1 Failure to start, and.... Wed Jun 03, 2015 11:47 pm
brickrider
Life time member
My 1985 K100RS has me worried. Last weekend she displayed a reluctance to start (in the past she just sprang to life at the touch of the magic button). Today she flat refused. I avoided a long walk home though, as I managed to bump start the heavy beast.
I bought her with 22K miles on the clock; now there are 40K. I've decided to pull the starter tomorrow and give it a good cleaning, as I've never done that. But will that resolve the issue? I've read a bit about carbon build-up interfering with the earth for the electrical system. However, I thought in such cases the lights would also be dark. When the bike refused to start today the lights in the instruments and the headlight were on. But pushing the start button resulted in absolutely nothing -- no click, no burp, no whirr of the fuel pump. The battery is quite new. The voltmeter assures me it's healthy, and that proved true when I returned to the garage and the bike started immediately, as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened.
Tomorrow I plan to troubleshoot the problem. While I'm in there cleaning the starter what else should I do? Would this possibly be a relay issue? If the starter relay is operational, should I detect an audible sound when the button is pushed to start the engine?
Thanks in advance for your thoughts.
I bought her with 22K miles on the clock; now there are 40K. I've decided to pull the starter tomorrow and give it a good cleaning, as I've never done that. But will that resolve the issue? I've read a bit about carbon build-up interfering with the earth for the electrical system. However, I thought in such cases the lights would also be dark. When the bike refused to start today the lights in the instruments and the headlight were on. But pushing the start button resulted in absolutely nothing -- no click, no burp, no whirr of the fuel pump. The battery is quite new. The voltmeter assures me it's healthy, and that proved true when I returned to the garage and the bike started immediately, as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened.
Tomorrow I plan to troubleshoot the problem. While I'm in there cleaning the starter what else should I do? Would this possibly be a relay issue? If the starter relay is operational, should I detect an audible sound when the button is pushed to start the engine?
Thanks in advance for your thoughts.