1982 Virago 750 - NO START

[treitz]

Background on the rust bucket here: http://www.dotheton.com/forum/index.php?topic=67953.0

I finally got this thing all wired up. Only 2 weeks away from the ride, so I'm a little further behind at this point than I'd like to be. But I guess that's all a part of the game.

INPUT NEEDED
Here's where I'm at. Bike is turning over, but no start. It feels like the battery might be too weak. It turns over maybe 1 or 2 times then stops like it would if the battery were dead. The thing is, the battery is reading over 12v. Battery is brand new 12v, 16ah, 160CCA AGM sealed. I wired up a switch so that the lights aren't on when it's turning over.

I have good spark and the carbs have been cleaned, and the starter is brand new 4 brush. So I can't think of anything else, other than the battery. Anyone?

Thinking I could test the theory by bypassing all of wiring and jumping it at the starter with a more powerful 12v battery, or a jump pack or something. Just don't want to fry the starter. Any other ideas appreciated. I'm kinda stumped.

 

[canyoncarver]

I like jumping a 12v car battery to the bike when you are trying for first starts or hard starting, more juice, less questions.


Have you checked spark? (edit..duh...reading too fast.)

 

[treitz]

I like jumping a 12v car battery to the bike when you are trying for first starts or hard starting, more juice, less questions.


Have you checked spark?

Spark is good. I was thinking of the car battery technique, just wasn't sure if it could harm anything else in the system. So jumper cables to the bike battery from a car battery is safe?

 

[canyoncarver]

Spark is good. I was thinking of the car battery technique, just wasn't sure if it could harm anything else in the system. So jumper cables to the bike battery from a car battery is safe?

"Your mileage may vary". There are some newer bikes you probably don't want to do this to but I've done it to plenty of older bikes. Your system should only pull what it needs so it's not like you'll blow anything up. Make sure the jumper connections are solid though, avoid the arcy sparky, that of course, can be bad. I've also had "new" batteries that just sucked. You should have about 13.6v on a fully charged battery. I've had batteries that looked good but wouldn't handle a load.

 

[treitz]

"Your mileage may vary". There are some newer bikes you probably don't want to do this to but I've done it to plenty of older bikes. Your system should only pull what it needs so it's not like you'll blow anything up. Make sure the jumper connections are solid though, avoid the arcy sparky, that of course, can be bad. I've also had "new" batteries that just sucked. You should have about 13.6v on a fully charged battery. I've had batteries that looked good but wouldn't handle a load.

After trying to start it for a bit, the battery was reading less than 13v. It's probably tired from trying to start a 750 with a shitty starter design that hasn't run in God knows how many years. I'll try the jump technique. Thanks sir.