I was going to ride my bike to work. Pulled out of the garage, turned the key, everything is normal. Lights, fuel pump, I hit the start button....PPhiisst!!

All of the power went off, and I could smell an electrical arch. I rolled back into the garage.

I checked the battery terminals(tight), I checked the battery voltage(fully charged). I turned the key back on and everything powered up like normal. I hit the start button again....PHiisst!! same thing.

I'm at work, planning to tackle this when I get home, any suggestions on what to look for?

clean the connection on the starter motor, not saying that's it but its a start.. if you can locate it by the sound, I'm sure you will find it,,

You have a poor connection somewhere! Even though the battery terminals are tight the problem might still be there if the parts are niot clean! Go to Radio Shack and get a can of tuner cleaner, and go to an auto parts store and get a tube of dielectric grease. You have three wires with two ends each. The ground connection to the battery and the connection to the frame; you have the hot connection to the battery and to the starter relay; and the third wire goes from the starter relay to the starter. Take the ground wire off of the battery first and reconnect it last! use sandpaper or a knife blade; take each connection apart spray with tunner cleaner scrape the mateing parts to clean them, spray again; Coat mating parts whth dielectric grease and reassemble. When you have good clean solid connections, you shouldn't have any problems. If that doesn't do it, you have an internal problem with either the starter relay or the starter.

Clifford

I'll try cleaning the battery connections and the starter connections, I heard the noise from beneath where the tank meets the seat. How can all the power go out when I hit the starter, then I can turn the ignition off then back on and the lights and pump come back on?

Is there some kind of overload protection in the ignition system?

Are you sure your battery is fully charged??? Just because the lights, gauges, etc... come on doesn't mean there's enough voltage to start the bike. Learned that lesson the hard way years ago with my Vulcan. Bike did the same thing you described. Checked everything; even took the starter apart, then I read in the service manual that (with the Vulcan) I should have a minimum of 13.something volts at the battery. Well, I'd checked it and it was at 12.something; enough that I thought it should be okay. Charged the battery and sure enough, the bike started right up.

Anyway, start with the easy stuff first, then go from there.

In The Wind,
Aaron

2005Roadstar wrote:

Anyway, start with the easy stuff first, then go from there.

In The Wind,
Aaron

Word! Big time!

More times than I want to admit to, I've bought parts because of electrical issues I thought I'd figured out.

Battery voltage is 12.55, but now, I have no power to any lights or anything else. I'm going to the fuses next.

Check you battery cables as well. If they have damage from acid, are frayed or worn, they may have increased resistance. That can cause a lot of problems downline that don't make any sense on their own.

Clean and remount your terminals too.

Have fun.

Got it!

Even though the terminals were tight, I disconnected them, cleaned them and scuffed em up a little, put on some grease, and tightened them back up. Turn the key, hit the switch and she started wagging her tail like always.

Thanks guys