I Experienced Some Sort Of Diagnostic Glitch

JINKSTER

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Here's the specifics...yesterdays ride with a pack of HD's..stopped at a coworkers house for a clutch cable adjustment on this gals aged and neglected sportster...everybody thinks we're ready to go...three bikes take off and the sporty gal is just ahead of me and as she lets out her clutch lever?...nothing...as in...in gear but no rolly...they adjusted the cable the wrong way!!! LOL!

Meanwhile...the first three bikes were already to the end of the block and ready to make a right onto the main drag...so I shot out and bolted to the corner to let'em know to turn around and come back...then returned myself and shut my busa down...the dude who did the adjustment to his wifes sporty was quite embarrassed over his err and readjusted it in just a couple minutes and we were ready to go again...and here's where I ran into a glitch with my busa as...

when I went to fire it back up again?...it would barely crank over just one time with each press of the starter button..(and I tried the starter button several times) acting like it suddenly aqquired a dead battery...then about the 4th time I tried to start it via the starter button?...the tach/speedo diagnostics did a freaking dance on me...both needles came up and held at about the 2 O'Clock position (for about 1/2 a second) and then pegged at the pins for another 1/2 a second and then returned to zero and then did the full sweep routine again (just like when you initially turn the ignition on) but it was already on...and then it just barely cranked over and fired up...and it's never done it before and didn't do it again but I'm thinking it might be time for a new battery as I did leave the bike sit for two weeks while I went hunting and she was a little slow cranking on first fire-up (but still managed to fire right up) when I got back but was right back up to snuff after the first good ride...until yesterday.

So...whaddaya'll think...is it "New Battery Time"?

Other notes: It's an '03 model with the original oem battery...and only had 1,600 miles on it when I bought it back in march of '05...owner was scared of it..let it sit a lot...I'm thinking the battery might've gone dead on him as well and maybe he just recharged it to sell...or?...I could have a legimate serious problem waiting to happen again...gimme your best thoughts cause I $uck at electrical/electronic issues and...

T.I.A., Bill.
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<!--EDIT|JINKSTER
Reason for Edit: None given...|1134310836 -->
 
I'm no expert, but with all the electronics on today's bikes and cars a weak battery may cause those kind of gremlins. All that stuff needs a stable power supply to function properlyand does not do well with severe voltage drops. Try taking it to one of the parts stores (autozone, advance auto, ets). They usually will check it for free.
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A battery tender might be good prevention for this type of situation.
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Okay...this blows...I just went out to the garage and fired it up from cold this morning...a 1/2 dozen times...letting it run for just s few seconds each time trying to get it to replicate what it did yesterday and no dice...she fired up like a factory fresh, just rolled off the showroom floor new bike all 6 times with no problems....so...it's offically "intermitent" and only happened one time so far kinda thing....and obviously is not battery related.

So....now I'm thinking..."Vapor Lock"...have there been any "Crankcase Breather" issues with any busa's?...anybody?

T.I.A. again and L8R, Bill.
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could be corrosion somewhere...you said it sat for a long time...if it wasnt cleaned up good before you bought it the corrosion could have built up somewhere....check your electrical connectors and battery cables...i had a f4i before i bought my busa...about every 6 months to a year i had to open up the kill switch on the right handle bar to clean the contacts of it....corrosion build up was cauing the bike not to start.
 
I think I found "The Problem"...the previous owner had let me know that this particular busa had a "Merlin Alarm System" that was disconnected because...the coin battery in the merlin remote was dead and apparently you can not replace the battery in a merlin remote...you hafta send'em about $25 for a new remote as the battery in their remotes are "sealed"...as in...a "sealed remote unit"...you can't just replace the battery so...apparently?..he disconnected it...and here's what I found when I went to check the battery connections as you kind folks advised....

BF1.jpg


at first glance..(outside of the torn boot)...everything seemed well...not to bad considering...but upon closer inspection?...I discover this...

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it's the "positive connection" for the disconnected merlin alarm system and I suspect what happened was it momentarily made contact with the underside of the postive battery connection...while on the negitive side the ground wire to the merlin is still hooked up...and here's the...

BF3.jpg


I'll be ripping the entire defunct merlin alarm system....outta there...and hopefully will be replacing it with a scorpion 500 paging FM system soon...but for now?..I think my electrical problem is resolved.

But I've also not been to pleased with my left side fairing insert fitment...and apparently the primary fairing support needs a little tweaking to get it fit up right...

BF4.jpg


and between the fairing tweaking and the mission of removing that silly @$$ merlin alarm system (heck....alls you need is a 5mm allen and a phillips screwdriver to disconnect and disable it) I might as well rip all the fairing off for a good detailing as well...and if I'm going that far?...I might as well remove the tank and synch the TB's as well...Damn...things need straightened out on my busa.

Ya'll want me to do a photo tutorial of the synching process?...or do we already have that somewhere's?

Anyways...thanks for the help and...L8R, Bill.
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<!--EDIT|JINKSTER
Reason for Edit: None given...|1134322441 -->
 
now that we are on a battery "issue" My bike has been sittin' for a month straight w/out being turned on, now...when i get back from here is there anything that I should do. The bike is an 05LE and has 0 miles.
 
You wont be able to resist... Of course you're gonna do a pic walkthrough of the TB sync..

If it's as good as the suspension post I cant wait...
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Jinkster- my new 05 did something similar. I stalled it at a light and when I hit the key it did the same thing you described except I don't remember seeing any gauge tom-foolery. Took 3 attempts for it to crank to the point it started (very hard to hear what was goin on as I had a ticked off 18 wheeler right behind me) Has fired off like a champ since.



<!--EDIT|xzvs
Reason for Edit: "On dae I wil lern to spel"|1134350607 -->
 
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