Been working on my 85 FXR for a couple of months now. Here I am, ready to crank it and a snafu arrises. Put in a new battery, turns the motor over nicely. So I'm setting everything up to default to get it cranked, crane ignition, S&S E carb, andrews cam. Hadn't got it sparked up yet, so I check a thing or two, try and crank it, battery runs down, let it charge, tweak, crank. This goes on a few times until the last time I tried it. I only get that dreaded single "click". No turning over. Well.... I'm about to go through the electircal checklist from the HD manual, but I think.... wonder what the guys on the forum might think about this? So... single click? What could that be? Ideas anyone? Figure the good folks in this forum would have some good ideas for me. May thanks to all.

GM

 

More than likely just a low voltage on the battery . Hook it to your car for a jump to see if it helps . Even though the battery is new it doesn't take much to kill it .

 

Yeah, thought of that. I've got the battery connected to a "conditioner". I haven't checked the voltages yet, but I'm thinking it's probably OK, as the indicator light shows it to be fully charged. I wondered if a bad ground might cause such a thing. I haven't gotten to the ground strap on the frame or the ground to the primary yet. Are there any other grounds that might affect the voltage?

I noticed that the ignition system has an option for something called a "Ignition Boost Relay" which boost the voltage to the plugs if the voltage from the battery drops below 5 amps. It mentions that these units are usually used for higher displacement engines which take a little more to turn over. I wonered how many folks use these on their "stockers"? Though I don't think this is related to the immediate problem, I kinda think it couldn't hurt to put one on, as they are under $20. Thoughts?

Anyway, gotta get it back to turning over before I can think about sticking another gadget on there. Thanks for the suggestion. Too stinkin' hot to ride this weekend anyway! Geez! Heat index of 116 and me with an air cooled motor in a tourist town with stop and go traffic! Guess I'll read more on the internet this weekend!

GM

 

The booster is just a capacitor, similar to those used for a battery less kick only. It charges up, then hits the coil with a charge as the points/sensor fires the plugs. Its 1 shot at a time, will charge up quickly but discharges on first turn. If you use one don't keep turning it over, it won't recharge in time. Good Luck.

 

Has the bike been sitting for a good amount of time?I get that problem sometimes when I take my 87 out of winter storage.This year was no different,had to put her back on the charger.Then when fully charged,I made sure a good amount of gas going thru the line,& I turn the ignition where no lights are on.More juice to the ignition.

 

Sounds like a dead or bad battery to me. I would hook up all your grounds properly and charge the battery. If that doesn't work get another battery. I also think you could damage your Crane ign system if the bike isn't properly grounded.

 

You may want to see if the starter relay is working properly.....perhaps the brushes in the starter are toast...

 

You should always charge a 'brand new battery'. What you did was run down the initial charge that it had. Put it on a 2amp charger for a day...

Eh...Don't do this. You should never use a battery with a larger capacity that your cycle battery to jump it. Just bad on everything.

Had the same problem with my bike, batter tender said it was charged...It wasn't. Remember that a float charger will activate when the voltage drops below a set level. I Had to disconnect the battery and put it on a 'real charger' for almost 6 hours to get it to hold a charge again. There's a good possiblility the float charger is junk.

 

Hackd is right. Boosted my bike with acar battery, and burnt out the gas guage on my bike. And I dont mean it lo longer worked, Imean smokein the air burnt. DONTDO ITif you like the low voltage components of your scooter.

 

Damn it Scotty more power...
She can't take much more of this