Non Starter For The Final Time

have you cleaned up the point it earths to on the starter motor and other earthing points?

You need a strong earth continuity around. Cleaning all earthing points on the bike will help.

[squirrel_hunter]

Where are all the earthing points?

wiring diagram i would of thought would of shown it. If your engine earthing is terrible then there's a problem wherever it's earth'd to. Isn't there an earth on the starter motor which you can clean up with a file?

[Speedy]

Hi I'm back.

Yes. reading your "methodical" post, Good. Glad you got to the bottom of the voltage supply.

Yes. I agree with you.
An Earth issue.

Try running a new Earth direct to the engine from the battery.

[squirrel_hunter]

Originally Posted by Speedy

Try running a new Earth direct to the engine from the battery.

Stupid question... Using jump leads I connect the engine to the +ve or -ve?

I tried the -ve from the battery direct to the starter before so I assume the +ve to the engine is needed.

With that I assume the +ve is connected to the engine at some point. I looked at the wiring diagram in the Bible but that makes as much sense as a map of the London underground. Do you know where it connects to the engine so I can start working back from there?

Originally Posted by squirrel_hunter

Stupid question... Using jump leads I connect the engine to the +ve or -ve?

I tried the -ve from the battery direct to the starter before so I assume the +ve to the engine is needed.

With that I assume the +ve is connected to the engine at some point. I looked at the wiring diagram in the Bible but that makes as much sense as a map of the London underground. Do you know where it connects to the engine so I can start working back from there?

negative on unpainted part of frame i think, positive at the starter motor (take off the rubber boot to revealve the bolt)

disclaimer: i know nothing.

[Speedy]

NOooooo!!

Don't put a +ve to the frame!!!! You'll end up causing damage!!

Put a jump lead from -ve to a bare, unpainted part of the engine. Or where the starter is bolted to the engine.

[squirrel_hunter]

Its lucky I didn't just try that then. But its unfortunate my knowledge of motorcycle electrics is left so wanting.

Will try tomorrow night.

But I don't understand this. If I have good voltage from the wire off of the starter solenoid, which is the negative side when grounding to the frame but not the engine, I would take from that the negative side of circuit is good. I would then think the other side of the circuit is faulty hence thinking of connecting the positive to the engine as it needs to go back in to complete the circuit.

I'm not sure if I will make sense here but I think back to the simple circuit of a battery and light bulb. To me -ve to the bulb is good, +ve to the bulb is bad, thus change the connection on the +ve side. The problem with this is that I can't see where the +ve touches the engine to complete the circuit on my bike and thus my thinking. Earth further confuses me...

[Speedy]

OK.
Right, I think you may be a tad confused.

Positive is always trying to find Earth (negative).

We'll stick to Positive and Earth here.

If you have a Positve voltage down the cable to the starter, which is equal to the measured voltage accross the battery, that is showing that HALF of the circuit is Good.

Now you NEED an Earth for the starter motor to have a chance of working.

Usually the Earth side of the battery is connected to the vehicles frame, or Engine which forms part of the circuit of the whole bike/car electrical system.
However, there are usually more than one earth point from the Negative on the battery to the vehicle.

This could be the problem with your bike.

To check the Earth for the starter motor, which is using the Engine and/or frame as it's Earth (negative) supply, simply set your multimeter to Ohms and connect one lead to the Negative terminal of the battery, and the other to a clean, bare, unpainted, rust free part of the engine.

The reading you should have should indicate as close to Zero Ohms as possible.

Any higher than say 0.5 ohms and you have an Earth issue.

[squirrel_hunter]

Not sure if I'm doing the Ohms test right, what scale should I be using?

However running a jumper from the -ve to the engine gave me an interesting result... The starter was turning without giving me dead battery clicks from the relay. But alas it wasn't firing. Will try again tomorrow but I think this is looking good.

I also need to get some better jump leads though as the ones I have look like they fell out of a Christmas cracker. I've also located the main engine earth it is on the right hand side just below the rear exhaust pipe. In a really difficult to reach position, I thank Mr Suzuki for that infinitely intelligent positioning.