Starting Issues?

Some of you might remember I posted a thread about my front plug getting wet and the problems this caused when starting. I've now changed the spark plugs (Thursday) on the bike and all seemed fine until I tried to start the bike on Saturday.

The bike had a cover over it with rain sitting on top. I think it had been raining most of the night.

When I tried to start it I had the choke on full. I could hear the ignition switch but the bike wouldn't turn over. Ofcourse, it got to the point where the battery run out and it stopped all together. When I hooked it up to some jump leads it fired up as soon as I pushed the ignition and sounded great.

Anyone have any ideas why this might be happening? This might be a silly question but when I turn the bike to the 'locked' position the headlight switch is sometimes left to ON. the lights are off but would this drain any battery power at all? The battery itself isn't by any means done but not brand new so if this is the case could it be losing enough charge to prevent it turning the engine quick enough to start?

Will be the battery and quiet possibly the reg/rec. Got a multimeter?

The reg/rec was replaced in 09. After it was jumped my neighbour used the mulitmeter... I cant quite remember but I am sure it was 11.8...remember though this was only a couple of minutes after it was jumped so think it might have just been charging up again.

I can get a hold of a multimeter again and check. I'll take it on a wee run to make sure its fully charged. I am guessing that if it below 12.3 (According to my haynes manual) I should replace it?

It should read very close to 12.7 ish after been turned off for several hours and it should hold that charge for many days. See my signature below for an idea of battery condition. You need to leave it after its been for a run, dont check straight away, the reading will be artificially high.

Even if the rec/reg was replaced its worth checking again

Check the charging voltage at idle, 5k, and lights on. All should be over 13.5v ish.

If its gone switch it for a mosfet one from a honda like many of us have. If you search the forum for regulator or rectifier you will find the info.

Originally Posted by RizlaSV

When I tried to start it I had the choke on full. I could hear the ignition switch but the bike wouldn't turn over. Ofcourse, it got to the point where the battery run out and it stopped all together.

"but the bike wouldn't turn over"

Do you mean the starter motor wouldn't turn over, or the engine wouldn't fire.

"battery run out and it stopped all together"

By this I assume you mean the latter? ie: the starter motor was turning the bike over, but the engine wouldn't fire.

Either way the fact that you used jump leads and it fired straight away, suggests it wasn't anything to do with the damp. Lots of SV's suffer with front plug problems, but only when riding in the rain. This is a red herring and a fender extender will fix it.

Sounds like a battery to me as well. An SV (and most modern bikes) is not like a lawn mower or an old dirt bike, it needs a healthy battery to run. Your stator feeds your reg/rec, reg/rec feeds your battery, battery feeds your coils, coils feed your spark plugs. Just because the bike is turning over that's doesn't mean you have a good spark, your battery needs to supplying sufficient voltage to your coils to get a nice strong spark, which the bike needs to start especially in cold damp conditions. 11.8v sounds too low to me.

Lots of people will be finding battery problems in the next couple of months, especially on bikes kept outside, as the ambient temperature drops, the bike needs more juice to start, so whilst the battery might have seemed fine on 11.8 volts all summer, in winter that ain't going to cut it.

Thanks for all the replies folks.

I thought I'd give it a couple of days before I posted again and this is what has happened. It starts in the morning now but after a couple of attempts. The engine does start but dies quickly.

When the bike is warm it fires up first time I push the starter switch.