I have an 02 vulcan 800 that (with battery fully charged) will not turn over unless i jump he starter solenoid.. if i push the starter button, a box beside the solenoid clicks once per button push, and thats it.. fuse inside solenoid is good.. and tips here would be helpful as this is my daily....

 

By the way, if i jumper the solenoid, it turns over fine, but wont start

 

hi James, welcome aboard. Coupla questions....humor me, I can be dense.....

OK. Are you jumping the starter solenoid from the bike's battery, or from a battery external to the bike?

You've got a late model bike, and I have trouble thinking corrosion has affected your switches already....

The turn over but will not start thing........the side stand safety switch acts as an ignition interrupt. You can crank it, but no fire to the plugs. The clutch safety switch works as a starter interrupt....if there is not a closed circuit, the bike engine will not turn over.

There is a switch on the upper part of the side stand. Locate it and flush it out with WD40 / reasonable facsimile. Work the plunger. Road grime gets in there and corrosion takes over.

Again, with this late of a model of a bike, switch failure doesn't ring true. My mind keeps going back to the battery. Remove your terminal ends and clean them with steel wool, sand paper, emery cloth....make sure you have new fresh connections. There is no such thing as a visual battery terminal check. You might have a shorted out battery cell, if so, then the "100%" charged battery won't have the cranking amps needed to turn the engine over. You might need to take the battery in to have it load tested.

Online motorcycle diagnostics is one of the best ways to make a fool of yourself there is. And there is no greater disadvantage. I can't hear, touch, smell and I can only utilize the limited info used to describe the problem. There's my .02 cents worth. Factory issued motorcycle batteries are notorious for their short life spans, and their tendencies to go bad at the worst possible time. Until you prove your battery is not the culprit, you are problem solving using the WAG method.

 

Agree with Fuller^, check your battery connections. Sounds like you might have a bad ground if your starter solenoid is making the frustrating "click, click, click."

 

Well, the battery is new, and the kickstand switch was replaced less than a year ago..the not starting issue is the lesser of the two concerns compared to the starter seemingly not getting juice unless i jump the solenoid.. mechanical i can figure.. electrical drives me nuts.. lol

 

Good luck with getting it worked out.

 

Dont know how, but replacing the solenoid fixed everything... it doesnt make any sense, but it seems like it doesnt want to start if you jump the solenoid, but it will start beautifully off of the start button... lol