Starter problem with Quinten the Chinese motorcycle.

I have a problem with Kate's Chinese 125, it wont start!

It's battery went flat a few weeks ago so I put it on the optimate overnight. Put it back in the bike and it fired up straight away. Next morning Kate went to ride it to work, it started up straight away but stalled (probably cuz it was cold) and wouldn't start after that.

I've had a poke round and from what I can make out, the starter solenoid clicks but the starter motor doesn't spin.

I thought the starter might be fubar'd but I've stripped it and everything looks fine and it spins smooth enough.

I have 12.6v from the battery but I also have 12.6v across the starter solenoid, which seems a little odd to me (I may be doing something wrong so don't read too much into this). From what I can gather, the + of the battery goes straight into the starter solenoid (there's a secondary, small positive coming off the battery that supplies all the anciliaries), then from the solenoid straight down to the motor.

Anyone got any ideas or suggestions?

Regards

[Mr Speirs]

Return it from whence it came...the scrapyard.

Honestly, scrap metal values sky rocketed because China was buying it all. Everything that has come out of China is made outta scrap metal. I hate stuff made in China. As you can probably tell.

Sorry I can't help with the starting issue

[yorkie_chris]

There isn't necessarily anything wrong with making stuff out of scrap, it's entirely possible to get the metallurgy right.

If the solenoid is clicking but the motor spins when not under load, then suspect the battery.

Try jump it. But does it not have a kickstart?

It has no kickstart, solenoid clicks, starter spins by hand. Even with the motor out of the bike it still wont spin using the ignition!

Will bung the battery on charge again and see if that works. If it does then it means the battery is completely fooked!

Cheers YC.

[yorkie_chris]

When you had the starter off the bike, did you earth it?

I believe I had it resting against the engine and exhaust but I must admit to not checking if it was earthed properly as I was trying to do a hundred things at once!!

Poor Quinten

Assume you've tried bypassing the solenoid?

Nope. The solenoid is still clicking so I assume it's still working ok.

Will try the battery tomorrow first before I investigate any further.

Cheers all for the suggestions.

Regards

[yorkie_chris]

Not necessarily, the clicking means the coil is energising ... doesn't mean the contacts ain't arced to death or covered in crap.