Bike won't start....cold weather!!
#11
Join Date: May 2005
Location: A barrier island in NJ
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RE: Bike won't start....cold weather!!
ORIGINAL: jgcable
...Like I said... all the cables are brand new with gold ends on them. I had them all checked out by Harley and they told me they were all mint. I will check it out again. Maybe they missed something. I don't know if this is related or not.. but... I recently replaced my handlebars with mini apes and I replaced my turn signal lenses and bulbs with smoke lenses and amber bulbs. Since I did that only my right blinker works and its pretty slow. My left blinker just lights up the bulbs but it doesn't blink. That sounds like a ground issue too.
...Like I said... all the cables are brand new with gold ends on them. I had them all checked out by Harley and they told me they were all mint. I will check it out again. Maybe they missed something. I don't know if this is related or not.. but... I recently replaced my handlebars with mini apes and I replaced my turn signal lenses and bulbs with smoke lenses and amber bulbs. Since I did that only my right blinker works and its pretty slow. My left blinker just lights up the bulbs but it doesn't blink. That sounds like a ground issue too.
When you did your bars could you have nicked some insulation on a wire that's now shorting out? Or perhaps at a splice you have some bare wire shorting out? There's definitely a problem there with your turn signals, but I doubt it's causing your heated battery cable. Logic tells me it should blow a fuse before it affects a cable.
#12
RE: Bike won't start....cold weather!!
Like above, you have a pinched/stripped wire on the signals, hot side. That won't affect the battery cables though. Possible you had a cable either rub on something or come loose. the cable gets hot because the starter is drawing more current that the cable can hold, usually because it's loose, but I could be way wrong though.
#13
RE: Bike won't start....cold weather!!
Yeah, all the heavy cables including the ground. Hook your meter, if possible, to the actual terminal to whatever the cables are on, like put the meter lead on the battery positive and the other on the starter bolt/nut.
If it's getting hot, then something's wrong. Either way too much current is flowing through the cable or the resistance of the cable is too high, regardless of if it is new or recently blessed by a stealership. I still would not rule out a starter with a shorted armateur.
I think Thumber is a little overboard on the twice a year (unless he lives on the coast), but he is on target for eliminating that potential problem from ever coming up. Also interesting on using neverseize as a anti-oxidant. That's a good idea. The stuff usually has copper in it.I'll try that stuff next time I need some. I'm about out of Ox-Guard or whatever it was I used on the wire into the circuit breaker box on the last meter loop I put up.
If it's getting hot, then something's wrong. Either way too much current is flowing through the cable or the resistance of the cable is too high, regardless of if it is new or recently blessed by a stealership. I still would not rule out a starter with a shorted armateur.
I think Thumber is a little overboard on the twice a year (unless he lives on the coast), but he is on target for eliminating that potential problem from ever coming up. Also interesting on using neverseize as a anti-oxidant. That's a good idea. The stuff usually has copper in it.I'll try that stuff next time I need some. I'm about out of Ox-Guard or whatever it was I used on the wire into the circuit breaker box on the last meter loop I put up.
#14
RE: Bike won't start....cold weather!!
Just for reference,I have nearly 11:1 compression on my '90 1200 with no comp. releases.The stock starter turns it over fine everytime.Has been for over a year now.High torque starter is probably not needed .I had the same problems with myblinkers and never did figure out what it was.I removed them(would have anyway)Never had hot cables though.
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#16
Join Date: May 2005
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RE: Bike won't start....cold weather!!
ORIGINAL: Dr.Hess
...I think Thumber is a little overboard on the twice a year (unless he lives on the coast), but he is on target for eliminating that potential problem from ever coming up...
...I think Thumber is a little overboard on the twice a year (unless he lives on the coast), but he is on target for eliminating that potential problem from ever coming up...
#17
RE: Bike won't start....cold weather!!
From the looks of it you have eliminated a loose or corroded cable, which would be the first thing to look for. The bike is almost 20 years old, had some serious modifications to increase compression, and that little old starter is giving up. A cable will get hot when the starter is internally shorted, won't turn and the juice goes to ground. The overly bright headlight also indicates that the current is looking for another way out. Suggest pulling and testing the starter.
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