Today I thought I'd be far enough to finally start my bike up for the first time in 3-4 months!  I attached the battery, hooked it up to a tender and hit the button but only hear a buzzing noise.  I don't think its the starter, sounds more like its coming from the fuse box area.

Any thoughts?

Sounds like the starter relay, make sure your battery is fully charged and in top condition or you may even weld the relay contacts together.

RicK G wrote:Sounds like the starter relay, make sure your battery is fully charged and in top condition or you may even weld the relay contacts together.

Sound advice and a very likely cause. Don't keep trying to turn it over. The fuses are on the side of the relay box and starter relay is inside the box. But also recheck the power supply connection and your earths.

measure the battery (volts scale on multimeter )  without the tender on ....and  the parking lamps at least turned on   (would be better with the main lights ) to see what type of condition the battery is in voltage wise .

Got it all back together and everything works but the damn thing wont turn over.  Pushing it wont work and the starter motor wont turn.  Battery measures 12.2 volts.

Is there something major I'm missing??

I may be wrong but I think the battery is low. But hope I am not wrong as its an easy fix.

Even when I hook the battery up to the tender the starter motor wont turn

Have to ask basic questions.

Have you got a neutral indicator on the dash when you try to start it?  When you bump start, I take it you are pulling in the clutch.  Did you remember to hook up the clutch switch again, if you disconnected it during your repair session?  Are all fuses still OK?  If you worked around the starter relay, have you remembered to hook up the white AMP connector to the relay's coil contacts?

The neutral indicator is on when the bike is in neutral, when its in gear and i pull in the clutch the neutral light comes on as well.

When I try and bump start (no hills around me) the bike is in gear and the clutch is pulled in, then i release the clutch to try and turn the engine with the rear wheel.

One fuse is out but its for the horn.

I don't remember removing a white connector for the coils but maybe I didn't notice.  Can you tell me approximately where its located?

You still have a click from the relay? just wondering now is it the load shed relay or starter relay. But my thought is check battery and earths. No side stand cut out?

12.2 volts is about 50% charge. 12.7 or 12.8 volts for fully charged. If there is a collapsed or defective cell it won't work even with a booster connected. If you are getting a click and te battery is down. . .then try aother battery.

Finnigan,  See the picture below:


The AMP connector I'm talking about is that white block in the centre of the picture, with the Brown and Black/Yellow wires.

If your Neutral light comes on with the clutch action, Sounds like you've also added an aftermarket instrument cluster. I take it you've added the 3-relay neutral detect circuit without using a diode, right?   

So, with the ignition on and the neutral light on, do you measure 12V on that Black/yellow wire shown in the photo when you press the start button? If you do, that means your neutral detect circuit is functioning.  Do you measure 12V on Pin 30 of the starter relay (that lower bolt you can see in the picture)?  If you do, that means power is available to turn the starter motor once the relay engages.

My line of investigation is to see whether you have the right conditions present to actually turn the starter motor.  One test is to jump from the battery to the positive terminal on the starter to prove the starter can turn (that eliminates that component from suspicion).

As Robmack says run that check on the starter. You need to eliminate the starter and battery as being the problem.

If you find that all the tests above pass, there might be another explanation.  The start relay grounds through the ICU and HES.  If these have problems due to poor connections or failed hall sensors, then the starter won't turn over.  It's related to on-off-on-off symptoms described in this article.

The amp connector is on and I connected the battery, with the ignition off I'm reading 12v at the lower relay bolt...?

Take your battery to an auto shop and get them to load test it. 12.2 volts and wont turn over is a 90% chance it's the battery.

92KK K100LT 193214 wrote:12.2 volts is about 50% charge. 12.7 or 12.8 volts for fully charged. If there is a collapsed or defective cell it won't work even with a booster connected. If you are getting a click and the battery is down. . .then try aother battery.

RickG reckons battery too. 12 volts wont do the job.

Does the voltage drop to 8V or lower while doing starting attempts, you need a new one.
Is the Connections clean and tight....battery (both +/-), starter relay and gearbox?

The guy at autozone tested it and said the battery read a little low but the cold cranking amps were good...I'm taking it somewhere else just in case

Quick thought, I took out my ABS permanently. Could that be it??

How good is cold cranking? Starter is 700 Amps then add ancillary items, injection, fuel pumps etc. Could be drawing 75 amps to start the bike. Battery reading a little low is a clue.

Just confirmed battery is good at 100 cold cranking amps

Charge the battery to full then try connecting the pos of the battery direct to the starter terminal with a good jumper cable. If the engine fails to turn then try it with the neg of the battery to the engine case with the jumper lead and start it using the key and start button. If that fails then the starter is the problem.
If either works then it is the relay or the connecting bits like wires or terminals.

RicK G wrote:Charge the battery to full then try connecting the pos of the battery direct to the starter terminal with a good jumper cable. If the engine fails to turn then try it with the neg of the battery to the engine case with the jumper lead and start it using the key and start button. If that fails then the starter is the problem.
If either works then it is the relay or the connecting bits like wires or terminals.

Charged the battery as full as it would go, looks like 12.7 was its peak.  Put it in the bike, with a tender across it and a voltmeter.  Hit the start button and it went from 12+ to 10+ to 6+ and then back up again when I let go of the start button.

I'm getting another battery, just wondering if I should order one or get a wet/lead acid battery again.

Thanks for everyone's help, I felt like giving up but you guys kept me going

blooming hell

its ...erm ...erm ...well and truly dusted

nothing wrong with a wet cell at all ...got mine for $80   three and a bit years ago ...fairly good value I guess

Wet cell will work fine.

At least battery is a simple fix! Get sorted and get riding! Let us know how it works out.

Great guys thanks a ton for your help and patience!

Get it running now and post some photos of the K at Carmel and Monterray!! Make sure there's a beer in the photo and we can all pretend we are there. You will have to drink the beer for us.!!

92KK K100LT 193214 wrote:Get it running now and post some photos of the K at Carmel and Monterray!! Make sure there's a beer in the photo and we can all pretend we are there. You will have to drink the beer for us.!!

I can handle that!

The new battery worked like a charm!  I can't understand how 2 automotive shops tested the battery and decided it was OK...but whatever.

Fix one thing and find others to fix: rev counter is stationary, speedo wont register, battery light comes on after the bike goes into gear (even though the on board voltage reads 13.7) and apparently I never connected my brake lights ha!

Finally finishing up the rearsets today so she'll shift smoothly

I am a happy happy man

Finnigan wrote:The new battery worked like a charm!  I can't understand how 2 automotive shops tested the battery and decided it was OK...but whatever.

Fix one thing and find others to fix: rev counter is stationary, speedo wont register, battery light comes on after the bike goes into gear (even though the on board voltage reads 13.7) and apparently I never connected my brake lights ha!

Finally finishing up the rearsets today so she'll shift smoothly

I am a happy happy man

I have been there with the battery thing too. The K is more intelligent. Anyway in a way glad it was the battery because its easier to sort!! You might soon be getting that beer.

Brake light is fixed (bad switch) and the rearsets are finished despite the ugly linkage

I tried tackling the tachometer problem: the connection to the tach is connected and then i took the coil cover off and found this loose wire.  What is the brown wire supposed to be connected to???

Thanks guys

That photo looks very upside down.

Finnigan wrote: What is the brown wire supposed to be connected to???

Ground spade connector on the coil. That can explain a lot.

robmack wrote:

Finnigan wrote: What is the brown wire supposed to be connected to???

Ground spade connector on the coil.  That can explain a lot.

92KK K100LT 193214   That photo looks very upside down.

I will agree with both of these statements :-))

Be made,

Should look the right way up for you....

92KK K100LT 193214 wrote:Be made,

Should look the right way up for you....

Only if I stand on me head . . .;-)

Sorry for the upside down photo everyone!  I found that my iphone and mac show the picture right side up but when its uploaded to the forum its not...go figure

Finnigan wrote:Sorry for the upside down photo everyone!  I found that my iphone and mac show the picture right side up but when its uploaded to the forum its not...go figure

Heh . . don't apologize mate. we all do this sort of thing here from time to time. simple fix is stand upside down on your head when taking photos ;-))

Hey Everyone!

The to-do list is getting smaller and smaller and soon I'll switch from mechanical to aesthetics

Got the speedo and tacho to work, the rear brakes are almost useless but perfectly functional!

I had a quick question about coolant, I drained it to replace the side cover and put some back in the fill reservoir (approx how much came out) then ran it briefly and made sure the main reservoir reads good level between min and max.

Almost immediately after startup the fan comes on (i've never heard it come on since I've owned it) but the reservoir level still looks good.  Do I need to add more to the fill cap under the fuel tank??

Thanks guys

When you say "I drained it to replace the side cover", does "it" mean you drained the overflow tank only?  Or does "it" mean you drained the entire cooling system?  I'm confused by the pronoun.  I would check the level of the rad and top it up anyways (especially if you drained the entire system).

Also, when you say "the fan comes on almost immediately", are we to assume that the bike is fully warmed up?  Or is the fan coming on with the bike stone cold? If the fan came on with a cold engine, that would indicate an electrical fault and I'd be looking at the temperature control relay and the connection to the temp sensor in the coolant stub just below the radiator.

I disconnected the lowest hose and collected the coolant until it stopped coming out.  Then replaced everything and filled it from the cap under the tank.

The fan comes on after a few minutes of idle in the garage.

Sounds like you might have a trapped air bubble.  Try topping the rad while burping the lower hose with the bike idling.

robmack wrote:Sounds like you might have a trapped air bubble.  Try topping the rad while burping the lower hose with the bike idling.

That worked like a charm!  It was a trapped air bubble after all, I put in almost 2 liters more before it actually topped off.  No wonder the thermostat was coming on and firing up the fan.

Thanks!

Took it out for a quick ride tonight, switching back to the build thread for pics

Bet that was some satisfaction! Now its time to enjoy the K.