Yamaha R1 not starting, even after full battery charge?

Question

I had left the key turned on in my r1 over the weekend by accident. So i had to give it a battery jump to start it up. I let it run for about 10 min and road it around the block a few times. But when I took the key out and put it back in, it wouldnt turn on. So i jumped it a second time and my lights came on, but the bike wouldn't crank up this time. I took my battery to a battery shop and they found out that my battery was at 5.8V. I left it there over night and they fully charged it. When I put my battery back in, the lights would come on but the bike still wouldn't start up. I gave it another jump but the same problem. I even put the battery from my sister's bike into mine and still the same problem (even though her battery is smaller than mine). Does anybody know why my bike is not starting?

Answer 1

You didn't happen to "jump" the bike with a running car did you? Your bike has a 12V system, but it doesn't have near the amps as a car alternator produces.

Your starter wasn't meant for those kind of amps. You have probably done one of two things, best case scenario you blew the fuse, the starter relay, or fired a wire going to the starter. worst case scenario you burned up the starter putting that kind of amps through it.

Never jump a bike with a car that is running... and even jumping from a car battery with high cold cracking amps is bad news sometimes. When you discover what went wrong, fuse, relay, starter... fix it, and next time get you a trickle charger and charge it for a few hours or over night.

Or bump start the bike by pushing it, and let it charge itself.

I hope you just blew a fuse... the relay is going to be a little more costly, and if you burned the starter up it was a costly mistake to learn from.

You CAN charge a 12v motorcycle battery with a car that is running... but do it with the terminals unhooked, so that there is no way the amps from the car are getting anywhere into your electrical system on your bike.

And certainly don't turn the key on, then hit the start button and listen to your starter turning 100 RPMs faster than you have ever heard it turn over even with a fully charged motorcycle battery...that is BAD news.

And using a battery charger with a "jump start" setting on it, is just as bad...the amps are too high for your system.

Answer 2

yeah, I would say an electrical problem outside the battery.  

What kind of battery do you have?  Mine is a 12 volt and it is possible that you overloaded a fuse/wire or a wire has been knocked loose.

Answer 3

This is BuGz again, won't let me answer you more than once on that screen name. First let me say to whoever gave my answer a thumbs down, you know JACK about motorcycles... and I dare you to go out and hook your bike to your car battery..start the car and then start the bike up about 15 times, you may get away with it once or twice...3 times, but eventually its going to get you.

NOTE: when he described his problem he never mentioned jumping it off of a car... I guessed that right off... so I might have seen this problem before, I might even own a 1997 YZF1000R Thunderace, which was the bike that Yamaha built that inspired the R1... so I might know a little about them.

Note the size wire running to the starter on your car, and the size wire running to the starter on your bike...doesn't take a REAL genius to figure out which one WAS NOT meant for 1000 cold cranking amps. Ever looked inside a motorcycle starter? Its a different aninal than a car starter as well, easy to burn one up.

Now, to answer The original poster's question, on my YZF1000R, 97...the fusebox is located under  tail panel...I pull the panel off and the fuse box is right there. My relay is also right there, its a black box, about the size of a peice of bubble yum..maybe slightly bigger. It clicks when you hit the starter button. Yours may be black..maybe aluminum color.. but it will be a box, that clicks when you hit the starter button as long as the power is getting that far.

First things first, check the fuse...pull it out and look at it, you can tell if its burned because the element inside will have a gap in it. If the fuse is fine, then I suggest you find someone with a voltmeter.. this is going to save you a lot of time.  Go to the starter... touch the starter casing with the black lead, and the bolt that the hot wire bolts to with the red lead... hit the starter button..do you get a reading? If not, then you aren't getting power there...and you are going to have to trace it back. If the fuse is fine but you arent getting power to the starter, my 100 bucks says relay, or fried wire somewhere.

If you get power to the starter, you probably burned up the wires inside the starter, you can buy a new one, or rebuild that one.

As for the Bike shop that read your battery... you will get 12 volts if a 12v battery is carrying any charge at all, with no load on it the battery should still read 12V, actually at full charge the battery should read about 12.65 volts...but even at a near 0% charge you will still get like 11.8 volts., you don't have the AMPS when a battery is low, but the volts are still there. 5.8 volts usually indicates a dead cell or cells unless the battery is just DEAD DEAD. Which yours shouldn't have been because you jumped it, then started and ran the bike. And you said it turned your headlights on.

I see some answers that may have confused your symptoms...I assume the bike isn't turning over at all correct? I see an answer about a spark plug...I think they assume the bike turns over but will not start. I am guessing that since you jumped the bike...it wasn't turning over... then it started when you jumped it but now its doing nothing at all?

Does it even click? Turn the key on and hit the starter button, if you hear a click, that is the relay... lights should go dim and the bike should click...this will indicate the fuse is good, power to the relay, relay is clicking trying to send power to the starter...but the starter isn't responding.

This DOESN'T mean the relay is ok.. it just means it is responding...the relay has an element in it too that makes contact and sends the power, if that element gets melted a little...the relay does not work. It clicks, but doesn't make contact. That is a good way to find it...hit the starter button, and follow the click, that will probably also find you the fuse box.

No click would be a GREAT thing...that would indicate no power to the relay, and about a 99% chance its a blown fuse.

This is about as helpful as I can be without actually being there to do it for you Bro... hope this helps.

Answer 4

Look for a fuse box or check your manual to see where it is located. Make sure the fuses are all good.

Answer 5

The weak battery could have caused the spark plugs to foul.

Check them and change if necessary.