berry1 Posted March 17, 2014 Posted March 17, 2014 Hi guysSo i bought a 1990 kawasaki gpx 600 about a year ago and its not been started or used since then it kind of was forgot about in my garage as been busy working on my car for a while. So i tried to fire it up but no life whatsoever when pressing the start button. I dont know much about bikes so not sure if im even starting it right but tried the different switches and still getting no life. The lights and indicators work fine but just wont turn over when the start button is pressed. Occasionally a click comes from the bike when the start button is pressed this is usually once i press the red cut out switch to on then off after that pressing the start button usually produces a click but nothing else. So just wondering if anyone has any ideas on what i could do? could this be a battery problem? even though the lights and electronics do power up fine.Appreciate any help. Quote
berry1 Posted March 17, 2014 Author Posted March 17, 2014 Thanks for the reply stu dont know a lot about bikes but im learning would a average cheap battery off amazon do the trick would you think? something like thishttp://www.amazon.co.uk/Numax-YB4LB-12v ... le+batteryOr could just give the old battery a charge but i think it could be quite old. Quote
Stu Posted March 17, 2014 Posted March 17, 2014 Personally I would never put a cheap battery on as its false economy You could try and charge it but I suspect it will have had it but it may hold enough to start it Quote
Guest Posted March 17, 2014 Posted March 17, 2014 Batteries slowly self-discharge so leaving it sitting moinths will flatten it. Even a wek standing will start to compromise the performance as sulphation occurs on the plates. Once a battery is flat it's knackered, evenif a charger restores the volts you won't get the same capacity or cranking, or voltage. Buy a battery conditioner if you want to leave it longer than a couple of weeks. Ort just buy a new battery every year.In winter I remove batteries and cycle them a few hours each on a conditioner every weekend. Quote
berry1 Posted March 20, 2014 Author Posted March 20, 2014 Thanks for the replies didn't know that not starting it for just a week would deteriorate the battery will make sure to start it atleast a few times a week from now on once i get it up and running. So the new battery arrived today its not the cheapest but not a premium one either should do the job will update on if the bike works when i swap them round tomorrow with the new battery. One thing im slightly stumped on though is where is the battery on a sportsbike anyone have any idea on a kawasaki gpx 600? not found any youtube vids on it. Quote
Stu Posted March 20, 2014 Posted March 20, 2014 if you have access to a plug get a battery maintainer and just keep it plugged in they come with permanent leads that you leave on the bike with quick connectors to plug the charger in check out the optimate Quote
berry1 Posted March 20, 2014 Author Posted March 20, 2014 if you have access to a plug get a battery maintainer and just keep it plugged in they come with permanent leads that you leave on the bike with quick connectors to plug the charger in check out the optimate Just checked the optimate only £50 on amazon will for sure pick one of them up when i get paid what a great piece of kit because i only occasionally drive and wont be for a while with the gpx 600 as it needs a little work. Any idea Stu if the battery is located under the seat? i think so just checking as its my first bike and the owners manual seems to have disappeared lol. Quote
Stu Posted March 20, 2014 Posted March 20, 2014 I cant be positive but I reckon it will be under the seat if it does start then check to make sure the charging system is doing its job too Quote
berry1 Posted March 20, 2014 Author Posted March 20, 2014 Nice one stu been a really big help will check it out definitely and report back with the results hopefully it starts up cant wait to hear that 592cc engine fire up Quote
eastanglianbiker Posted March 21, 2014 Posted March 21, 2014 battery is under front half of the seat just pop the seat off and you will see it sat there,ther might be a metal plate across the top of it that will need to be undone just one 10mm headed bolt each side and plate will move out the way if i remember correctly Quote
berry1 Posted March 21, 2014 Author Posted March 21, 2014 You was spot on with that eastanglianbiker thanks for the post removed the old battery and all seems well with the new battery accept that i overfilled it with acid water solution. Got right on with filling the new battery up today and accidentally filled the thing to where the acid solution was coming out of the plug? holes at the top. Got most of the excess out but its still about 8mm above the maximum filling line You guys think this will be alright or is 8mm to high a bad idea? Appreciate any help thanks. Quote
berry1 Posted March 21, 2014 Author Posted March 21, 2014 Ok so just put the slightly overfilled battery in the bike and the lights and electronics all work fine so the battery got to be working. When i click the start button i get a click again but this time louder than with the old battery and the bike moves slightly but its still not powering up Got to be honest i didn't charge the battery like you are supposed to do because apparently once the acid solution is added the battery is 75% charged and that surely should be enough to start the bike right?Cheers Quote
Mr Fro Posted March 21, 2014 Posted March 21, 2014 Erm... What did you fill it with? The acid that comes with them should be just the right amount.You need to give the battery an hour or so for it to activate properly once you've filled it anyway. Quote
berry1 Posted March 21, 2014 Author Posted March 21, 2014 Erm... What did you fill it with? The acid that comes with them should be just the right amount.You need to give the battery an hour or so for it to activate properly once you've filled it anyway. Hi i filled it with the solution that came with the battery i think electrolytes? it was marked as acid and corrosive. I filled it about 5pm and tested at about 6pm. Tried it again at 6.30 but still no life. Quote
Stu Posted March 21, 2014 Posted March 21, 2014 hmmmm then I would start looking at the starter relay connections Quote
Tango Posted March 21, 2014 Posted March 21, 2014 Does the engine turn over at all? With a new battery fitted there are a few other possibilities that could cause this. Loose or corroded connections to the starter relay (from the battery to the starter motor).....or possibly worn or sticking brushes in the starter motor. Find the starter motor and give the end of the motor where the connection from the starter relay a few solid taps with the blunt end of your largest screwdriver..... I recently had this with the CB750 project bike I bought.....had to strip and rebuild the starter motor.....but it worked OK after that...... Quote
berry1 Posted March 21, 2014 Author Posted March 21, 2014 (edited) Thanks for the replies guys i think i may be slightly screwed though because i have no idea where the starter motor is even located as i mentioned in previous posts im very new to bikes and engines. Would following the wires from the battery get me to the starter motor? probably a ridiculous question but i dont suppose their are any videos of this sort of thing?Tango unfortunately no the engine doesn't turn over if i turn the bike on and press the start button i get nothing at all if the red cut out button is flipped to on then off and the start button is pressed the bike makes a loud click louder than before i changed the battery. Short of that would have to take it to a garage just not sure how i would get it their as dont have any transport large enough for a bike. Edited March 21, 2014 by berry1 Quote
Stu Posted March 21, 2014 Posted March 21, 2014 it may help if you fill in your profile with your location as if there is a member nearby willing to help then they will the main live fro the battery will go to the starter relay then on to the starter motor Quote
berry1 Posted March 21, 2014 Author Posted March 21, 2014 it may help if you fill in your profile with your location as if there is a member nearby willing to help then they will the main live fro the battery will go to the starter relay then on to the starter motor Just filled it in forgot to do that when i registered and cheers stu will follow that wire tomorrow and do what tango suggests. Quote
berry1 Posted March 21, 2014 Author Posted March 21, 2014 Forgot to mention in previous posts that the bike about 2 months a go got extremely wet for about 20 hours when a pipe burst and covered the bike completely with water for a good 20 hours while i was away. Not sure if this could have corroded or blown something. Quote
Stu Posted March 21, 2014 Posted March 21, 2014 and has it been run since? this opens a whole new doorway Quote
berry1 Posted March 21, 2014 Author Posted March 21, 2014 Nope it hasn't been run since that incident when i got it all it needed was a battery since the water problem it hasn't started not even turned over. I just assumed with bikes getting constant exposure to the elements when riding that it shouldn't have done much damage. But now i think of it seems it could have caused something as water directly covering a bike is a bit different than rain Quote
Stu Posted March 21, 2014 Posted March 21, 2014 if the bike was fully submerged then you could have easily got water down the exhaust and it could have entered the cylinders if the valves where open or in through the air box the bike could be hydrolocked!! you need to pull the plugs out to verify whether it is or not Quote
berry1 Posted March 21, 2014 Author Posted March 21, 2014 Basically what happened was that the bike was sprayed with water constantly for close to a full day about 20 hours i think not fully submerged just think of like some heavy rain but constantly for the majority of a day. I wouldn't have thought the water could have got anywhere that rain wouldn't get but riding in the rain is hardly good for a bike from what ive read online. Plugs as in spark plugs? will check them out thanks Quote
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