ZXR750 H1 (1989) Intermittent starter issue?

[rexxxy]

Hey guys,

I went to start the ZXR tonight and pressing the starter button either resulted in nothing, or a really quiet buzzing sound coming from around the fuses.

Would I be right to guess its a relay?

A bit of back ground, I washed the bike when I got home from work after riding through a swarm of bloody bee's!
It was only a quick wash over the bike to get rid of bee guts and a little dirt. I didnt pull anything off to clean. No high pressure hose used either.
After washing I rode the bike 5 minutes to get fuel, and then another 15 minutes to a mates (no problems at all).

After a couple of hours, went to start the bike, and give it a warm up before the ride home. Pressed the starter a half dozen times and either nothing or very quiet buzzing. I tried taking it out of neutral and putting it back in, flicking the side stand up and down again, and then I moved the bike forward about a foot and it was fine.

Battery is only a couple of months old, and as the bike is a daily, its well looked after.

Anyway my guess is relay (from the buzzing?), im keen to hear any other suggestions?

[h.b.bear]

even thou battery is is not that old they can still shit them selfs at the drop of a hat,or it could be a bad earth somewhere

[rexxxy]

I will pull the seat off in a minute and put the multimeter on the terminals. When the starter turns, its got plenty of go and starts no problem, even with the headlights on.

I was able to replicate the fault. I just had it up on a stand to oil the chain, and the tried to start it a few times, perhaps 2 out of 5 times it wouldnt start. First time, I turned the back tyre about 6 inches, and it started fine. Second time I had it on the ground, all I did was lift it up straight and put it down again, and it went.

[rexxxy]

Its the starter solenoid by the looks of things. The battery is good, as is the charging circuit.

I will do the ring around tomorrow and see if I can get a new one.

[Gav]

Mate,mine did the same thing and I narrowed it down to the contact on the start button on the switch block.Replace the switch block, problem solved. From memory I got mine from kelens at penrith for $140.00 or so.Hope that helps.

[rexxxy]

Thanks for the reply, I have already done the starter switch. I just had to clean it out.

Its the solenoid, I pulled it out the other night, and just gave it a little clean up. It has not failed since. I am sure it will eventually die, but I hope to have a replacement for when that happens.

It did get me thinking about the condition of the altenator and starter, perhaps its time for some preventative maintenance there.

[netbikes]

Hi mate, glad you got it sorted, eletrics can be a real bastard sometimes, but one post said it, bad earth.

Just a side note, I have bypassed the clutch and side stand kills on my bike, I just find them annoying and unnecessary.

[Smitty]

..............

Just a side note, I have bypassed the clutch and side stand kills on my bike, I just find them annoying and unnecessary.

the last person i know of (who I might add I no longer have contact with) who did the 'bypass the kill' switches routines
ended up cleaning up 3 pedestrians before his bike hit a bus shelter...when he started it parked on the footpath outside a cafe
forgetting of course that when he pulled up an hour or two ago, he did NOT leave it in neutral before getting off

You might wanna reconsider the bypass the switches routine (how good is your memory?).....

[netbikes]

mmm sounds very odd to me, how did the bike take off without throttle, it should just stall and at worst fall over straight away??

Here's other things I think are a waste, neutral light, indicator light, hi bean light, most times the indicated themselves, handy in heavy traffic but not really anywhere else, tacho, I know when to change gears.

Yep my memory is not bad but it is common sense that i have tons of and I think that is the real key to safe riding.