Friend of mine was having issues with her bike. The bike would stall and quit on her left and right, she could barely go down the block. Now this being a Kaw, she swapped the junction box (they have a tendancy to fail). Now I can't duplicate the issue right now because....it won't start. All I get is a click, however the starter was just rebuilt (which doesn't necessarily mean it didn't quit again) The positive terminal of the battery gets smoking hot if you hit the start button. I traced all the wiring and grounds to make sure they were all good, none loose or corroded. I did hook the starter up directly to MY bike with jumper cables and no joy. I did this because I thought the starter relay might have been shot. Anyone have an idea or direction I should start looking towards?
Hey Eddie, just in case you don't know about it, EX-500 site has quite a bit of info along with helpful people too. I'm also a member over there under the same name. Hope that helps somewhat. Tony
What year EX? I had a 1st gen (88-93) and they had a significantly common issue with flywheels losing their magnetic pickups. I suppose one could have gotten loose and locked up the engine? Is the motor in fact locked up, or is it just the electric start that isn't functioning?
Does the battery have a good charge in it? Surprising how many low speed issues are caused by weak voltage from the battery. Esp. considering that the starter motor solenoid just clicks.
Sounds like you have two issues... stalling/dieing and now the not turning over. Did the engine turn over OK before swapping the junction box? If so, then that may be the root of the non-starting issue. The stalling out.... if regular maintenance has been done like it should, then I'd guess either the carbs are dirty, floats out of adjustment or the spark plug caps are bad. After that... pickup magnet on stator or CCT if it's a first gen ('87-'93). Starters can be a weak point, the frequent/hard starting might have killed it. The highlighted thing about the plug caps? It's a common issue, but one that screws with people's minds because they are so easy to overlook. Might check them first since it's an easy thing to do.
Hey guys, thanks for the tips, I'll get back to the bike on Monday. I haven't even looked at the bike in days. But here is an email my friend sent regarding her issues. "Prior to finding the bad connection at the sidestand interlock, the bike would just stop running, and it would do it with maddening regularity. It usually happened after it had been running for awhile, so it gave the appearance of having something to do with overheating. That was a tempting theory, but it was always defeated with logic. It's a liquid cooled bike, the coolant isn't old or tired, and the symptoms are electrical. After leaning on the starter for far too long, and usually after nearly exhausting the poor, little battery, the bike would usually cough to life. Sometimes a bump-start was required. (That was fun post-surgery.) One vintage riding friend posited that the problem was a cracked coil, but there are twin coils on the bike. Another tempting theory down the tubes. Two years ago I replaced the failed regulator/rectifier. Last year I had the starter rebuilt, which was not cheap. Once I bypassed the sidestand interlock, I assumed that I had defeated the problem. Bad assumption. I had defeated A problem, not THE problem. A friend borrowed the bike. It crapped out for a moment about 7 miles into the ride. After we stopped for gas at about 30 miles, it refused to start again. We hooked it up to my bike, and then to a car, (not running), after my FZ1 began to overheat. It sounded like it wanted very much to start, but it wouldn't. "
