1987 CBR1000F - basically stock.

Went out yesterday to take a ride - bike had been sitting for a while so was a bit reluctant to start, but she did and shortly settled to a steady idle. After warming a bit, I shut down to get and put on my gear. 5 minutes later, when I went to restart, I lost all electricity when I pushed the starter. Pushed her back into the garage and went about my business.

This morning I find the main fuse (30A) at the starter relay blown. Replaced it and all appears normal - until I pushed the starter button when again, with an audible "pop" the fuse blew again. So - I have an electrical issue to deal with.

Electricity not being my strong point, does the collective wisdom of the list have any suggestions as to where to start/what to look at? The normal start and operation for the 1st start and then the subsequent immediate failure has me a bit puzzled. Any advice/suggestions welcome.

 

I would check continuity from starter relay to battery, switch and ground. Sounds like a dead short somewhere when you complete circuit with starter button. Could also be a short in the starter motor causing the main fuse to pop each time you energize it.

 

I agree - there is a short in the system, or at least so it would appear. Looks like I'll be chasing electricity this afternoon.

Thanks for the suggestions

 

Make sure the connections are clean and tight, at the battery, starter, solenoid and ground to frame.

 

When I took my solenoid off, I found the terminal block had a tad of corrosion, so worth a check there.

 

Thanks for the suggestions. Got sidetracked over the weekend and didn't get the chance to tear into the bike this past weekend. Something "fun" to look forward to this coming weekend!

 

Disconnect the cable between the solenoid and starter, then try the starter button. That wil tell you if the problem is up or downstream of the solenoid.

 

Excellent suggestion!!

I had not thought of doing that - and that's why I turned to the widom of those wiser than I

 

Finally got time to look into the problem - turns out to have been a loose connection at the starter motor. The "gap" resulting from this was the apparent source of the "snap" when trying to start. Cleaned and tightened the connection and I'm back in business!

Thanks for the suggestions - particularly for isolating the system into parts. Made the effort a lot more reasonable.