Total Motorcycle Community Forums

Hi all.

I just started riding and got an '86 Ninja 600R to start me off, and yesterday it decided not to start anymore. If anybody has any advice on things I should try it would be greatly appreciated. Please keep in mind I am COMPLETELY new at all this so I'm aware I could have done something really stupid or the answer is just plain obvious.

Anyway, earlier I was riding and the bike stalled and it didn't start up as usual by me just putting it in neutral and firing it up again. I fiddled with a couple of things (like turned it off and on, put it in gear and back in neutral or something - now I wish I would have made note of what it was I did) and it started up again and I rode home.

A few minutes later I went to start it up again and it clicked but didn't turn over. I tried the different settings on the petcock (I had ridden it before with it on PRI since I didn't know at the time what this was for - before this I had only seen the on/off/res configuration - so I added some gas just to be double sure, tried some more, etc.).

I'm pretty sure the battery's alright since the signals and horn work fine. So if anybody has any suggestions for what I could try or just something I'm forgetting, let me know. Hopefully something can get it going that doesn't involve taking it apart - I was hoping to go a week before I had to start that stuff . . .

Thanks,
Doug

I seem to remember a friend of mine that had a similar experience. Then he flipped the kill switch back to the run position... lol. I hope it's as simple as that...

Does the starter crank the engine over? If so, do you have spark at the plugs?

Is there gas in it?

Wait, don't laugh.... I've done that....

YOu mentioned there was a "Click" when you tried to start the bike.

The battery needs to be charged. While there is plenty of voltage left in the battery for the horn and other things, the starter motor requires FULL VOLTAGE to function. The battery needs to be charged. If you don't have a battery charger, an auto parts store or mechanics should be able to test it and charge it for you.

Fortunately for my ego (but unfortunately overall), the kill switch was on run and it did have plenty of gas. I'm not sure if I exactly explained the sounds right, like I said, I'm totally new. Anyway, the first time or two I try, it sounds like it wants to start but doesn't, then after that it just produces a fast clicking (almost like a buzzing).

Anyway, I'll definitely check out the battery (assuming the sounds I just described were what you thought I meant by "clicking", TechBMW), and as far as the spark, I'll wait until the manual for the bike arrives and I know exactly how to get to it before I try stuff like that. I was going to take a maintenance course at the end of the season but I think it just jumped up on my priority list! Thanks a lot for your help guys.

Is the petcock set to the off position? That'll bugger you hard.

Yup, it sure was the battery. I hooked it up to a charger for a while and then it started fine. Thanks for the advice guys!