I just bought this 07 KLX 250 and as I was pulling up to buy it, I saw him cranking it over to get it started. I told him never mind, I would get it started with quick start when I got home so don't wear down the battery. Three days later when I try and start it, I immediately get a clicking sound from what appears to be a relay that has the cable from the positive side connected to it and all goes dead until it resets. At first I thougt either one of the cables was loose or dirty but it's more than that. Any advice on what is causing this.

 

Couple of things, first of all welcome Oldtimer to the forums in case we missed you. And if I already welcomed you then that makes me an even older old timer. Get a battery maintainer, and get the battery up to a full charge. Then before you start the bike, shut off the gas, drain the carb with the small Allen screw behind the header pipe, and then close the screw, open up the gas and pull the choke and fire it up. What does all of this mean? I'll copy and paste this in here as it is the procedure to live by.

The short (or long of it)

Shut down procedure.

1. After riding as you are pulling into your driveway, or to speed things up you can do this a block from your house, turn off the gas.
2. Let the bike run until it actually dies from gas starvation, (this may take 2-5 minutes) But that's ok it will give you time to put away your gear.
3. Park it and now you're ready for the next time you ride whether that be in a day, or a month.

Start up procedure.

1. Turn on the gas
2. Wait for 10 seconds
3. Start the bike as you always do

Now I know some of you are asking why not just drain the bowl and then you can start the bike. Well there are two reasons. It it harder to drain the bowl by hand than to let the bike do this as it runs out of gas, and by running the gas out using the motor, it assures that all of the small areas that would otherwise still have this junk they call fuel will be empty, ready for fresh, (fresher) gas to get in and do its job. Now all of that being said, I came up to work yesterday to let my son ride the moped up on the lawn and I cranked on the bike for a few minutes, and then I thought I wonder if I can drain the bowl and do the "after thought" procedure to get this thing going? Well I drained the bowl, turned the gas back on and two kicks and it was running. Keep in mind that the moped is a two stroke, and it has been sitting up at work in a mechanical room for about 2 months. So either way, whether running the gas out using the motor so you are ready to go next time (which I think is faster and more efficient) or you drain the bowl using the screw at the bottom of the carb, the results are the same, you get your bike started.

And I even guess some people would say that this is a hassle, but I gotta tell you that cranking on a bike for 5 minutes off and on only to run the battery down and still have not started the bike is way more of a hassle than a little time taken to get ready for the next ride. This last summer I rode my bike everyday for about 3 months, and it always started right up, but there are a couple of reasons. one it was warmer out, cold weather affects fuels in a negative way, and more importantly by riding the bike everyday I had gas in the bowl that didn't have enough time to "change". Next summer I will probably go back to leaving the gas on and not draining the bowl. but on the wife's bike the procedure will always be to run it out of gas since she doesn't ride as often as I do.


HAPPY RIDING, BECAUSE AFTER THIS YOU WILL SPEND ALL YOUR TIME RIDING AND NO TIME STARTING YOUR BIKE!!!!

 

Here is one of the original posts for hard starting. These were the preliminary findings that turned out to work for most of the guys that have had problems getting the bike started. Good luck, and let us know how it goes.

https://www.kawasakiforums.com/forum...ead.php?t=8652

 

Thanks for the welcome. Apparently my communication skills are lacking. The battery is new, when I hit the starter button, I hear a clicking sound from the relay that the positive cable goes to and all is dead. No dash or head light. About 2 min later, I have lights again. Hit the starter button again and the same thing happens, no lights for about two minutes, then something resets and I have dash and head light.

 

"New Battery" does not equal "Good Battery". Did you charge it properly? "Clicky noises" from relays in starter circuits usually mean weak battery. After you give the battery a "rest" and symptoms repeat themselves leads me to believe a weak/improperly charged battery. Might try pulling headlight fuse and see if that makes any difference, you're taking a major source of current draw out of the equation.

Also loose/dirty connections can cause these symptoms - check them at:

• Battery terminals
• Starter relay
• Battery To Frame Ground
• Starter

Or one of two relays ("Starter Control Relay", "Starter Relay" -- diagrams below) could be faulty?

Not sure if these will help, but here are links to few pages out of factory service manual. It's for an 2009, but likely the same as your 2007?

Wiring Diagram: http://tinyurl.com/yfckvqp

Starter Circuit: http://tinyurl.com/ykxnebt

 

Whats happening is the voltage drops and is not sufficient to do it's job, hold in the relay, once the starter motor load is engaged. Clicking is the relay engaging when the switch is pushed because at that point the voltage is enough to action the relay. But once the starter motor is energised, the voltage drops and the relay disengages. And then the voltage rises again and the relay engages again.

Probable causes.

Loose dirty or poor connection to battery, frame or relay.
Flat battery.
Faulty battery.

 

Dodgy solenoid???

 

Yep .. what neilaction said.

(ya' beat me to the server, I was busy editing my orig post.)

 

If you have a voltmeter. Check the battery voltage before starting it. And then try to start it and see what the battery voltage drops down to. If the battery drops down below 12V after an attempted start and remains below 12V. You may want to recharge the battery and try again.

Start with charging the battery first. Then check connections of battery, relay, and starter.

Also, anytime a new battery is put into service. It will need to be fully charged.

 

My bike did the same thing when my ground went bad===the battery has two ground wires coming off the battery on my bike. The bigger of the two goes on the engine block against a stainless steel bracket that holds the carb vent tubes and airbox drain tubes ETC. Then theres the second smaller ground wire. My bikes solenoid/relay for the starter rapid clicked on me out of nowhere. I bought a new battery and that didnt help it either. Then I jump started it off my street bike and it cranked. I felt the connection at the smaller ground wire about 8 inches from the battery and it was so hot it burned me. I ran a new ground wire from the starter case bolt to the battery and it cranked and fired instantly. Havent had a electrical problem since. And I also have a spare good battery waiting to be used LOL