Hi Guys,

I started having this weird issue some time ago. Basically whenever I try to start the bike I just get the click and nothing happens. What I noticed though is that if I just keep repeatedly pressing the starter button like crazy the engine will eventually crank and the bike will start.

I also noticed that it seems to start easier when the bike is warm (not everytime though!). Last week I was working with a heat gun next to the bike and then went for a ride. i was surprised that the starter worked perfectly on the 1st attempt. Not sure if if I just made this connection up though. The day after it was back to square 1.

Any ideas? This issue is really annoying

Thanks!

Hi Crashxx, how old is your battery and have you tested it?

I would start with the easiest things first. Make sure all wires and connections are free of corrosion, clean them up, and re tighten them down

I put a new Shorai lithium battery in my F4 and it now starts first push

@Crashxx:

The starting issue will be solved by cleaning your start solenoid wiring and contacts. The solenoid is directly behind your battery box and has a spare start fuse. You may find that the connector is actually burned or melted from excessive heat generated for high resistance contacts. This is a common fault for these bikes.

Now, a word about batteries. You may think your battery is up to the task, but unless it is of high quality, fully charged, and has been recently load tested, you are fighting a problem. You need to maintain the bike on a SMART battery tender to compensate for parasitic losses that occur.

Don't "think" your battery is OK...prove it. Resting Voltage is not the best indicator.

Might be a silly question, but how do I test the battery ? Do I need to take it to a battery shop or is it something I can do myself?

The brand is YUASA, i'm not sure how old it is as it came with the bike when I bought it last year. It is fully charged though.

I thought that the battery may be the issue so I took it out and connected to the charger. It was showing that the battery is at 75% charge. and then I fully charged it.

Re solenoid, so should I just take it out, clean all contacts and put it back in ?

Sounds like your battery may be on the way out. Any automotive parts store can likely test it for you. Another method would be to connect a volt meter and hit the starter button. Watch how low the voltage drops under cranking load.

A fully charged battery should read 13+ volts after being disconnected from the charger for an hour or so. Should not drop below 10 volts under cranking load (really should not drop that low!!)

For the solenoid, you need to disconnect the wiring, clean the mating surfaces of that wiring and then reassemble with some good electrical grease on the connections.

Ed is spot on for the battery...10VDC would be way too low to provide capacity to start your bike. Pop the battery out and take it to a garage or Auto Store for a LOAD TEST.

When installing the battery, be mindful of polarity and the number of wires that came off the terminals. Take a picture BEFORE you remove the battery. (You will be surprised how that helps.)