay is broken? how much is it to replace?

also...how much does the brake master cylinder usually cost??

thanks kerry and others...really really appreciate it

[TonyW]

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I think if you short the starter relay terminals and nothing happens (assuming all wiring is unmodified, connections are good, etc) that either your battery is dead or your starter motor is dead.  The idea of creating this short is to provide power from the battery to the starter motor.

[Kerry]

Tony is right.  When you "shorted" those terminals with the screwdriver you should have completed a circuit consisting of the following:

* From the + terminal of the battery through the RED wire to the red-hooded terminal on the starter relay.
* From the red-hooded terminal, through the screwdriver, to the black-hooded terminal.
* From the black-hooded terminal, through the BLACK wire, to the starter motor.
* Through the windings inside the starter motor.
* Through the ground connection (formed by the bolts securing the starter motor) to the frame.
* Through the frame to the BLACK ground wire:

* Finally, through the ground wire to the "-" terminal of the battery.

In other words, the starter relay proper is not being tested here, because it has been bypassed.  I think it's time to work your way through the Starter Troubleshooting section in Chapter 2: TROUBLESHOOTING.  One step at a time....

Keep coming back!  Youre going to push me into "publishing" my info (about tracing through a circuit) yet!

EDIT: Changed link from sisna.com to bbburma.net