Starting Question

Sometimes when I press the start button the only thing that happens is the red oil level light comes on. After a few times pressing it it fires right up, but it's friggin' annoying. Does this mean there could be a bad ground somewhere or something? The right hand controls were replaced with factory controls from the dealer 3 years ago and are in great condition so I don't think it's there. Thanks for any help guys.

 

yeh, clean & tighten the battery terminals, ground to the motor, the connection at the starter motor & the terminals at the starter relay.

 

ground isnt your problem if it was you wouldnt have the oil light or anything you would just hear the sol. click and everything would go dead. sounds like a starter relay is it clicking when this happens if you push the button and nothing happens it could be the starter relay or 1 of the safety switches not completing the start circuit . i believe its the black with white stripe wire from the tci if you cut it all safetys no longer work but im not 100 percent sure thats the color wire but i think it is

 

Sounds like it might be the solenoid; try jumping across the big terminals (there will be sparks.)

The solenoids can be surgically disassembled and sometimes repaired; Len carries replacements for reasonably cheap or you can use one from a lawn tractor.

 

** UPDATE to symptoms**
It starts like a regular bike when it's warm, but has the symptoms in my original post when it's cold.

 

Bump

 

I think its the solenoid too,I did surgery on mine and resurrected it...

 

I simply replaced mine (same symptoms.)

 

Cool, thanks guys. I just got a used solenoid off of eBay today. Let the fun begin.