Motorcycle Repair: starter, yamaha 1100 vstar, starter solenoid wiring

Question
I need help on my yamaha 1100 vstar if you cant answer it could you point me in the correct direction. I rode my bike over 200 miles this weekend and no problems and at the end of the trip I turned it off and now it wont start. I turn the key and turn the kill switch on hit the start button and nothing. I can push it and it will start is this the starter?

Answer
Janie... How old is the battery in your bike? If over a couple of years old, the plates may be damaged and the long ride may have vibrated the cells apart, causing a short in some cells and lowered the available voltage to the starter motor.

If you turn the key on, you should get a strong headlight, horn and brake light when the battery is strong. If these are weak, then the battery is dying. If the battery is strong, hitting the start button should turn the headlight OFF momentarily. If there is no change or the headlight is not coming on then the starter button could be damaged. The battery voltage should stay above 11 volts when you are cranking the engine or loading the electrical system with brake light, horn or high beam activation.

The starter solenoid is down by the battery and if you jump across the big two terminals with a screwdriver (bike in neutral, please!) that will jumper the battery power directly to the starter motor. If the battery is good, the starter should start to spin the motor over. If the battery is good and there is no sound, then the starter motor is bad. If the starter motor spins over, either the starter solenoid is bad or the wiring to it is defective.

You need a a 12v test light to check the starter solenoid wiring circuits. A good Volt meter will tell you about the state of the battery (should be over 12v resting), as well as whether the charging system is working, once you have determined that the battery is okay. You need to monitor the charging system once the bike is running to see if that is part of the problem or not. It should crank out upwards of 13.5 volts when you rev it up to about 2,500 rpms.

Check the web for V-star forums and groups who may know about any problems unique to this model.

Bill S.