My 2001 600 F4i is coming out of winter storage and will turn over and start fine when I jump from a car battery (750CCA) but from the motorcycle battery (180CCA) it will not turn over.

I have tried replacing the battery and get the same result. Sometimes it turns over 1 or 2 times, and even cranked from the new battery when first installed, but it will not crank again. The relay clicks and then the screen display goes blank. After 39 seconds or so the computer resets and the screen goes through the bootup procedure.

When I connect the car battery the starter turns and the bike cranks. My assumption at this point is that either the relay or the starter are somehow failing, but that the added amperage of the larger battery is compensating for the failure. I attempted to reach the starter but quickly realized that taking the tank off was not enough.

Any suggestions would be GREATLY appreciated!

 

have you tried bypassing the replay using the motorcycle battery?

 

The problem you described sounds like a dead battery. I have had this happen several times as my battery really needs to be replaced but I haven't been able too. When you try to start you will get one or two cranks or just a click then the screen goes blank and the clock resets to 1:00.

However I did have one time where I had fully charged my battery but I still had this happen to me but I was only able to start it when the charger was attached to the battery and it turned out to be a loose connection where the positive cable connects to the relay.

I would check your connections and if you have a voltmeter check the voltage of the battery to verify that it is charged.

 

Thank both of you for taking the time to reply. It turned out that the "new" battery I bought was crap, and after replacing it the bike lit up like it was new.

I had originally tested with a multimeter and the voltage was in the low 11 range. The car battery reads 12.7 so I thought it was an acceptable margin. As I was testing the load across the relay I noticed it was in the mid 10 range, which didn't seem right at all. After confirming I was getting the same voltage from the battery directly as I was post-relay it seemed like the only thing left would be the battery.

I did try jumping the relay and would get nothing even when being attached to the car battery, so I must have been doing it wrong. I was touching both contacts together on the relay using a screwdriver with the ignition turned on (like I have with a car before) - but nothing.

So in conclusion - bring a multimeter when buying a battery!

Thanks again