Starter relay: rapid clicking. Can't jump start :(

Hi,

I've just taken my dads 2001 cagiva raptor 650 (engine is identical to the SV) out of its winter garaging, i left it on trickle charge, but the charger seems to have given up during the winter. I charged the battery (which is about 9 months old) for about 2 hours. When i went to start it the relay just clicked rapidly. I have an SV aswell so i put my starter relay in his bike and his in mine, his started my bike fine, mine didn’t start his, same buzzing issue.

I drained the oil and took out the starter motor and cleaned the carbon off the commutators in the motor, unfortunately when reassembling the starter i snapped one of the long bolts. however the starter motor is kind of squashed into place so it should be held together. i tested the starter outside the bike and it spun up fine. I put the oil back in and then we all tried to jump start the bike, it has always been a pig to start and likes to get stuck at top dead centre, even with two of us pushing it down hill and one sitting on it, along with half a can of easystart we couldn't get it to fire. We tried first second and third gear. It seems like the engine has a ridiculous amount of resistance, we can still turn it over by having someone sit on the back seat and rocking it back and forth but it is very hard and most of the time the rear tyre skids before the motor turns over, even in 4th.

For the moment i have brought it into the house and put the battery back on charge. hopefully the mixture of the warmth making the oil runnier and a full charge might sort it out.
this bike has only got 3000 miles on it and was garaged for 6 years...with fuel in it. Last year i rebuilt it fully right down to ultrasonically cleaning the carbs.

We are meant to be going on the wirral egg run tomorrow, does anyone have any suggestions for getting the damn thing started before then? Does anyone have any idea why it is so hard to get it to turn over? It has had new spark plugs, new oil, cleaned starter, and relay checked. Might it just be that i didn't let the battery charge for long enough? Are SV engines really this hard to bump start?

Thanks very much!

[Bibio]

if you take an insulated handle screwdriver you can bypass the relay. just stick the screwdriver over the two bolts on the relay and this will turn the starter.

Great, I will try that tomorrow. Thanks for the tip!

I would be charging for a bit longer than 2 hours personally id leave it over night.

Are you sure there is adequate oil in the engine, it shouldnt have that much resistance

I charged the battery over night and that solved the problem. The engine still has a ridiculous amount of resistance though. I have checked the oil level which is fine. Any other ideas?
Thanks again

Camchain tensioner?

Ape ot oem?