81 xj650 maxim intermittent starting

Hey Guys got a question here. Im having on and off issues with the bike starting after sitting for a few days. battery is on trickle charger. The bike has battery and fuel. but after leaving it for a few days it wont start unless i run my ohms meter. black wire to ground and red wire to the Ignitor unit, Seems to get some voltage from doing that. I hit the start button and it fires right up. I cant turn it off and again start it right up. But if its sits for about 8 hrs it wont start again unless i do this trick. Maybe a capacitor is bad somewhere? any ideas? thanks

 

To which pin on the Igniter? DMM or VOM? Set to ohms or voltage?

Verify battery voltage is above 10V when cranking

 

ya voltage dropped under 10v. So i checked battery power. its over 12.3 but when i check the starter switch its down a full volt so sitting at like 11.55 or so. by the time i start the bike its under 10v. now this has been intermittent. i kept starting it all day yesterday. first try. i left the battery on trickle charger over night. tried starting this morning and same issue. wont start volts under 10v when starting.

 

Update. i ran a screwdriver across starer solenoid, started right up. after that i can hot start button and it starts fine. but will be same issue after it sits for hrs. something is not holding voltage.

 

Have you gone thought the wiring harness connection yet? Good practice on a project bike. Just go through each connector one at a time. Remove, clean, inspect and put back together. You might find an issue with one of the plugs, some white or green power on a few pins. Cleaning the contacts and going over the connectors could help trouble shoot the drain on the system.