Motorcycle won't start

I sort of agree, although it would require no ground to have a no circuit condition where a bad ground would something which does not inhibit small current consumers but fail when trying to pull 75A or more with the starter.

 

Ok I put the bike into 3rd gear and it rolled with no resistance so the egine is not locked up. Now everything is pointing to a starter motor issue so I am going to pull that out and connect it directly to my battery to see if that turns on.

 

I am trying to get my starter motor out of my bike so I can test it but I can not find a way to access it and I don't want to end up taking the whole bike apart if anyone knows how to remove the starter from the bike that would help a lot thanks.

 

You don't need to remove it to test it. Run a jumper from the positive on the battery to the lug on the starter.

 

rc, how would you explain the drop in voltage that Ryan measured when the starter button was pressed?

 

Yes so bad ground would reduce ability of current to flow where as issue here seems to be excessive current flowing.

I would support checking engine turns and if it does then issue is around starter motor.

Not on VFR but have seen salt like corrosion on starter lead where it connects to starter provide a short to earth when salt crystals wet. But this bike is dry as it has not been started.

 

I don't insist on anyone following any advice I give. They based on experience with other bikes than OP's so they may not even apply in this case.

 

Here is a manual for the 90-96 model. Section 17 covers the starter system (pdf page 264). I dont know how similar that is compared to your '98 but it may some inspiration.
https://archive.org/details/Honda250/page/n2/mode/1up

 

It does sound like a mechanical problem with the starter motor.

 

1998--01 VFR800Fi manual available here https://carlsalter.com/download.asp?p=2062

 

Starter circuit from page 478 in the correct manual. Similar principles but different one-way clutch and much, much better illustrations in the 98 manual. Wow!

 

wait a minute .........

were you squeezing the clutch while pushing ? normally, cylinder compression will make pushing fairly hard.

 

I was kind of thinking the same thing. Didn't sound right.

 

Yes 90-97 manuals used lots of line drawings. This is IMHO a retrograde step from 86-89 manual.

Mr H must have listened as 98-01 manual much better.

 

Yeah this my fault for wording that horribly. I meant to say that when I hold the clutch in with the bike in third gear there is resistance but the bike still moves and the rear wheel is not stuck. I think this is a better way of describing this.

 

If you are holding the clutch in then you are disconnecting the engine from the rear wheel. That really didn't accomplish anything. Try removing the plug on the clutch cover and using a socket to spin the motor if it is free.

 

Ok thanks for the help I removed the clutch cover and tried to spin the motor but it did not move and I even removed the starter motor to try by itself and that worked perfectly so I believe that my engine is seized and now I have to figure out how to fix that.

 

Has the motor ever ran under your watch or did you buy it non running and trying to fix it. It could be hydro locked. Remove the plugs and see if the motor turns.

 

I bought the motorcycle running in early october and it ran well for a month until it shut off in late november. I willl try to remove the plugs and see if that works.

 

.....all this chasing after batteries, charging system, starter, etc. could have been solved alot earlier if you hadn't made false assumptions and had paid more attention to suggestions to test whether the engine is free to turn.