96 Suzuki Intruder starter problems

[BigDawg]

I have a 96 Suzuki Intruder VS800 with starting problems. The battery checked o.k., the ground and other connections are tigntened and look good. The problem doesn't happen every time. When I hit the ignition, I hear a click and the bike looses power. The lights go out and the bike is dead. If I kick the side of the motor the lights come back on. A few people have suggested it may be a loose connection, and someone else said it sounds like a bad starter. Any ideas?

[DrBob]

I pretty much guarantee it is not a bad starter, as the only thing that a bad starter would cause is the bike not starting; the lights would stay on. Check the battery cables. They need to be tight to the terminal blocks, plus with some batteries the terminal blocks have to be tight to the battery. Also, make sure the battery cables are not too close to the battery box or any other metal part, causing the battery to intermitantly ground out. I've seen this a LOT on Intruders, and it acts exactly like you say: a click, followed by a dead bike, but if you wiggle things around or bump the bike everything comes back on.

[Easy Rider]

Originally Posted by BigDawg

When I hit the ignition, I hear a click and the bike looses power. The lights go out and the bike is dead. If I kick the side of the motor the lights come back on. A few people have suggested it may be a loose connection, and someone else said it sounds like a bad starter. Any ideas?

Words are important. Using the wrong words to describe the problem will get you WRONG answers!

What exactly do you mean by "When I hit the ignition..." ?
The ignition is where you put the key.
The starter button is on the bars.

If it happens when you turn the key, it's likely to be an entirely different problem than if it occurs when you hit the starter.

To speed things up a bit, I'm assuming it is when you hit the starter button.

When things work normally, is your bike one that turns OFF the headlight and some other lamps while the starter is turning? If it is, then you (likely) have a bad starter relay.....or the afore mentioned loose connection in the relay socket or the wiring nearby. The relay itself might be loose in the socket.

If it does NOT normally switch off the lights while cranking, then you have something loose somewhere; maybe a main fuse, wiring near the fuse block OR an intermittant connection INSIDE the battery (really).

Good luck!

P.S. Where abouts in Illinois are you?

[BigDawg]

Dr Bob/Easy Rider,

Thanks for the help. We've ruled out the starter.

The guy that's helping thinks he has the short narrowed down to whatever may be connected to the relay that's under the passenger seat. He said the wire runs into the wiring harness and he hasn't been able to figure out what it's connected to.

Unfortunately, he says the schematic he has doesn't even show a '96 Intruder having a relay under the passenger seat. Any ideas?

BigDawg

[BigDawg]

Dr Bob

Thanks for the help. We've ruled out the starter.

The guy that's helping thinks he has the short narrowed down to whatever may be connected to the relay that's under the passenger seat. He said the wire runs into the wiring harness and he hasn't been able to figure out what it's connected to.

Unfortunately, he says the schematic he has doesn't even show a '96 Intruder having a relay under the passenger seat. Any ideas?

BigDawg

[Easy Rider]

Originally Posted by BigDawg

The guy that's helping thinks he has the short narrowed down to whatever may be connected to the relay that's under the passenger seat.

It probably isn't literally a short or else something would be smoking or a fuse would blow. It's probably an open. Could be the relay itself.....but that's just a guess.