Starter relay *click*... then... (nada)

[proper_tea]

Hey all...

So, haven't been on in a while (long enough that I had to get a new account).

Anyway, I've got an '81 GS1100E that I bought off a GSresources Member. I had a friend work on it, and he had it over the winter. I just got it back. While he had it battery died, and he replaced it with an old one that he had, so that I could ride it home (Syracuse to Philly).

I got it down here, and when I went to start it again, the bike wouldn't turn over. I figured I needed a new battery, so I went online and bought one of those high performance, AGM batteries... I think the brand is Scorpion. It came in the mail yesterday, and I put it in today. For some reason, now when I go to start it, all I get is a "click," and nothing else.

There are three wires going to each battery terminal. I know what 2 of them are, and I'm not sure what the third is. The first, obviously, is the normal set of wires that connect to a battery. The second is a battery tender, so that you can put the battery on a trickle charger when it is parked. The third... I dunno

At first I thought I had screwed something up when I was putting the wires on the battery, so I only connected the essential wires to the terminals, and suddenly it started up (actually better than it ever has before... ). So then I thought, maybe I'll connect just the normal wires and what I guessed were the battery tender wires, and see how that goes... and nothing.... so then I went back to the one set of wires, and now I can't get the thing to start.

What's going on here? Is it electrical? Is it my starter (I doubt this... but...)

Anyway... I'm not a great mechanic... or even a good one. I'm really just learning all of this.... though now that I'm on problem bike #2, I know a lot more about it all than I used to.

Any help would be appreciated... and don't hesitate to assume that I did something dumb... because I have been known to do dumb things before.

 

[BassCliff]

Hi,

Did you check the fuses?

Check the Electrical Odds and Ends page of my website for troubleshooting tips. There's a manual for you on my site too.



Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

 

[proper_tea]

Just visually, but I'll pull them all tomorrow morning and check them with a voltmeter

 

[proper_tea]

So, I checked the fuses just now... (because this is what a guy like me does with a saturday night). They're all fine (if by all fine, I mean they made my voltmeter squeal... that's how you check them, right?).

Also... so apparently The 3rd set of wires coming from the battery go to the battery fault light in the dash display. It's wired resistors in line to put the light out. The stock battery had a probe into one of the cells to alert you if the level got low. So that a sealed battery can be used the fault light had to be tricked.

Is there any way that the order that the wires on the battery are connected to the battery could effect the way it works?

 

[Macmatic]

Is there any way that the order that the wires on the battery are connected to the battery could effect the way it works?

If you mean you've got Positive wires AB&C then no, it doesn't matter if they are on A/B/C, C/A/B, B/C/A or whatever. Obviously they have to be on the positive terminal.

/\/\ac

 

[1_v8_merc]

Last time I got a Clicking in my starter relay, i bought a new starter relay, problem solved.

I went to Lowes, and in the lawn tractor section, they have a tractor solenoid for $13 or so, it bolts right into the GS no problem.
(it's in the isle where they have all the tractor blades and air filters, in the garden section.)

 

[DanTheMan]

When mine did that, I ran a ground wire from the screw that holds the relay down to the - post on the battery, and voila! started fine.