OK...resurrecting the old problem here. Again, being a bad KLX owner, I didn't touch the bike all winter. I was tired and burnt out from summer, and was ready for the lazy relaxing time of winter of doing nothing but work, paying bills, and gaming/watching TV. Plus, my garage isn't heated.

So, now spring is here.. I want the bike fixed, obviously. The bike is still dead... I guess it didn't heal itself over the past 4 months. I tried the kickstand switch, it of course didn't do anything because the bike would still be responsive, you just wouldn't be able to drive..right? I did it anyway, but still nothing.

The battery terminals aren't loose or anything, but tomorrow I'll unhook them and buff them up and put them back on.

fgk228....What did you do to your bike again? How would I be able to test for a short? Something tells me by the way this thing is acting that's whats going on. About a week after I wrote this original post I tried to ride the bike again for our last week of good weather and it was totally unresponsive again. I tried catching it in gear and it did NOTHING. I had to end up pushing my bike up a full block, up hill in full riding gear. So, the bike will NOT start..but it did before when it was dead, thats how I got home.

Any input guys?

 

quick update.

Went out in the garage and cleaned up the terminals a bit and put them back on. Checked the main fuse, the small secondary fuses, and for good measure, just unplugged and plugged back in a alot of those plugs in the back just to look at them.

All attempts failed. The bike is completely unresponsive. No turn signals, lights, ... nothing.

 

If the bike is totally dead, no neutral light etc etc, but it will bump start, it can't be anything like a side stand switch.

Its gotta be a dead battery or connection to the battery.

Got a multi meter or test lamp?

Check the battery first and work through until you find out where the 12v goes awol.

 

Throw it on the charger and make sure the battery is topped off. Could be the battery was going bad way back when, and just no longer has the juice needed to turn over the bike. And then it ran down due to internal resistance after sitting a few months and now can't power anything. Recharging may get some of it back, but if the cells are failing, it still might not be enough.

That's probably the most likely candidate, imo. Of course, it could be a number of things, but my money is on the battery.

 

I was going to say check the main fuse.
But you did.

 

Me too. Open cicuit. Easy enough to test.

 

It did the first time it went dead. That's how I got it home. But then the next weekend it was nice so I figured I would ride it up to my shop. I got all dressed, pushed it down the road to catch it in gear and it wouldn't start. I coasted almost a block trying to start it and it wouldn't go.

Thats why its worrying me.

 

Don't worry.
Bump starting a cold bike with a dead battery will always be a challenge.

If the bike is dead, no lights at all, fuses all good = Battery 99% of the time.

 

Reminds me of my brother's 1981 Honda XL500.



IIRC, it used a 6v electrical system and the battery would run down after only a day or so if not ridden so every time I went to start it up, my 5'4" 145# *** would have to push this 310+# bike up a rather large hill, coast down and attempt to bump start it 3+ times before it would start...

Most days, by the time I got it started I was too tired to ride it, LOL

To this day I will never own a Honda, based entirely on that PTSD inducing bike.

 

Heres the scoop thus far.


I put this thing that I assume to be a battery tester on it. It has an alligator clamp on one end and a spike with a light on it for the positive. The bulb lit up but wasn't super bright. I went out to my old mans bike and his was very bright. However, the battery was bigger and was a higher AH. 12 volt though.....so I don't know if that means anything or not.

Right now I have it on charge, just for the hell of it.

After I leave the shop I'm going to go head to the greatest store in the world (Harbor Freight) and see what sorts of battery testers and what not they have.

I found some sort of electrical meter here in a drawer. It supposedly tests circuit and stuff, but I'll be damned if I can figure it out. The instructions read like you already have to know what you are doing before you even use it, which makes me wonder why include a damn book at all....anyway. I'll see what Harbor Freight has and go from there.


Can I can test the whole circuit on my bike simply but touching both battery cables with a tester (without the battey of course) to see if there is a short in the whole system? Or is it not that simple. Would I test the key/switch ??? Cuz if its not the battery I dont know how to fix something like this. If it is the battery I'll pick one up tomorrow.


I know jack crap about electrical system, so I'm really quite lost with this.