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Riding home from work on the falco and I stalled it at the lights (again doh), thumbed the starter and it just completely died..

then waited for ages for RAC man number 1 who had a go at figuring out what was wrong..

the battery was totally flat, but when he put the chargers on it actually started turning the engine over, even though the ignition was set to off

so he gave up and called in RAC man number 2 with a trailer who then brought me home..

now im home 3.5 hours later and feeling pretty crap

supposed to be going away on the bike round europe on thursday!

arrrrg

so tomorrow I am going to try and find

1. someone who can fix it in the next couple of days

2. the parts needed to fix it (starter motor maybe?)

what a PITA

fekked starter solenoid?

ISTR people upgrading these as the standard one is poor. From first impressions thats where i would be looking with your problem.

Could be wrong, but thats my take on it

yeah doing a bit of reading that's what i was thinking
http://forums.sv650.org/showthread.php?t=129759&page=2

thats good, its cheaper than a starter motor!

Fingers crossed thats all it is.

If it turns out to be the starter relay, get a Yamaha one, part no: 4KD-81940-00-00

or alternatively, these: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/STARTER-RELAY-APR ... 45f384f7ae
Think D-Rider on here has got one and doesn't complain.

cool cheers guys :)

man I hope its a £20 fix, my bank balance has taking a serious beating lately

Yes my first guess would be that the Starter Solenoid contacts have welded themselves together. The usual failure mode for the crappy Aprilia solenoids is that their contact resistance increases - which is the opposite problem - but I did have the same problem as you when mine finally packed up.

As has been mentioned I do have the Scooter Assassins Solonoid and have never once had a problem with it - though it did come with different connectors so I had to crimp on the ones from my original solenoid.

If you need it quickly, I think the Yamaha one is probably your best bet.

herbacious wrote:cool cheers guys :)

man I hope its a £20 fix, my bank balance has taking a serious beating lately

If it is the starter relay and it's failed shorted out, I would bet it's taken your battery out as well.....

happend to me starter solinoid kept turning the starter till the battery was flat , new solinoid and all was well check you starter button is clean to

Happened to me once (on a van), kept turning till the battery terminals burst into flames.
Ever seen aluminium burn? Think HMS Sheffield!

Herbacious, make sure your battery and your charging circuit (esp. reg/rect) are ok. As far as I know, one of the main causes of solenoids failing (not uncommon on Futuras, and I guess other models aren't that different in this respect) is low output from the battery. This in turn is often due to poor charging. The Fut OEM reg/rect isn't quite up to the job - (many owners fit after-market ones, e.g. Electrex) and there's also a wiring mod which can improve things.

Of course, what I've just written may be total bollocks; can someone confirm whether or not Falcos are affected by similar issues?

And yes, the Yamaha solenoid makes a marked difference.

The wiring mod should ONLY be done if your bike really needs it - there is a danger of overcharging your battery if you just do this as a matter of course as a precautionary measure.
Even if at first investigation it seems that it might need doing, firstly check that all contacts in the connectors in your charging and starting circuits are clean (electrically) and tight (mechanically).

As for relays failing due to a weak battery

With a weak battery you may get the clack clack clack of the relay dropping in and out. This happens as the relay engages, the starter pulls a heavy current, the poor battery terminal voltage is pulled down, this reduces the relay coil voltage to a point where it is insufficient to hold the relay on, it drops out cutting the feed to the starter, the battery recovers, the relay coil is re-energised pulling the relay on, current is drawn by the starter and the cycle repeats ... and you hear the clack clack clack of the relay.
This is the only real issue that affects the relay when the battery is weak ... I really can't think of how it might cause it to fail.

not sure yet - new battery may be in order

in hind sight i think this was basically my fault..

fitted some heated grips, but looks like I didn't properly tighten up the live battery terminal and that then has cascaded into this f***up

definitley getting my RAC moneys worth tho..

took my other bike out today (my winter/commuter bike - Triumph Trident) and picked up a bloody screw in the back tyre!

so I have literally spent the last two nights waiting by the side of the road for the RAC

though credit to them when they turn up they have been spot on

2 nights in a row though !!

Remind me to NEVER ride with you - with luck like yours I'd most probably hit by lightening

lol yeah

though in fairness I have 10 years of fairly trouble free riding behind me, this is definitely an unusual run of bad luck..

I just hope that my bad luck cup is now empty before I go away on this trip!