Ok, I need some help!

My problem: No lights, no power, will not start.

I am trying to get my bike started after being stored all winter. I have a brand new battery, filled and charged. It is giving me a good reading with my multimeter at the terminals; around 11.7+ volts.

I checked the fuse; it was not broken. I replaced it anyway with the spare, still didn't work. I went and bought some more 20 amp fuses (just because I like to buy things heh). None of them worked.

I tried pop starting it but either I am being a bonehead (there is a strong possibility) or it cannot be done. I've pop started it several other times so I do know how to do it. It just doesn't seem to want to this time.

Here is where it gets tricky...

After tinkering for a few hours, my patience wore thin so I called my brother to see if he knew anything. He did the same things as me. All of the basic checks, the kill switch, the checked the battery connections and voltage, fuses, etc. HOWEVER, by putting the probes on the battery terminals and putting the key in the "ON" position, somehow we were finally able to get LIGHTS!! We we like w00t, w00t! However, as soon as we try to start the bike something sounds like it is clicking or popping or some weird noise, and it all goes out. It doesn't even try to turn over, just DEAD again. We immediately assumed it was the fuse. So we tried some new ones, still the same problem.

We determined that the "clicking poppy noise" is coming from THIS:



I put my finger on it and could "feel" it doing something when we tried to start the bike. Is this normal..?

My brother suspects this is the problem. It is on the right side of the bike, by the fuse, but closer to the tail. My brother said it "is like a fuse, but not a fuse". Deep thoughts, I know. But I am not sure what it is called. It is on the right hand side of the bike by the fuse box sorta, behind the plastics, toward the tail of the bike. Right next to the flasher unit.

So I called the motorcycle parts place and asked them if they had any in stock. The counter person didn't know what it was called either, he said "sort of like a circuit breaker". Well, ok yeah..but what is this part? What does it do? Could this be causing my problem? How can I test it?

Anyone want to give me some advice, or insight into this? Thanks. 

sidestand relay?

weaselnoze is correct.  Side stand relay.

Here's my guess:

Your battery voltage is too low. It should be around 12.6 for a fully charged battery.

The clicking noise is the relay trying to operate but can't because of low voltage.

my battery is dead (almost) and i still bump start it everytime i ride. so try again and u'll get it.  i usually get a good run and pop it into second NOT first.  there is too much resistance in first.

Hmm. I figured it being a 12V battery, and 11.7 was "close enough". Guess not  I'll try giving it another charge. I'll post how I make out. Being a new battery, fresh off the charger, and being close to 12 volts, I never would have even suspected the battery as the culprit. Especially since it will light the lights up.

Yep, typical for low battery: Strange sound from relay and electrics dying immediately as soon as current is drawn. And as John said, your voltage is way too low.

Yes... your battery is dead.  When it reads a voltage of 11.6 volts, it is completely drained.  Your battery is about 10% capacity... just enough to make a little bit of light and make the relay click.  Charge it up, make sure it reads 12.6 volts and you should be fine.

Hm..either I have a defective battery that will not hold a charge, or a defective brother who can't charge a battery  I don't have a battery charger, so I have him take it up to his house - he does his thing - and brings it back.

I still have my old GS battery (this one is brand new) so I am going to have him charge that one up too. Just in case the brand new one has issues keeping a charge (he charged it up and brought it down, I waited a day, and then tried to install it..I wouldn't imagine it would lose that much of a charge in 2 days time).

Thanks guys.

Might have a shorted out cell. That makes it drop about 2 V.

Alright, I put the sidestand relay back in 

I hooked up my factory battery after charging it back up. It worked beautiful.

However, my brand new battery still isn't working. It is odd though; there seems to be something wrong with the grounding of it?  For example, if I take the negative probe on the multimeter and just TOUCH it on the negative terminal of the new battery, it will start up. Once I remove it, the bike will die out. I put the negative probe back on which seems to ground it, and then it is great again. However, I can't ride around with a multimeter probe on there. 

Anyone got any ideas what might be wrong with it? Why does it work when I ground it with the probe, but not any other time? Why does me old battery work just fine but the new one is all weird? 

My guess is the battery post is broken inside the battery.  The pressure of placing the probe on the post is enough to "repair" the internal connection.

Try pushing or wiggling the negative battery post by hand and see what happens.