Starting issue.

[YoungAussieGW]

So I have a 1975 GL1000. It's been sitting for about 6 weeks while we have been away for the holidays. Yesterday I went to start it and it was slow to turn over but eventually started. Just to be cautious I placed the battery on the charge overnight. The battery charger indicated that the battery was fully charged. I put the battery back in the bike and turned it over. It wound over well to start with but died a little bit then finally started. I went for a ride and when I stopped toe refuel the bike wouldn't turn over at all. Just a low click was all that could be heard. I tried kick starting it (which should have worked) but it would not start. I thought it must be the battery so I went home and took the battery out of my 76 LTD. I swapped the batteries over but the bick still wouldn't turn over. So I recovered the bike back home. I then took the battery from the 75 and put it in the LTD. The LTD started straight away. I tested the voltage over bot batteries. The LTD read 12.4v and the 75 read 13.1v (freshly charged). What would cause the bike to sound like it has a battery issue but doesn't and still won't start. (Magneto?). I also. Checked all the fuses and ignition relay. Everything seems to be in working order. I just can't work out why it won't start. Any advice is greatly appreciated.

 

[D-50Dave]

Starter or starter relay?

 

[YoungAussieGW]

Starter or starter relay?

Thanks. I'll have a look at it over the weekend and let you know how I get on.

 

[pidjones]

Starter, relay, cables, cable ends. I have had several cases where the cable end had poor connection to the wire itself due to corrosion. The starter is probably OK, or it wouldn't have started when it did. All of these are pretty easy fixes.

 

[Cobra 427 V8]

Yes to pidjones , I cleaned and lubed my starter , fitted new brushes, I added a relay to the coils, my earth lead looked ok but , the wire get old and dirty inside the connector at the battery , I wire brushed mine and would have liked to replace it or the connectors, but was easier to use a big soldering iron and cook out the crud with Flux core , I had nothing to lose , that earth lead doesn’t move around , all good so far cranks fast .
Cheers.

 

[kerryb]

This is after the fact but doesn't get mentioned much... The starter gets it's ground from the engine case, and after rebuilding everything else, my starting troubles were traced to dirty contact at the starter mounting bosses. Cleaned the spots and never had a starter problem again.

 

[LaughingMad]

This is after the fact but doesn't get mentioned much... The starter gets it's ground from the engine case, and after rebuilding everything else, my starting troubles were traced to dirty contact at the starter mounting bosses. Cleaned the spots and never had a starter problem again.

how did you clean? just some cleaner and rag, or did you have to sand the contact down?

 

[pidjones]

So, has the OP found resolution?

 

[julimike54]

@pidjones He hasn't been here since April 2023....

 

[kerryb]

how did you clean? just some cleaner and rag, or did you have to sand the contact down?

Sand the contact surfaces with fine sandpaper, to bare metal.