Starting problem 1996 vfr 750 track bike

I rode bike hard on country roads for about an hour.Turned bike off and took a 20 minute break.Bike would not start or turn over.Eventually I was able to push start it and rode home.Since then I have tried to start it and it starts just fine.I haven't taken bike out for another ride because I do not want to chance getting stranded. Any ideas?

 

Are you having any other symptoms? If your coils are not installed correctly (too close to the headers) they can build up too much resistance and stop working. The bike won't operate until after they cool back down. This has happened to me. It could also be a bad battery, or bad regulator/rectifier. If either one of these fail, you can have the same issue. If you can provide a few more details, it'll help.

 

I'd check the starter selenoid based on the fact it wouldn't turn over. It might be goin bad.

 

I have had the bike for about 3 months and have had no problems.The previous owner rode it exclusively on the track and did a lot of upgrades. the bike also had 22K miles when I bought it. I went out for a hard Saturday ride and rode about an hour. I stopped to take a break and turned bike off.After about 20 mins I tried to start bike and it would not.It made no clicking sounds and would not turn over.After numerous attempts I was able to push start bike and ride home.The ride home took about 45mins and I avgd 80mph.It ran w/o any problems.I have randomly started the bike since then and it starts w/o any problem.My normal use consists of daily driving to work 2-3 days a week and an occassional hard/fun Saturday ride.

 

Hey Youngblood, you live in Maryland? Is this my old bike?

BZ

 

Houston,Tx

 

Could be something as simple as the ignition switch or the starter switch. Starter switches in particular have been known to go bad. Open up the switch module on the right handlebar and spray contact cleaner into the starter switch. The fact that when it 'fails' you get nothing suggests something fairly simple like this.

One question - do you get lights and the instrument panel when you turn the switch on? If not it's either the ignition switch or perhaps an intermittent master fuse. Don't laugh at that. I've seen it before. That dang bigass fuse can fool you.

Sorry for 'thinking out loud here'...

 

When I turn on the ignition my instrument panels works, all the lights and the horn...

 

That makes it easier actually. Do you have a shop manual?

 

Yes, I have a shop manual...

 

Okay, well the circuit to operate the starter is pretty simple; but there are several paths that could cause this. I'm not looking at the manual at the moment; but the starter switch (the button on the right handlebar) activates a relay that shunts battery power to the starter. If a) you have lights, instruments, etc. and b) you don't hear a 'click' when you push the button, then the first place to look is that starter switch. Pretty easy to get at; but it's kinda delicate so be careful. There are at least two sets of contacts, one of them goes to the starter relay and the other to the headlight relay (to turn it off while the starter is engaged).

If you have a multimeter and know how to use it, do so to check these connections first.

 

The problem has been solved.I went to cycle gear and bought a Dura Boost battery for $69 and a Deltran Battery Tender Junior for $39 and bike is starting now w/o any problems.Thank you everyone for your help.I may be offline for a couple of days...i have some miles to put in...

 

Hmmm... good that you 'solved' it. Sounds like it was most likely the connections to the battery.

 

My bike now has another starting problem. I turn the ignition on and push the start button is sounds like the starter is spinning,but the engine will not turn over.It makes a whinning noise. any ideas?

 

I turned ignition off,shifted into first gear, rocked bike back and forth,shifted back into neutral,turned on ignition,pushed starter button and bike started.I let bike run for about 15 mins,turned bike off and it would not start. i did the rocking again and it started.Any ideas???

 

It's the one way sprag in the start clutch/gear. There's 3 rollers backed by light weight springs with caps on the. If those parts wear wrong the roller/s will stick. The most common reason they stick is if the bike has been setting, thick oil and it's cold, varnish from dirty oil.

When that happens to mine, very seldom, I put it in gear and rock the motor. A good bump usually will break them lose if all is good and just stuck by oil. It only takes one of the rollers to stick and it wont grab.

 

iiiiiiiiiii

 

[The starter clutch was removed and it was cracked.I replaced it and now bike turns over but still will not start.Any ideas?

 

Dude same thing happened to me today...starter clicks; nothing else happens. When I wait a second and do it again it'll fire right up..

All the dash lights are on; battery is new. Strange

Its a 96; only 11k miles. The rectifier has been replaced and beefed up the wiring harness

Maybe i need to look at some connectors??

 

Do you know how to jump the large terminals on top of the starter relay ??

If you need to do that a few times, you'll know you may need a new relay, but your mileage is probably too low for that, so ?????? Remove the fat wires there and sand off the corrosion film.