Poor starting......starter relay? Ideas?

Hello, new to forum, posted a couple pics in the intro section.

My girlfriends "02 VFR is experiencing wacky behavior, it has 56K on it. Lately it started draining the battery very quickly when starting, just a few turns and nothing but the clicky clicky from the starter relay switch. The bike would start with a jump. I replaced the battery (free swap from dealer) with the same result. Battery voltage is good (12.4) but with just a few turns it goes back to single or rapid series of clicks from the relay switch. I've pulled the connector and cleaned all connections going in and out. These symptoms happen with bike in neutral or in gear, with or without sidestand up.
Should I put juice directly to the starter and see if it turns over? Can I do this right at the leads coming out of the starter relay? Once the bike is running it runs great. I've got a voltmeter as well, if there's a way to check the relay no problem.

Thanks, Barry

Honestly 12.4v is pretty low for resting state, ideally its should be around 13.5.. I have a feeling it may be the starter itself causing your problems, with the relay, occasionally they can be intermittent, but most the time they either work or they don't.  The relay clicking is a certain sign of a lack of current.

12.4v on an agm battery wont turn a motor over, you might have a charging issue, but that battery is too low , the fact that you can jump it, says battery or charging circuit. or a short draining the battery. But charge the battery fully and it should turn the motor over. Then you can test the charging circuit and look for an excessive drain.

Thanks Naked and Spud. I rechecked voltage and it's 12.68 but still charging. Once the bike is running, can I check charging voltage at the battery? Again, what about hotwiring the starter, can I do it at the leads running out of the starter relay switch?

[image: View Post]InterBlackbirdCeptor, on 05 May 2012 - 09:03 PM, said:

Once the bike is running, can I check charging voltage at the battery?
Yup, just measure the voltage at the battery terminals.  Charging voltage should always be 14-14.7  volts.  Don't stress if it's hovering at 13.9 volts at idle, but you do want to see a healthy 14.5volts at 5,000rpm.