CG125 (2006) not starting.

[ChrisBiggsUK]

RIghto, the Wife is now home so we have tried jumping it, and alas to no avail.

Heres what is what with my plucky little CG125;

Went to start it earlier, and it wouldn't start.  I just get a singular click from somewhere down by the engine.  Lights are all turning on fine when I turn the bike on, but no engine.  Little 'go' button just makes a singular click from somewhere down in the engine area.  Just tried jumping it, and the engine turned over for two or three seconds and then cut out.  Tried again, nothing.  Tried a few more times.  Still nothing.  Just the singular click from somewhere down by the engine.  Lights are still working, so I don't know what is next.

Would my lights even still work if the battery was dead?  I honestly don't know.  My knowledge is admittedly rudimentary at best and I'm learning everything as I go, so please be gentle.  I'm trying my best!

What could the likely culprits be that I could check at home (not tonight, I'm going to have a hot chocolate and call it an early night) with rudimentary knowledge, skills and tools?  Are there any things I can completely rule out?  Should I try jumping it again tomorrow or are repeated attempted jumpings likely to case an issue?  Help me Tmbf-Wan Kenobi, you're my only hope! 

On an amusing related note;  Internet told me, categorically, that I needed to remove my seat to get access to the battery.  Nope.  Single panel on the left hand side of the bike needed removing.  This is why I have trust issues!  It's like you can't believe anything on the internet these days.  Sheesh!

Anyway, thank you in advance for any and all guidance.  I'm hoping that one of you fine people will simply say 'Yup, just shove a new battery in and you'll be good to go' or 'When you get up in the morning, just give your bike a cuddle and it'll start up fine' or something along those lines.

Again, thank you, and if I don't get back to you this evening I'll get back to you tomorrow morning before Church.

[Stu]

A solid dingle click like that usually means the battery is not charged enough to turn it over 

 

most of the time the battery will have enough juice to power the lights 

 

First thing first is to charge the battery then try again 

 

The single click is the starter solenoid 

[Simon Davey]

Could it be a jammed starter?

Stick it in gear and rock it back and forth to try to free it up. Then into neutral to start. 

[Fiddlesticks]

If you're anything like me you'll have knocked the kill switch.

[RideWithStyles]

Kill switch wouldnt let it do owt from the start.

yes they are small have little compression but still need somewhat of a decent battery at least to over come the decompression system.
If you don’t have a volt meter to check the battery of what it’s like I’d give it a charge, if straight after a good charge it fires, buy it a good battery, a yuasa battery with at least 100-110cca. Don’t use a lithium one…its not designed for it and will goose it.

[bonio]

Most likely the battery is dying. It's still got enough energy in it to power the lights, but ask it turn the starter motor, and it just curls up in corner and shakes its head. But, there's a smaller chance there's a problem with the starter motor, perhaps it's stuck, or perhaps its died.

This is what I would do: 

1. Charge the battery overnight and try again. Perhaps this fixes it.

2. If not, buy a new battery and fit it. @RideWithStyles is right: get a YUASA with good CCA (100A is good). Perhaps this fixes it.

3. If not, the problem is probably with the starter motor. Likely you'll need a new one. Might mean a trip to the dealer.

 

 

[bonio]

If it's any consolation, this happens to one of my bikes every other winter - even though they're kept on trickle chargers. Winter is a tough time for a battery.

[ChrisBiggsUK]

Tried jumping again this morning with no luck at all so I have ordered a new battery which should be with me on Tuesday.  Once I have fitted it, I'll update this post with how I get on.  I really hope that replacing the battery fixes this issue.  If not, then at least I will know that since there is a new battery in it, that it isn't the battery and we can then look at starter motor or other things.

I ride the bike every day so it shouldn't have been wanting for a daily charge, but I have a sneaking suspicion that the battery in the bike is the exact same one that it has had since it was made back in 2006 which would probably explain why it no longer seems to have a charge or the ability to be charged.  Given that the bike had only done 5000 miles in nearly 20 years before I bought it, sort of makes sense that the battery may have managed to hold on until I started making it actually do some work for a change in the now 1300 miles I have done since October which, while not a lot for some people, certainly is a lot for me and for this particular bike given its history!

Anyway, Tuesday after the postman has been and after I have played around with some tools, we shall know one way or another.  

[ChrisBiggsUK]

New battery installed aaaaannnnnddddd...

Nothing.

Just a single click when I try to start it.

I reiterate from previously;  Woe is me!  

Right.  What do I need to look at next?

[Simon Davey]

Stick itin gear and rock it, could be a jammed starter. 

 

[ChrisBiggsUK]

Jolting it seemed to work momentarily, in that it started, ticked over twice, then shut off.  Jolted it again, and it started, ticked over once, then stopped.

Shall jolt several more times and see whats what.

 

[Hairsy]

Chris, if you're able, see if you can follow all the thick cables that come from the battery. Particularly from the negative terminal on the battery. This could be a weak earth problem - there will be a thick cable that goes from the negative on the battery to the frame of the bike.

 

There will be similar thick cables attached to the solenoid - if you can find out where the tick is coming from then you'll have found your solenoid. If you're able to check both ends of the cables that go to the solenoid then, again, you might find your problem.

 

With all of these checks, you're looking for either loose connections or connections that have some sort of corrosion on them. If any are suspect then remove the nut / bolt that is holding the end of the cable and give everything a good clean. Ideally, use a file to get the connectors really clean - if you don't have a file then a screwdriver can be used to scrape of any muck and leave you with some shiny metal.

 

If you're in any doubt about your understanding of bike electrics then disconnect the negative terminal of the battery before playing with any of these. This will mean you can't mess anything up by accidentally earthing a positive cable.

[ChrisBiggsUK]

After much faffing, I managed to get the bike started and running.  Turned off and on properly fine a few times, so thought 'that'll be it done then!' and off I went to the dealership to get them to do the work that was originally scheduled for Saturday just gone.

It gets there and dies again.

Have been advised that I need a new starter motor.  

This is an annoyance.  

 

[Simon Davey]

1 hour ago, ChrisBiggsUK said:

After much faffing, I managed to get the bike started and running.  Turned off and on properly fine a few times, so thought 'that'll be it done then!' and off I went to the dealership to get them to do the work that was originally scheduled for Saturday just gone.

It gets there and dies again.

Have been advised that I need a new starter motor.  

This is an annoyance.  

 

 

But only an annoyance, and an expense. 

It'll be back and running before you know it. 

It's a fairly straightforward job to replace, and a pity that none of us are near enough to pop over to do it. 

[ChrisBiggsUK]

1 minute ago, Simon Davey said:

 

But only an annoyance, and an expense. 

It'll be back and running before you know it. 

It's a fairly straightforward job to replace, and a pity that none of us are near enough to pop over to do it. 

I've looked at some videos online, as well as a couple of poorly translated pages from a Pakistani Haynes Manual, and it seems like something I could do myself.  Not sure whether I'd be brave enough to, but it seems like a fairly straightforward couple of bolts, remove old one, put new one in its place, reattach bolts.

I'm sure there is a bit more to it than that, but it does seem rather simple.

I've already managed to replace a battery, so I'm all in now!  
 

[Simon Davey]

That really is pretty much, all there is to it. 

[ChrisBiggsUK]

In that case, I'll give it a try (when the new motor arrives in a couple of days time).  Worst case scenario, the bike still won't start (which it doesn't really do already without a lot of coaxing).  Best case scenario, I become a god-like super-mechanic.

I'm an optimist!

[billysugger]

Have you tried manualslib, you may be able to down load a manual from there

[Fiddlesticks]

1 hour ago, ChrisBiggsUK said:

In that case, I'll give it a try (when the new motor arrives in a couple of days time).  Worst case scenario, the bike still won't start (which it doesn't really do already without a lot of coaxing).  Best case scenario, I become a god-like super-mechanic.

I'm an optimist!

Happy to offer a second set of hands / tools. (I'm no expert either).

[ChrisBiggsUK]

32 minutes ago, Fiddlesticks said:

Happy to offer a second set of hands / tools. (I'm no expert either).

 

I may take you up on that one day.

[ChrisBiggsUK]

Starter motor changed all by myself and the bloody thing works a treat!

I am, officially, a god-like super mechanic!  Time to go for a well deserved ride to break it in!

[Fiddlesticks]

6 minutes ago, ChrisBiggsUK said:

Starter motor changed all by myself and the bloody thing works a treat!

I am, officially, a god-like super mechanic!  Time to go for a well deserved ride to break it in!

Awesome work, that man. Now you have a spare you can take to bits and refurbish

[bud]

Nice work. It's a great feeling when you fix it yourself.

[Simon Davey]

That's brilliant @ChrisBiggsUK, we all know where to bring our bikes now....

[Hairsy]

38 minutes ago, ChrisBiggsUK said:

Starter motor changed all by myself and the bloody thing works a treat

 

Well done Chris. There is so much satisfaction to be had working on bikes. I started my tinkering with bikes and then moved onto cars and I'm so glad to be back on bikes - there's very little that's genuinely difficult. You just have to be methodical and logical.

 

So what you need to do now is find a project that you can work on in readiness for passing your test ...