Topic: Starter cuts power - '78 550k

[gratznic]

Hey there, I got stuck in town the other day because of loss of power. Brought the bike home, and first thing I did was charge the battery. After charging it, the bike had power. But it immediately lost power the moment I touched the starter button. After that I couldn't get any power back. No lights or anything.

Fuses all look fine. I swapped out a 15a just to check, and that didn't do anything.

I put the key in this morning, after not having done anything to the battery or wires (except stare at them) for two days, and the bike miraculously had power. But once again, pushing the starter cut it all off. All I heard was a very faint "tuh".

So that leads me away from the battery, and right toward a wire (or something) that's connected to the starter.

Any ideas? My ignition box is only about a year old.

(I'd be scouring the electrical section of my clymer, but half the pages were shredded out of it when it was sitting in the back of a truck. So any help is appreciated.)

-Ryan.

[TwoTired]

Check your battery connections.  The big wires and terminals at each end to the engine case and the solenoid.

Does wiggling the ignition switch help, any?

What is your battery voltage?  Before and after the "tuh".

[gratznic]

Wiggling the ignition switch doesn't help. I had an ignition problem about a year ago and as a result got pretty good at wiggling the switch and the wires coming off the back in order to hold enough juice to start the bike.

I am a bit worried about my battery connections. They're kind of corroded (at least the ones that directly connect to the battery - I haven't checked the solanoid....wish my manual was in better shape). I'll start looking around for replacements.

The battery itself I bought last November. I haven't checked the voltage, though. I think I need to buy a new meter. But I'll get on that -- I suppose the thing could be holding just enough to turn the lights on, but anything more than that and it craps out. And then after two days of nothing it gathers the teensy remainder and will once again turn the lights on.

[TwoTired]

From what I've read so far, I'd strongly suspect your battery cable/terminals.

Lesson learned from a 55 ford when it was only 12 years old.

Wouldn't start unless the battery terminals were wiggled.  After a few weeks of this, the battery went dead.  Bought a battery charger and recharged the battery.  Still had to wiggle battery cables to get it to start.  Again battery eventually went dead.  Finally cleaned battery terminals and had to replace one end, it was soo bad.  Problem solved.  The corrosion was preventing the generator from charging the battery and also restricting the high current needed for the starter motor.

Next time yours "comes back", try the kick start instead of the push button.  The lower current surge might allow the bike to run for a little while, if the vibration doesn't knock it out.

Really should fix it, though.

Cheers,

[gratznic]

Thanks, TwoTired. Much appreciated.