Just had a real shocker moment a day or so ago. This is on a 2007 KTM 950 SMR. Turned the ignition -- All OK. Lights, instruments all working. Fuel pump primes. Hit the starter. NOTHING! Not even the "click" of the solenoid. Checked the kill switch: In "RUN" position. Bike is in Neutral: Check. Tried with kickstand up, clutch in: Nothing! :huh :huh :huh Anyone run into this before? Just to make it more strange, it just started working after about 20 minutes of trying! (I even tried to bump start it... I suck at that. ) So, first thought was a bad interlock switch (kickstand or clutch) but they seem OK. Second guess was a wire in the switch which was internally cracked or otherwise broken. However, after removing the switch and bending the wire for 30 minutes, I was unable to make the problem happen again. All the fuses are good. No lose electrical connections under the seat. A friend of mine suggested maybe the relay which comes before the starter solenoid might be failing. It's as good an idea as any, I suppose. Removing that particular relay DID exactly reproduce the symptoms. However, when I put the relay back, it worked as expected. Any thoughts would be appreciated!
Mine won't start in gear with the clutch in sometimes. Bad ignition switch/ batt terminals/etc Look for smoke........
Smoke? :eek1 In this case, bike was in neutral. Battery terminals were secure, and clean. Ignition switch appears clean, though there might always be a wire which is cracked inside the insulation. (Seems to happen with my heated gloves all the time.)
This may or may not apply to you bc my experience with the same issue was on an Aprilia. In my case was the startor relay. The way to check (when you press the pickle button and nothing fires) is to bridge the 2 points in the relay (look for the srews that hold the cables)with something metal and the bike will start. Just turn the key let it do the dash sequence and pump to prime. Then bridge. Be careful and wear gloves and eye protection if you try it. Make sure you are firm when placing (for exmple) some pliers bc you don't want sparks. Once the bike starts it's stay on till you kill it. My solution - bc my bike went thru those like nothing - was to buy a Yamaha relay that would hold higher amps. Hope this helps.
Btw at least in the Aprila case it would give some warnings. Like the one you had. One day I would press and nothing the after a few tries it would fire. Would work for many more rides nd suddenly dead. No biggy once you know how to jump it. Even better when I did the upgrade to the Yamaha part, two years with no issues. Aprilia part would only last me a couple of months. You can compare what you had if you google Aprilia starter relay nd read some of the posts. Very similar. Good thing is that this things are cheap
Always try to bump start a bike in at least 2nd gear, you standing up and when you release the clutch, sit down HARD! Once it fires, grab the clutch.
My friend has a 07 KTM that had this problem. It was a short in the ignition switch. Sometimes the bike would start, sometimes it wouldn't. I would check the switches.
I was kind of kidding but I neglected to tighten the ground at the starter once. I got some smoke and fire. The relays have a tendency to go out.
I had very similar symptoms happen to my 950 adventure. We checked everything, switches, relays, solenoid, fuses, starter button, battery, etc.... The SMR ignition system may be similar, see if there is a red and white wire from the starter relay in the dash that runs down to the starter solenoid under the engine. Check the ohms to see if this wire is connected all the way through the wiring harness. This of course was the last thing we checked. This wire sends the signal from the starter button and relay down to the solenoid to engage the starter. On the adventure, there is a connector in this wire, and my wire broke at the connector, probably from vibration since the connector was loose from the wiring harness. I added a new connector and zip tied wire and connector to the harness.
