Bike won't start. Please help!

[Skier]

That clicking noise is the solenoid/starter relay attempting to do something.

Correct, and that's usually caused by a lack of power going through the relay. Get a buddy to hold a multimeter to the battery terminals as you crank it. I'll bet good money the voltage will drop like a rock when you hit that starter.

I'd wager the battery is toast, but make sure the connections aren't corroded first!

[Decoy]

Thanks everyone, I'll test that with a multimeter tonight and let you know what the results. Unfortunately I'm an idiot when it comes to mechanical things.

[Sev]

If the battery is fine, we can talk you through the rest of the tests tonight.

[Bubba]

Got the bike out of storage this weekend, checked everything out, made sure the battery was charged, etc. Put battery back in, went to start and all it did was make this rapid, loud clicking noise. Could something be shorting somewhere, something wrong with the starter? The bike is a 2004 Suzuki Bandit 1200S. Any ideas would be appreciated. Thanks.

Your battery is not fully charged and NOT putting out the amount of amps needed to turn the starter.
Run some jumper cabels from your car, 12 volts, to your bike battery.
DO NOT TURN ON THE CAR ENGINE!!!!!!!!! That will burn out the stater!
Now try the bike. It should start. If it doesn't, you have other problems.

[Decoy]

Thanks Bubba. I'll try the multimeter test first then the jumper cables to confirm. I'll post the results tomorrow.

[Bubba]

Thanks Bubba. I'll try the multimeter test first then the jumper cables to confirm. I'll post the results tomorrow.

One other thing. Make sure the battery terminals are clean and you are making good contact.

[Decoy]

Well, looks like it was the battery. When everything was hooked up it was reading 10-12 on the multimeter, turned the ignition on and it dropped to 8, tried to start and it dropped to 6 and did the clicking thing. I'll run out and get a new one this weekend and hopefully that's it. Thanks again.

[Bubba]

Well, looks like it was the battery. When everything was hooked up it was reading 10-12 on the multimeter, turned the ignition on and it dropped to 8, tried to start and it dropped to 6 and did the clicking thing. I'll run out and get a new one this weekend and hopefully that's it. Thanks again.

A fully charged 12 volt battery should be 12.7 volts:



State of Charge Specific Gravity Voltage
-------------------------------------12V-----6V
100%-------------1.265-----------12.7----6.3
75%--------------1.225-----------12.4----6.2
50%--------------1.190-----------12.2----6.1
25%--------------1.155-----------12.0----6.0
Discharged-------1.120----------11.9-----6.0