www.zxrworld.co.uk

recently tried to start my bike after sitting idle for over 3 weeks, after about five minutes it finally started so i took it out for a spin but i got as far as about 3 miles and engine just cut out, thought it was petrol low but no plenty there . battery dead so bump started ok, charged battery overnight but still cant start bike, lights/horn everything works fine but try and start and thats all i get is a tic , donk think its battery problem what else could it be.

sounds like the battery is shagged or a loose earth.

charging my battery over night again to see if its knackered, could it be anyhting else because all light are working and are very bright, any suggestions before i by a new battery.

I had a similar problem with my R1, after buying a brand new battery it still had the same problem, some said it was the regulator rectifier but it actually turned out to be the starter motor! Expensive on a 2005 R1! I am not saying that is what your is but I do warn you against buying a new battery without checking out the other possibilities. Best thing would be to go to your local bike shop and ask them to test your battery, they proberly will do that for free.

i doubt its your starter motor as the engine was running then cut out.could be the starter relay, i have a spare junction box if you want it for a fiver plus postage?

ok i may just take you up on that , give me a day or 2 and try and sort it out.
thnx again

Why would you buy a replacment battery unless you knew that the old one was knackered ?

Most motorcycle batteries are sensitive little brutes and can easilly be damaged by over charging or by being completely discharged.
Also motorcycle batteries are not desigined to be cycled so will only survive being discharged and recharged a few times.

If you are charging a motorcycle battery you should use the correct charger and car type batery charger will overcharge a motorcycle battery especially if it is near to complete discharge...............what you need is an Optimate or similiar................and of course the great thing about an Optimate is that it will telll you if your battery is knackered........................


I've discovered that when it comes to starting ZXR400s you need a good fully charged battery....................even a battery that is strong enough to turn the engine over can still be weak enough to cause the engine not to start.................................I've long since bough a set of rollers

ok tested the battery today and its ok { 13.4 amps without ignition & lights on and 12 with on, how do i check to see if the relay has gone, or starter motor.

put a 12v live straight to the starter motor see if it spins.

put a live wire to the starter motor and started first time, checked junction box and everything seems fine, starter relay clicks, what else should i be checking out before i start spending money.

just cos the starter relay clicks don't rule it out. pm me your address and i'll send you my spare junction box if you want to try it?

ok here goes again,
changed junction box , still the same,
tried another starter relay [s/hand --square type } as soon as i put the 30amp fuse in it blows, why ??? { my old starter relay is the round type, could this be the reason its blowing fuses } or is the one that i bought recently a dud. running out of things to check.

come on boys someone must know whats causing my bike not to start.

sounds like the starter relay mate, i would get a new one from cradley to be on the safe side.

I had a similar problem with mine, and i was sure it was the starter relay. Found that was fine, so i checked the wiring and found that my loom was resting against the down pipe, which had been burning through wires one by one and blowing the odd fuse now and then! Would have discovered it months before when the brake light stopped coming on when the front brake was applied, but due to laziness i just ran a replacement wire instead of finding the problem