Pointy not starting - advice

Haha! Checked that!

Being a girl definitely has its advantages )

Well obviously as other people have said the battery may be the first point of call. Alarm will drain it but not too much, at least not on mine with a Datatool fitted.

Other things to check that it could be and both have happened to me before:

1) Water in the front HT lead thingy if you rode it through the wet/dodgy connector if it's been stored in wet conditions. A liberal spray of WD40 to all connectors, leads etc. sorted this out for me.

2) Dodgy clutch safety switch thing. Don't know the technical name but it once happened to me when I couldn't start using the starter button but could bump it. Turned out the thing that signals you've pulled the clutch in (as you have to on Suzukis) was dodgy and wasn't sending a signal through. Garage fixed it for a fiver for me.

HTH if the battery turns out not to be the problem.

Just been rethinking about this:

Originally Posted by Sarah 76

When you press the ignition switch it sounds like it is trying to start but then it just dies to nothing.

Does that mean it sounds like the engine is turning over with the starter motor?

If so, your battery is OK, and you're either not getting a spark in the cylinder, or you're not getting fuel.

If you hit the starter & hear clicks & nothing more (or nothing at all), then the battery is flat (possibly as well as other problems).

Do your lights etc work? If they do, leave the hazards on for 45mins or so. Won't touch a healthy battery, but if it's on it's last legs, the hazards will kill it.

I think so; I have to apologise for my lack of knowledge on stuff like this! The first time it sounded like it was gonna start but just didn't quite make it, then just got worse each time. I don't think there were clicks? The lights were on but started fading so put hazards on and then there was nothing at all, not even display came on. Strange thing is when i put the battery on the charger it showed 3 bars??

[Biker Biggles]

Sounds like a dying battery,or battery connections not done up tight.When you do get it started,it will be worth checking the charging system with a multimeter.With bike running at about 5000 RPM and the lights on,you should get about 13.5----15.5 volts across the battery terminals.Any more and you are cooking the battery,less and it will not be charging enough.

Oh and if all is otherwise well,a regular charge on the trickle charger keeps everything up to scratch.

Have just got a new battery so will fit that tonight and hopefully we'll have lift off. I will definitely check the charging system too.

I don't have any power int he garage so have to take the battery out to trickle charge it; is that ok?

Originally Posted by Sarah 76

I think so; I have to apologise for my lack of knowledge on stuff like this! The first time it sounded like it was gonna start but just didn't quite make it, then just got worse each time. I don't think there were clicks? The lights were on but started fading so put hazards on and then there was nothing at all, not even display came on. Strange thing is when i put the battery on the charger it showed 3 bars??

Differenct chargers work in different ways, it's not uncommon for them to show charge initially when there is non. Ideally you want to put it through a discharge, then recharge (if your charger supports it).

The clicks, you would of noticed, because it doesn't sound like the engine at all. More a plastic tapping noise, very rapid, coming from the pillion seat area.

The lights fading, and hazards not working, are a sign of a dying battery. Since you have a K5, at the stage of loosing lights, you have already lost Fuel Injection systems (so when the LCD was working, it should of shown "FI" - along with a solid red light on the dash - but you might not of noticed). This could explain the trying to start but refusing to actually fire.

No need to apologise, the only way I know this much is by going through it myself (stranded 8 miles from home at the time).

Now you mention it there was a solid red light on the dash. Does that mean it's the fuel injection system that's playing up or just the battery not having enough power to work it?

Originally Posted by Sarah 76

Now you mention it there was a solid red light on the dash. Does that mean it's the fuel injection system that's playing up or just the battery not having enough power to work it?

That red light does a couple of functions.

Most importantly, oil warning light. By the time it comes on because of a lack of oil, if you're engine isn't off, it's damaged (but this isn't because of oil in your case).

It also deals with 2 different types of FI fault. One type is the simple stuff that you can do yourself, like there's not enough power to the FI system (as in your case). The other is more complex, and you shouldn't attempt to ride the bike before it's fixed (eg, blocked injectors).

It also acts as a warning to say that the ECU hasn't received signal from a couple of the electronic sensors. For example, assuming everything about the bike works fine, put it in gear, sidestand down, ignition on, the red light will show (because the sidestand switch combined with the fact the bike is in gear negates the ECU sensors & prevents the engine starting).

There's probably a couple of functions of that light I'm missing too, but like I said, yours was illustrative of the "simple" FI failure (I reckon).

Originally Posted by Sarah 76

I think so; I have to apologise for my lack of knowledge on stuff like this! The first time it sounded like it was gonna start but just didn't quite make it, then just got worse each time. I don't think there were clicks? The lights were on but started fading so put hazards on and then there was nothing at all, not even display came on. Strange thing is when i put the battery on the charger it showed 3 bars??

Hey Sarah.

I'm pretty new to biking too, and I just know how to get on the bike and ride it. Anything else is beyond me.

I had similar trouble with my bike last week, but that was entirely my fault, as I had left the lights on, so after a 13 hour shift, my battery was dead. Anyway, got the battery charged up and couple of days later, again after a 13 hour shift, it wouldn't start, and this time I hadn't left the lights on. I realised as I took the battery out that one of the connections was loose, so I figured that was the problem. Stuck battery on charge and only took couple of hours to fully charge.

OK. So the moral of the story is you're not the only one that hasn't a clue on all this biking jargon. And I know how to do two things now.....take the battery out, and loob my chain