I replaced my starter and cannot get the new one to engage. When I first put everything back together it started one time. I drove around the block, turned it off and the starter would not engage. I found a bad positive cable and replaced it. No good. I replaced the negative cable. The starter engaged once. Then nothing again. I replaced the battery. Still nothing. All of the lights work and I can hear the relay and the solenoid click. But the starter does nothing. I am at my wits end. Could the relay, or switch be bad if the solenoid is engaging?
After I first put the new starter on and found issues I took the solenoid cover off and tried to manually engage the solenoid. It did nothing. Is there a specific position the solenoid needs to be in? Could I have done something if the solenoid rotated (spun) when trying to engage it?
I am getting 11.5 volts at the hot wire to the starter(the one in the plug at bottom of starter).

 

What voltage do you have if you measure across the battery terminals?
A fully charged battery should measure 12.8 VDC. If it measures less than 12.8 volts, you need to charge the battery.

 

+1. Try charging the battery. A healthy battery will read above 12.5 volts. If its below this after being charged, then you may need to replace the battery.

 

Somewhere along the line check your whole charging system.

 

+2...... New batteries are usually not fully charged...

If its not the battery or the battery seems to not be charging then you need to troubleshoot your charging system.....

 

if the relay is clicking but bike isn't starting then your relay is not "throwing its pole" completely so it means relay is bad or just might be rusty.