Greetings all

I'm getting to my wits ends with this. My 1990 CBR1000FL will not start on the starter motor. The engine turns over, but really slowly and laboured sounding, and never fires.

Once running, it runs 100% fine, which leads me to believe there is probably nothing wrong with the ignition box. I have tested both the pickup coils and HT coils, plus the side stand switch with a multimeter as per the manual, and all measure within specs, so I don't think there is anything wrong there either. I have cleaned all contacts in the starter motor circuit.

I can also bump start the bike OK every time, it just won't start on the starter. NowI have changed to another starter, and the same problem exibits. I also have the same problem when my battery is freshly charged, or when I have a pair of jumper leads attatched from a good car battery (should have heaps of grunt)

What on earth is going on here? I'm just short of biting the bullet and putting it in the shop for diagnosis, but this is a last resort.

Please, any suggestions VERY welcome.

Cheers

 

Sorry dude,

My 1st CBR had the same problem & I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but it sounds like its the starter clutch & dampener.

Time to split the cases.

 

Trips

Thanks for the reply, are you able to offer any further details as to what these are, roughly where, and what is wrong with them to cause this problem.

Also, If I do the work myself, what parts are required and are they expensive?

Thanks

 

Can you measure the voltage at the battery and then at the starter and give me the figures for cranked voltage in both cases? That might help to get a better understanding. Also measure the voltage between battery minus and some metal bolt on the engine, that would also be helpful. Have you removed and cleaned the ground connection to the frame and the connections to the battery (plus and minus)?

 

I thought only the 1987-89's had the starter clutch problem.

 

I'm in the process of putting an alternator chain in my 88.

it's practically the same as doing a starter clutch. The engine comes out and completly apart.

 

Your problem could be as simple as a bad/low battery. These things will crank over on pretty low voltage but the draw of the starter in combination with the low voltage available will not allow the coils to perform their function, that of multiplying the voltage to jump the plug gap. You wind up with no spark. This took me a while to catch on to as I never had a vehicle in the past that wouldn't start if there was even a labored turn over by the starter motor.

A quick check is to jump the bike from your car and see of it starts. If so, it's either a bad battery or a charging problem. The jump will eliminate the whole ignition side of the equation if it proves to start the bike, which is highly likely. Good luck.

 

'Check the battery' was my first thought when reading your post. Next was 'check the connections'. Last was, 'maybe it's the starter'. Dad's correct, a low battery will keep this bike from firing even if it will crank a little. His suggestion is a good one too. By jumping from your car you provide known ample voltage and amperage to the starter. Hope it's your battery. Much easier to deal with than a starter. And cheaper.

 

Make sure you got those protected leads, otherwise, disconnect the battery terminals in the car

 

Cheers guys

I have tried the car battery direct to the starter, no solonoid or ignition system, just raw volts on frame and starter. Same problem i.e. slow turn over. So that would appear to rule out anything in the electrical system. Also, have put a new starter into her, still same issue. So that would seem to leave only the starter clutch as earlier suggested.

Now I have ascertained that I CAN get the starter clutch out without splitting the cases:

Remove the starter motor
Remove the alternator shaft cover
Undo alternator shaft nut
Remove the alternator shaft assembly

The starter clutch outer, needle beering and starter driven gear all come out the same side as the alternator shaft assembly.

Question - what does the damper do? How could this be contributing to my problem.

Thanks