Weird engine start fail; electrical issue

[youliann]

I experienced an unusual problem with my 2007 Nevada Classic and I am hoping to find some answers here. I was getting ready for my first ride of the season (I live in Alaska). The bike last ran just fine before putting in storage in November 2015, 5 months ago. I had taken the battery off to occasionally hook up to my trickle charger. Nothing unusual so far, the bike never failed to start after storage doing the same thing every year. Not this time. After a basic check of everything, I put the battery back on, ready to fire it up. Here is the sequence of events since that point:
1. Turned the ignition key to ON; side stand UP, clutch lever squeezed in.
2. Neutral light was not on, but after moving the gear lever a little bit the Neutral light came on
3. The fuel pump pressurized with the expected sound; instrument panel did it's thing and lights looked as should
4. Here is where things get weird: I pushed the starter button; starter made a CLICK; however there was NO CRANK, and the next moment ALL lights went out, nothing, darkness.
5. I ensured I was not doing something stupid and tried again by moving the ignition key to OFF and then back to ON.
6. Absolutely no lights came on.
7. Returned the key back to OFF, at which point, to my surprise, the instrument panel actually lit up and looked the way it should when the ignition key is turned to ON, and the next moment everything went dark again. I could repeat this sequence and every time nothing happens on the ON position, while the instrument panel activates for a brief moment when returning the key to the OFF position. I thought that was extremely unusual and concerning.

Potentially this is a known behavior with known remedies. Please HELP. I live in Alaska and there are no mechanics here. Thank you so much, and happy riding!

[Groover]

Have you tried putting jumper cables to the bike's battery from a running car or truck? Sounds like a battery issue to me.

Edit: Welcome to the board! I noticed this is your first post.

[youliann]

I did not try jumper cables, not sure how I could do that as the battery terminals are right up close to the frame and there is no room to attach jumper cables. My battery is 4 years old, I had just taken it off the trickle charger after keeping it on there for a couple of days- the charger at least did not indicate any issues with the battery. Also, from previous experience, when the battery was weak it would just not crank, but the rest of the procedures looked normal, i.e. the bike was acting normally with the exception that the battery is weak and needs a charge. In this current situation the bike is acting in an unusual way as I described.

This is my first post indeed, thank you so much for responding to my call for help.

[youliann]

Ok, I will start with a known good battery. Mine is 4 years old and could be due for replacement. Thanks. I am in Juneau AK by the way.

[pete roper]

It sounds like the classic symptoms of poorly connected terminals to me. If the battery is really low on the older models it will at least try to crank even if the battery is compromised but a dirty terminal on the battery or the frame end of the earth strap can cause this total electrical drop out when demand is high.

I'd start off by thoroughly cleaning the battery terminals and the cable ends and making sure the ends are affixed tightly and cleanly to the cables. Then check the engine/frame end of the earth strap for cleanliness and security as well.

Pete

[Zoom Zoom]

If you do use jumper cables, do not have the other vehicle running.  It does sound to me like the battery has given up.

ZZ

Edit: Take Pete's advice before mine.

[youliann]

Thank you all for the help, it really makes me feel more confident now. I will take all of your advice, check terminals, get a new battery, etc., and will report with results.

[Kiwi_Roy]

It could also be the ignition switch contacts just barely making contact, when you turn from on to off the rotating part briefly making contact, after cleaning the battery connections that's the next place I would look. The grease in the switch goes stiff with age, if you wipe it out and replace with fresh Vaseline it may fix it.

http://www.thisoldtractor.com/guzzi007/schematics/2004_Nevada_IE.gif item (29)
See how the top pair of fuses are powered thru the switch, if you have power on the bottom pair and not the top it points to the switch (I'm assuming the 2007 is similar to the 2004)

And don't just replace the battery. If it holds 12 Volts while trying to crank it's ok but be sure to measure right on the battery terminals (not th3e leads) in case it's a bad connection.

[youliann]

Hello again. I wanted to follow up with everyone and provide feedback on my results. I decided to attack the issue by starting with a known fresh good battery, as several of you suggested. Luckily I had to stop there. The bike came to life immediately, fired up on the first crank, and was behaving properly through several starts and stops. I think the battery was the culprit; I checked various contact points, also as suggested, and everywhere things looked clean/in good contact. Looking forward to a good summer, and at some point might hit you guys up for advise on taking wheels off and replacing tires- I have prepared a new set of tires; and we have no motorcycle mechanics around here, so I think at some point I will take on the job myself, I have the tools.

[Zoom Zoom]

Glad you got it worked out.

Seriously though, I would not recommend you ever try to jump a bike with a running car. (For future reference.) Actually, there are so many nice and compact jumper box options for 100 bucks or less, it might be worth getting one for when you need it in the future. Even the little ones will jump a car these days, as well as provide USB ports for charging stuff. Handy gadgets.

John Henry

[ohiorider]

Glad you got it worked out.

Seriously though, I would not recommend you ever try to jump a bike with a running car. (For future reference.) Actually, there are so many nice and compact jumper box options for 100 bucks or less, it might be worth getting one for when you need it in the future. Even the little ones will jump a car these days, as well as provide USB ports for charging stuff. Handy gadgets.

John Henry

I've always understood that it is a 'no-no' to jump a bike from a vehicle such as a car with the car engine running.  Not an issue with engine off ..... just don't jump with engine running.   Old wife's tale or not, when I've jumped a bike from a car, I do it with car engine off.

[canuguzzi]

^^^^ Yes.

When you jump from the car, the oath is least resistance is through the jumper cables, not through the car's battery if that battery is in good condition. In effect, you are connecting your bike's battery directly to the car's charging output. Not good.

With AGM batteries, the chance of a thermal runaway is nearly zero but if you have a flooded battery, they can do nasty things, some of which are hazardous to your health.

Also, as soon as the bike starts, disconnect any jumper cables in the proper order, negative first.

No matter what, if you are messing with batteries, wear eye protection, you see what I mean?

[Wayne Orwig]

I've always understood that it is a 'no-no' to jump a bike from a vehicle such as a car with the car engine running.  Not an issue with engine off ..... just don't jump with engine running.   Old wife's tale or not, when I've jumped a bike from a car, I do it with car engine off.

Pretty much BS. Someone somewhere probably inadvertently connected cables wrong, or something else went wrong. They found the regulator or something damaged after the jump start, so blamed something that they had no clue about, which was the car motor running.

About the only thing would be a slightly higher inrush current into the dead battery. I wouldn't worry, and would even look at it as a way to put some charge into the dead battery. Connect, let the car idle far a few minutes to charge the bike, you are ready to go.