'82 Sportster 1000 Starting problems

check voltage drop to ground-could be bad starter
Mike Pilla wrote:
> Hello --
>
> Having a problem getting my '82 sportster going. Currently, hitting the
> ignition switch produces no sound, whatsoever, not even the dreaded
> clicking.
>
> * Do have lights and horn.
> * Battery is strong, 12.5 Volts. Voltmeter shows light draw when
> ignition is turned.
> * New Ignition switch;
> * By passed the starter switch by crossing the the black and white
> wires;
> * Replaced all the breakers, the starter relay and the starter. Still
> no dice.
> * Placed a jumper wire on the starter and the solenoid spun, but the
> starter did not push.
>
> What else...Planning on placing one of those plungers on the starter,
> but otherwise am running out of ideas.
>
> Anyone have any ideas what we may be missing?
>
> Thanks in advance...
 >> Stay informed about: '82 Sportster 1000 Starting problems 

Try jumping the solinoide
Mike Pisula wrote:
> Hello --
>
> Having a problem getting my '82 sportster going. Currently, hitting the
> ignition switch produces no sound, whatsoever, not even the dreaded
> clicking.
>
> * Do have lights and horn.
> * Battery is strong, 12.5 Volts. Voltmeter shows light draw when
> ignition is turned.
> * New Ignition switch;
> * By passed the starter switch by crossing the the black and white
> wires;
> * Replaced all the breakers, the starter relay and the starter. Still
> no dice.
> * Placed a jumper wire on the starter and the solenoid spun, but the
> starter did not push.
>
> What else...Planning on placing one of those plungers on the starter,
> but otherwise am running out of ideas.
>
> Anyone have any ideas what we may be missing?
>
> Thanks in advance...
 >> Stay informed about: '82 Sportster 1000 Starting problems 

Thanks for all the replies. Here's where we're at now.

We're fairly well convinced that it's a wiring problem, somewhere. We
drilled a hole thru the end of the starter and were able to force the
plunger down to get the starter to crank, but still the bike wouldn't
start. Next, we checked if we were getting spark from the (new) plugs
as we forced the starter, and there was none. So then we concluded that
there must be some commonal failure between the electric to the starter
and the electric to the plugs. So now we're focusing on the ignition
switch.

Thanks for the help, and any other opinions (other than 'read the
manual' -- it's our constant companion) are appreciated.

-Mike


weaver-Tucson wrote:
> Try jumping the solinoide
> Mike Pisula wrote:
> > Hello --
> >
> > Having a problem getting my '82 sportster going. Currently, hitting the
> > ignition switch produces no sound, whatsoever, not even the dreaded
> > clicking.
> >
> > * Do have lights and horn.
> > * Battery is strong, 12.5 Volts. Voltmeter shows light draw when
> > ignition is turned.
> > * New Ignition switch;
> > * By passed the starter switch by crossing the the black and white
> > wires;
> > * Replaced all the breakers, the starter relay and the starter. Still
> > no dice.
> > * Placed a jumper wire on the starter and the solenoid spun, but the
> > starter did not push.
> >
> > What else...Planning on placing one of those plungers on the starter,
> > but otherwise am running out of ideas.
> >
> > Anyone have any ideas what we may be missing?
> >
> > Thanks in advance...
 >> Stay informed about: '82 Sportster 1000 Starting problems 

Mike Pisula wrote:

> Thanks for the help, and any other opinions (other than 'read the
> manual' -- it's our constant companion) are appreciated.

I'd say Step One -- a long ways back -- would be to haul the battery
down to a shop with a load tester. While you have the battery out,
polish up all the cables, including the famous Harley Sportster ground
strap that always causes this problem. Take it off at both ends, polish
bright, clean the frame mounting, and sandwich the strap lug between
two star washers when you put it back together.

Starter and ignition are two different circuits, so while yer at it
clean and tighten up all the connections in the ignition circuit. Check
the connections in yer headlight bucket, and make sure the ground strap
from the handlebars to the frame is good, too.

I'm thinkin' you gotta connection good enough to give ya lights, but
bad enough that's all you get. YMMV & FWIW, as always.

Skiv =)} AH 41 BS 32 SENS IBA DoD IRF
'89 XL Bobster "StraKat": Shake. Rattle. Roll. Repeat.
"Turn the gas on, Dummy."
 >> Stay informed about: '82 Sportster 1000 Starting problems 

OK, folks got the solution here, and it was close to what you all were
saying. What we did was to take the voltmeter at various spots and
realized that we were only getting about 1.2V to the starter switch and
the coil, but 12V at the battery. So we started tracing wires and took
the headlight off and took a look at all the wires. After reseating a
number of them, we finally got to 12V at the starter switch and the
coil. The bike fired up just fine after that.

Thanks for all the input.

-Mike


Mike Pisula wrote:
> Hello --
>
> Having a problem getting my '82 sportster going. Currently, hitting the
> ignition switch produces no sound, whatsoever, not even the dreaded
> clicking.
>
> * Do have lights and horn.
> * Battery is strong, 12.5 Volts. Voltmeter shows light draw when
> ignition is turned.
> * New Ignition switch;
> * By passed the starter switch by crossing the the black and white
> wires;
> * Replaced all the breakers, the starter relay and the starter. Still
> no dice.
> * Placed a jumper wire on the starter and the solenoid spun, but the
> starter did not push.
>
> What else...Planning on placing one of those plungers on the starter,
> but otherwise am running out of ideas.
>
> Anyone have any ideas what we may be missing?
>
> Thanks in advance...
 >> Stay informed about: '82 Sportster 1000 Starting problems 

On Thu, 20 Jul 2006 10:06:56 -0700, Mike Pisula top posted:

> OK, folks got the solution here, and it was close to what you all were
> saying. What we did was to take the voltmeter at various spots and
> realized that we were only getting about 1.2V to the starter switch and
> the coil, but 12V at the battery. So we started tracing wires and took
> the headlight off and took a look at all the wires. After reseating a
> number of them, we finally got to 12V at the starter switch and the
> coil. The bike fired up just fine after that.
>
> Thanks for all the input.
>
> -Mike
>
>
> Mike Pisula wrote:
>> Hello --
>>
>> Having a problem getting my '82 sportster going. Currently, hitting the
>> ignition switch produces no sound, whatsoever, not even the dreaded
>> clicking.
>>
>> * Do have lights and horn.
>> * Battery is strong, 12.5 Volts. Voltmeter shows light draw when
>> ignition is turned.
>> * New Ignition switch;
>> * By passed the starter switch by crossing the the black and white
>> wires;
>> * Replaced all the breakers, the starter relay and the starter. Still
>> no dice.
>> * Placed a jumper wire on the starter and the solenoid spun, but the
>> starter did not push.
>>
>> What else...Planning on placing one of those plungers on the starter,
>> but otherwise am running out of ideas.
>>
>> Anyone have any ideas what we may be missing?
>>
>> Thanks in advance...

See, it's not rocket science.

Now if you'd learn to post.....

--
RickB BS#270
87 FXRS/Bastard
 >> Stay informed about: '82 Sportster 1000 Starting problems 

lol
Ryder Rick wrote:
> On Thu, 20 Jul 2006 10:06:56 -0700, Mike Pisula top posted:
>
> > OK, folks got the solution here, and it was close to what you all were
> > saying. What we did was to take the voltmeter at various spots and
> > realized that we were only getting about 1.2V to the starter switch and
> > the coil, but 12V at the battery. So we started tracing wires and took
> > the headlight off and took a look at all the wires. After reseating a
> > number of them, we finally got to 12V at the starter switch and the
> > coil. The bike fired up just fine after that.
> >
> > Thanks for all the input.
> >
> > -Mike
> >
> >
> > Mike Pisula wrote:
> >> Hello --
> >>
> >> Having a problem getting my '82 sportster going. Currently, hitting the
> >> ignition switch produces no sound, whatsoever, not even the dreaded
> >> clicking.
> >>
> >> * Do have lights and horn.
> >> * Battery is strong, 12.5 Volts. Voltmeter shows light draw when
> >> ignition is turned.
> >> * New Ignition switch;
> >> * By passed the starter switch by crossing the the black and white
> >> wires;
> >> * Replaced all the breakers, the starter relay and the starter. Still
> >> no dice.
> >> * Placed a jumper wire on the starter and the solenoid spun, but the
> >> starter did not push.
> >>
> >> What else...Planning on placing one of those plungers on the starter,
> >> but otherwise am running out of ideas.
> >>
> >> Anyone have any ideas what we may be missing?
> >>
> >> Thanks in advance...
>
> See, it's not rocket science.
>
> Now if you'd learn to post.....
>
> --
> RickB BS#270
> 87 FXRS/Bastard
 >> Stay informed about: '82 Sportster 1000 Starting problems 

i know this might sound crazy but my 82 XLH had a lose connection on the positive cable on the battery just last week only took about 2 faces on battery bolt. hope this helps. the next thing to check are the brushes on the back of starter motor, mine were sticking and not letting starter turn about one year ago.
 >> Stay informed about: '82 Sportster 1000 Starting problems