[Erick]

Bike was neglected for two years in the garage (no battery, it was removed)… a friend finally got his motorcycle license & I thought to get it working for him to practice with. So, I filled a new battery (that sat for 2yrs), charged it properly for about 18hrs, after settling a few days, the voltage read 12.67v. Installed the battery & it would crank & crank & crank… finally got the engine to start to turn & the battery ran out of juice. Put the battery back on charger & charged for about 6 hrs & let it sit over night & check it in the morning with a good voltage 12.65v.

This next thing is where I may have messed things up when I had the battery charger hooked up also to the battery to help “jump start” with the 50Amp setting for a short while in case the battery didn’t have enough oomph… long story short, I tried to start the bike with +/- connections reversed on the battery terminals (for some reason I thought I remember the + was on the other side… importance of checking twice, but didn’t). Thank God, nothing exploded & the battery is still intact… so, did I do damage to the solenoid? What happened was each time I push to start; I hear just one single click, but not start. After about 10 or 30 consecutive tries/clicks the engine would start nicely & run, but if I shut down & try to start again, the same one click & no start. Lights & horn work just fine… I tried “kick”/pound near the transmission, put the bike in gear & rock it back & forth. It does start every now & then, just not when it should... Any thoughts as to what's going on?

 

[Easy Rider]

Thank God, nothing exploded & the battery is still intact…

You are lucky indeed.
Most of the time when the cables are reversed, the main fuse blows and sometimes other things too.
At this point, I think it's likely that you fried your "new" battery.
Put your voltmeter on it during a starting attempt; if the voltage drops below 10.5 and the starter doesn't turn, a new battery will probably fix it. If it stays near 12 but the starter still doesn't turn, you have a bad solenoid or starter.

P.S. For future reference.......one should NEVER use the START setting on a battery charger for a tiny little bike battery.
You can get away with it if you have TWO people so that it is on boost ONLY when the starter is turning but even that is a gamble.
MUCH better to boost it from another healthy battery.

Do try to be more careful next time !!! :roll:

 

[Erick]

Thanks ER... here's an update, the voltmeter was reading 12.67v & got the bike to start. Found my manual, so on to servicing the brake fluid level & tightening up the choke. The engine will stay idle with the choke fully extended or it would stall, anything I can do to adjust that so I'm not riding with choke on all the time? Thanks.

 

[Easy Rider]

The engine will stay idle with the choke fully extended or it would stall, anything I can do to adjust that so I'm not riding with choke on all the time? Thanks.

First, put a stock air filter on it.
Second, have some patience and let it warm up.
Third, the choke is not an all or nothing device; as it warms up, you should be able to gradually reduce the amount of choke.

The final solution is likely to be time and carb cleaner.
Get some Berrymans B12 Chemtool and put in about twice the recommended amount (into the GAS).
Let it warm up. Turn it off. Let it sit overnight. Might need to repeat that two or three times before it starts to improve.

 

[Camp21178]

The B 12 fixed a carb problem I had about two years ago.

 

[Easy Rider]

The B 12 fixed a carb problem I had about two years ago.

Have you used it since ?
I think it's good to give it a shot about twice a riding season.

 

[Camp21178]

Yes I do use it from time to time. I don't get a chance to ride much, so I try to keep the gas "fresh".