sv650 won't start - fairly detailed

[kylemcburnie]

BACKGROUND: So i bought my first bike - '99 sv650 with about 39k miles on it.
Everything on it was stock except the tires and I road it around for a while everything worked great except that the bike could NOT start with the choke on, I could start it up without the choke then engage it and it would work but it wouldn't actually start with the choke lever ON.

I was away at sea for a week and came back and tried to start the bike at night and it wouldn't start - the next morning it started fine.

Then I left for a month and came back 2 days ago and it wouldn't start it would crank over for a while and just not fire up - the next morning, same thing except it would only crank over once or twice before making just clicking noises.

I started reading some threads and got in a little over my head so just decided to see if it was simply the battery that was out from sitting for a month.

Yesterday went to start it and it would only make clicking noises, no turning over.

So i hooked it up to my car battery (without turning the car on, I read that as long as the car is off it should only transmit the equivalent 12v to the bike)

Tried to start up the motorcycle and it turned over but wouldn't fire up. (this was all last night)

This morning went to try the bike and i got nothing, no sound or anything. Re hooked it up to the car and tried to start the bike.

This time I got turning over, turning over, turning over, turning over, pop - and repeat (wouldn't fire up).

Unhooked the bike and now when I try to start it it makes this kind of electrical buzzing sound, different then the earlier clicking sound.

Anyone have any idea what could be wrong with the bike?
Help much appreciated!

(the neutral light has and still does come on when I turn the key to -on-, headlights don't turn on anymore)

[dan46n2]

I'd test the battery first. Either use a multimeter or take it to an auto parts store and have them test it.

That's where I'd start.

[kylemcburnie]

Alright so I took the battery out and brought it to O'reilly's where they tested the voltage for me - it came out at 11.7.

Should I just get a battery tender and re-charge it until its up above 12v and attempt to start the bike again?

Also interesting of note is that when I attempt to start the bike i found the buzzing/clicking sound to be coming from the a little green plastic box-looking thing under the right side of the driver's seat:

[Kz900Jim]

I vote battery... it can have 11.7 volts but if it cant provide the amperage needed, its not going to help just charging it.

[RMAN]

Originally Posted by kylemcburnie

Alright so I took the battery out and brought it to O'reilly's where they tested the voltage for me - it came out at 11.7.

Should I just get a battery tender and re-charge it until its up above 12v and attempt to start the bike again?

Also interesting of note is that when I attempt to start the bike i found the buzzing/clicking sound to be coming from the a little green plastic box-looking thing under the right side of the driver's seat:

That's the starter relay. Contains a 30A fuse and a spare as well. When the battery is low charged and doesn't have enough oomph to turn over the starter motor, you will hear that click or buzzing from the relay trying to engage. Perfectly normal sound with a low or weak battery. You should charge the battery and then have it tested not just for at rest voltage, but whether the battery can hold a charge under load. The store should have a load tester for that. Knowing the voltage doesn't tell you very much. Letting the bike sit around without a maintenance charger doesn't help. I don't know where you live and what the temps are like, needing to use the choke upon initial startup is not always necessary. But, when you bought the bike, did you know the service history? Did you perform a routine tune-up? Do you know if the valves have been looked at for clearances at least twice in 39K miles? How old is the battery? You just might need a new battery, you should check the performance of the charging system or have a mechanic do this, especially the Regulator/Rectifier and a carb cleaning might be in order as well.

[cive]

change the plugs too if you do not know when they were last changed.

[SU-ZU-KI-V]

+1 to RMAN. Get a load test done!

[jmorgan6]

O'Reilly should of been able to do a load test on the battery, did they not?

[kylemcburnie]

So some new updates:
Had the battery tested and it was weak so I got a yuasa.
Bike fires up fine now, even fires up with the choke lever on (which it was unable to do previously).
Bike had been running fine for about a week...
Riding home last night I was almost back traveling pretty slowly and the bike backfired about 4/5 times in 20 seconds.
This morning I started her up for my commute and although it didn't backfire anymore, the speedometer no longer works!
Hoping these are little individual problems and not some bigger more complicated problem.


Any help would be greatly appreciated

[dan46n2]

Speedometer not working usually means the magnet in the front wheel is busted, but with your previous issues I wouldn't hesistate to have your R/R (regulator/rectifier) tested. Known issue with the 1st gen SV's