Hey guys I have a 98 cbr f3 and I'm having issues starting it up out of nowhere.

I thought it was the battery at first but I've put in a brand new battery and then trickle charged it over night and still having the same problem.

What happens is when I press my starter I get nothing but my relay clicking. No sign of turning over just clicking. What's even more strange is after a few attempts at push starting it I pressed the starter again and it almost wanted to turn over, but only once, next press was back to just clicking.

Need advice. Getting frustrated not being able to ride.

 

Has the bike had any after market electrical gear fitted, like blinkers.
Go through the normal stuff if you haven't already, like the fuses. My manual reckons if you're hearing a "Click", then the starter motor is ok. It could be (most probably) a short somewhere, or even a faulty starter/kill switch.

 

Do you know how to use a meter, or do you have a friend that does ? There are a number of places to start checking depending on exactly what's happening. But that's just it, you need to be able to use a meter to determine exactly what's happening or where it's happening.

Can you tell exactly where the clicking noise is coming from ? If you put your hand on or near where you think the clicking is coming from can you verify it by feeling it ? When a relay clicks, you can usually feel it when you touch it. Try to give more specific details on your observations. What things light up, what things don't. Things like that.

 

Well I'm familiar with a multimeter but don't have one on hand. Sorry for being kind of vague. When I turn it on, all lights etc work as normal. The clicking I reffer to is what I believe to be the starter relay which is located down by the battery. I can hold it and feel the click. So that seems to me that the connection is traveling that far but then going stray? Where would I look if I had a multimeter? What about the strange times it randomly wants to turn over after push starting? It seems so simple but I'm missing something. Thanks for helping BTW! Appreciated.

 

if you can get your hands on a meter best place to start is going to be on the signal wire for the starter...if you get signal and it doesn't turn over most likely thats your problem. sounds like either the brushes or the armature in the motor are sticking and when you try push starting it frees them up just enough to try to turn over next time you hit the button

 

Brushes or armature? Okay you're over my head now. Is that a serious issue?

Im going to try to get ahold of a meter today.

 

basically boils down to if you have good readings at the signal wire and the bike isn't turning over you're probably gonna need a starter

 

i read somewhere that is possible to bypass the starter relay, or "jump" it by using a cable to connect the positive lead to the other wire coming off the starter. is this for real or dangerous? will that tell me if its my relay or starter? still no multimeter im trying to get ahold of one....

 

if you temporarily bypass the relay and the starter still doesn't turn over then most likely the relay is fine...but the concrete way is going to have some kind of way to check voltage at the signal wire...multi meter or at the very least a test light of some sort even if it's homemade

 

i hate to sound dumb, but what do you mean by "signal wire"?

ive only taken off the rear side fairing so far so i havent been able to trace the wire too far, but from what i can tell there is a very short wire that goes directly from the + on the battery to the starter relay, then from the other side of the relay there is a wire that goes into a larger group of wires which then travels farther than i can see into the bike lol. do i need to fully strip down the bike? could the issue be the wire coming from what i guess to be the front of the bike?

sorry for lots of questions maybe stupid ones but im by no means a mechanic i just know enough to get my by then the rest i catch on quickly