need starter advice
Club Member
Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 45,429
Likes: 2,898
From: Bedford UK
I am having starter issues with my EVO. It makes a click noise and if it does turn the motor over it happens just once. Its getting power but just engage and turn. Any ideas? I guess a new starter... Know anyone who will ship to an APO address. Just got to germany and in the Air Force. Want to get this bike runnin!
Road Master
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 899
Likes: 10
I used a rebuilt 1.4 starter from this guy on Ebay on my crate Evo. No problems so far, works like a charm . . . $99 bucks!
http://stores.ebay.com/Auto-Express
http://stores.ebay.com/Auto-Express
6th Gear
Joined: Jul 2010
Posts: 14
Likes: 0
Could be as simple as your battery is down on power. Try jump starting your bike from another vehicle. If it starts easily your battery is down. You could otherwise use a multimeter and test it. If your battery is giving less than around 13 volts it is low. Try recharging it. Don't change anything until you have done a few checks!
I was jumpin it off the car. I know the battery is dead but it still should start from another ride... Right? I remember this thing sometimes turnin over slow before and it did sit for a year in the salty air of Panama City. May need to be cleaned up?
Club Member
Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 3,193
Likes: 7
From: North Atlanta Area, GA
I would suggest that you buy a Battery Tender made for a motorcycle, and leave it on your bike overnight or longer to charge up the battery slowly, then run tests on the battery with a multimeter. If it still won't turn over after charging overnight, then it's most likely a bad battery, which is very common on Harleys.
If the battery is not charging when the bike is running, then it could be a bad stator not putting out enough AC volts, or it could be the regulator not passing the proper charging current to the battery. I had a bad regulator on Bertha, my FLHTP, a few weeks ago, and had to get towed home when the battery finally got too low to run the ignition any longer. I replaced the regulator and all is well.
You need to eliminate each of these things one at a time to get to the root cause of the problem. There are several recent threads on this forum about each of these areas that you can find through a forum search.
Club Member
Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 45,429
Likes: 2,898
From: Bedford UK
If the bike stood for that long unused the battery is likely to be as dead as a dodo! However the rest of the bike's electrics may also have suffered. I would be surprised if a battery tender will revive it, but you could use one anyway, in the future, when the bike stands for more than a few days.
6th Gear
Joined: Jul 2010
Posts: 14
Likes: 0
Jumping a bike from a car is not a good thing to do, because the car's alternator puts out much more amperage than the bike's electronics are designed to handle. You can burn things up on a bike jumping it from a car - especially the battery.
I would suggest that you buy a Battery Tender made for a motorcycle, and leave it on your bike overnight or longer to charge up the battery slowly, then run tests on the battery with a multimeter. If it still won't turn over after charging overnight, then it's most likely a bad battery, which is very common on Harleys.
If the battery is not charging when the bike is running, then it could be a bad stator not putting out enough AC volts, or it could be the regulator not passing the proper charging current to the battery. I had a bad regulator on Bertha, my FLHTP, a few weeks ago, and had to get towed home when the battery finally got too low to run the ignition any longer. I replaced the regulator and all is well.
You need to eliminate each of these things one at a time to get to the root cause of the problem. There are several recent threads on this forum about each of these areas that you can find through a forum search.
I would suggest that you buy a Battery Tender made for a motorcycle, and leave it on your bike overnight or longer to charge up the battery slowly, then run tests on the battery with a multimeter. If it still won't turn over after charging overnight, then it's most likely a bad battery, which is very common on Harleys.
If the battery is not charging when the bike is running, then it could be a bad stator not putting out enough AC volts, or it could be the regulator not passing the proper charging current to the battery. I had a bad regulator on Bertha, my FLHTP, a few weeks ago, and had to get towed home when the battery finally got too low to run the ignition any longer. I replaced the regulator and all is well.
You need to eliminate each of these things one at a time to get to the root cause of the problem. There are several recent threads on this forum about each of these areas that you can find through a forum search.
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Club Member
Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 3,193
Likes: 7
From: North Atlanta Area, GA
I hear you on the dangers of jumping it off a car. Its actually a custom chopper with an EVO motor and trans. It may turn over once but the bike just makes a loud clicking noise. The bike sat in miltary storage while I was in Korea. Now that I am done with that I am over here in germany and I would guess it needs a new battery first but it should still turn over.
I would replace the battery first. A battery that's been sitting for a long time will lose its charge and likely not hold a charge any longer. The battery cells get damaged when a battery sits for a long time and discharges completely. It's the battery that has to supply sufficient "cold cranking amps" to the starter.
If it won't crank with a new battery, then you can pursue other options. There are lots of threads on this forum about the "Dreaded Click" (or what I call the "Click of Death"!), if you do a forum search.
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