Will a low battry keep an XS11 from starting?

[1st bike]

just my .02 cents....i went through a lot of checking and leg work (while my battery charged for seriously 2 days) and then bought a new battery....fired right up, no problems. after i let the battery charge fully on a trickle charger the old battery fired the bike too! now i have two batteries so while one sits and drains in the bike, the other is all set in the cabinet. let that battery charge for a LONG time, and hopefully you will be ready to ride. nice paint, btw.

[79XS11F]

Just a thought...have you checked the earth cable and its connections (free of paint) between engine and frame, they can corrode to the point of no connection. your engine will never start with this cable not intact..

That's a good point Mathh. There is a short ground lead between the rear of the engine and the frame. It is often over looked during an engine re & re by POs. Perhaps it is missing. Good ground is very important for systems that use the frame as the ground part of the wiring.
Rob

[fabricgator]

When you jumped the battery from the caged vehicle, did you connect the ground jumper wire to the engine block? Wouldn't that give your starter the power of the truck battery regardless?

[joceiphus]

If you have the kick lever. It wouldn't hurt to slowly kick the engine over a few times to spread the oil around.

[clcorbin]

If you have the kick lever. It wouldn't hurt to slowly kick the engine over a few times to spread the oil around.

Also, if you do kick it over, the ignition system now has a LOT more voltage at it's disposal (no super high draw from starter pulling it down) so it will be able to start the bike much easier than if you are using the electric starter. I've been in situations in the past where I needed a new battery and I couldn't get it to fire off with the starter even though it WOULD turn the bike over at a fairly decent clip.

But in doing that, it pulled the battery down low enough that the ignition system couldn't fire the plugs. A quick stab at the kick starter fired it right up even though I was turning the engine over SLOWER than the starter could, but the ignition had enough voltage to fire the plugs.

[crazy steve]

If the bike battery has an internal short, it won't let enough juice through to the starter, like Ray sez.

If it has a internal short, it won't read 12v; it will read less or more likely just be dead. If it has a partial internal open or is sulphated, it can still read 12v but won't deliver enough amps.

'78E original owner

[Mashermoto]

Just got back and checked the battery voltage with the negative cable disconnected. I have 13.9 volts now, which is 7 hours after the initial charge. So, I think the battery is OK.

Now then, still no sign of life and even with the battery at the above mentioned charge, I can only get about 4 or 5 starting attempts of about 5 seconds each before the battery starts to show signs of strain. I lost about half a volt after the first 3 attempts to start. The engine is turning over faster, but still seems slow...like about one cylinder turn per second. In other words, if I do a one thousand one, one thousand two, ect. count, that is about when a cylinder comes up on compression. I'm also getting good spark at the new plugs.

I think this probem is two fold. One is the starting system, which means I have to perform Larry's voltage checks. The other must be a lack of fuel.

I'll try fixing the starting system first.

[Mashermoto]

Just got back and checked the battery voltage with the negative cable disconnected. I have 13.9 volts now, which is 7 hours after the initial charge. So, I think the battery is OK.

Now then, still no sign of life and even with the battery at the above mentioned charge, I can only get about 4 or 5 starting attempts of about 5 seconds each before the battery starts to show signs of strain. I lost about half a volt after the first 3 attempts to start. The engine is turning over faster, but still seems slow...like about one cylinder turn per second. In other words, if I do a one thousand one, one thousand two, ect. count, that is about when a cylinder comes up on compression. I'm also getting good spark at the new plugs.

I think this probem is two fold. One is the starting system, which means I have to perform Larry's voltage checks. The other must be a lack of fuel.

I'll try fixing the starting system first.

BTW, I found and installed all the ground cables, but those cases are painted and the frame was powder coated, so I'll be sure to check those connections as well.

[1st bike]

i know this sounds crazy, but this is exactly what was going on with my bike. the engine would turn over, but it would never start. while you are checking everything else, keep the battery on the charger for the rest of the day and overnight. you might have some better luck. i have a multi-charge trickle charger, and it seriously took the better part of forever to get a full charge, but once i got there, the bike started no problem.

[Ivan]

So, you have a battery in your bike that was charged twice in 1.5 years? And you didn't charge it when it was new?

How cold did it get when it sat through the winter?

My money is on a frozen battery...or at least one that has not been made happy.

You can charge it up, but the bike wont turn over. Classic sign of a shot battery. Whne you use the truck to jump it, the dead batery acts like a sink hole that steals all the available voltage, and your starter and ignition don't get the juice they need to function correctly.

Check it by disconnecting your negative lead from the battery and putting the negative lead on chassis ground on the bike. Just a good place you can get a grip on the engine will work. See if it starts. That will eliminate the battery from the equation.

No, the truck's charging system won't screw anything up, unless you do something off, like reverse the polarity.

Also, make sure you have some beefy jumper cables. If you have some that are cheesy, they won't carry any amperage, and via V=IR, you won't get the volts needed.

Better yet, go buy a $30 walmart battery, and swap it in. Give it a good charge and see what happens.

[crazy steve]

BTW, I found and installed all the ground cables, but those cases are painted and the frame was powder coated, so I'll be sure to check those connections as well.

That may be the whole problem right there; paint and PC make pretty good insulators. In fact, it would be a good idea to check all of your ground connections to the frame. If the grounds for your charging system/lights/ignition are poor due to this, you could possibly do damage to those also.

'78E original owner.

[T99Ford]

I am thinking one of three things:

1: Crappy battery. Charge it and load test it. This will verify any internal open or sulfation.

2: What Mathh said.

3: Worn starter motor bushings allowing the armature to drag. This requires alot of current to even turn the starter motor, let alone the engine. This can show the symptoms of a bad battery or cables as well.

[Larrym]

Less than Adequate???

Huh?? Ok. My thought process thus far:

If the battery voltage didn't drop during the crank test and the starter turned s-l-o-w-l-y while the battery had the voltage/current available then something is preventing the current from flowing strongly. (resistance or and iffy contact/component somewhere...)

I'm afraid that the bike has a wimpy current flow:

–adjective,wimp·i·er, wimp·i·est.
of, pertaining to, or characteristic of a wimp.

Synonyms:
afraid, cowardly, cowed, cowering, fearful, frightened, gutless, having cold feet, intimidated, lily-livered, meek, mousy, spineless, unassertive, weak, yellow*, timid.


Definitely out of place for a SUPERbike..

[joceiphus]

I concur with Larry on the "unassertive" current flow.


I also think you might need to turn the engine by hand a little to loosen everything up.

[rpgoerlich]

Kind of odd that it would backfire rather than kick over. Sounds like the timing may be 180º out.

Check that the ignition coils are hooked up correctly.
I'd also check the pickup coil wiring for breakage. If they've been removed from the back plate, make sure they are mounted in their correct positions.