[tooseevee]

            Well, I killed myself this morning & then recovered enough to decide to go for a short ride & finish off my shoulders, neck & hips. 'Sposta rain this weekend.

             Kicked my usual 3 times (one with the key off). Then another 5 or 6 - nothing  

              Walked away for 10 minutes - tried again - same result.

              Pulled cover off battery - 12.91V at the battery. Blinding horn & deafening lights.

              Pulled plug - looks fine.

               Suddenly thought of electric start (I never use it). Pull in clutch, push button, nothing. Zero. No click, no movement of ammeter, no nothing. Nada.

                So I put the Batt on charge just for shits & giggles, but it seems to me it might be too far gone to start the bike even though it lights the lights. It's a sealed Interstate.

                  But even that doesn't seem right to me. Seems like it should start with the kicker if the lights are as bright as they are.

                 I can't do no mo' today. Chapter Two tomorrow.

                Thoughts?  

[barenekd]

Did you check the voltage with the switch on? There is where you get a true idea of the battery condition, although it sounds more like a disconnect in the in the starting and ignition system. Check the fuses.
Bare

[EnfieldJake]

Try disabling the side stand kill switch. Separate the green wires near the battery. Might be an issue.

[boggy]

Even though that plug looks fine, just swap it.  I've spent days fiddling with everything only to return to the plug.  Sorry if that is ridiculously remedial but I've just been burned by the plug so many times.  For a few bucks and a few minutes you'll know for certain.

[The Garbone]

I second Boggy on the check the spark thing.  Could be good and your just out of gas.

[tooseevee]

Did you check the voltage with the switch on? There is where you get a true idea of the battery condition, although it sounds more like a disconnect in the in the starting and ignition system. Check the fuses.
Bare

           That's what I'm thinking. But why from one day to the next. It started & ran fine. All I did was ride it in & shut it down. We'll see tomorrow.

[tooseevee]

I second Boggy on the check the spark thing.  Could be good and your just out of gas.

              I agree about throwing a new plug in, but out of gas? You must think I just dropped off a turnip truck.

              And that has nothing to do with the electric start being absent without permission. When YOU'RE out if gas the electric start should still crank.

[tooseevee]

Try disabling the side stand kill switch. Separate the green wires near the battery. Might be an issue.

             I did that in December 2010 when I got the bike (it's an '08AVL). The wires & the switch are long gone. That's one of the first things I did along with the headlight jumper & then the next hundred things.

[Arizoni]

Of course the "kill switch" has been inspected?

They have a habit of becoming "bumped" off when no one is looking.
Especially if women and children have been within 100 yards of a motorcycle. 

[barenekd]

Not likely the plug. That would have nothing to do to keep the starter from working.
Bare

[boggy]

I think by out of gas Garbone was saying the  "sparkplug is outta juice."  And by outta juice, I don't mean the spark plug is filled with Turnip Juice.

Ya Bare is right in correcting me.  If it aint winding up, then the plug is irrelevant.

[hillntx]

I second Arizoni - If it ran the day before but not now, it sounds like the handle bar mounted kill switch; especially if you typically keep the switch in the run position and shut it off with the key.

[The Garbone]

I think by out of gas Garbone was saying the  "sparkplug is outta juice."  And by outta juice, I don't mean the spark plug is filled with Turnip Juice.

Ya Bare is right in correcting me.  If it aint winding up, then the plug is irrelevant.

Nope,  meant out of gas.   Sometimes it happens.   "I know I have fuel" might just rate up there with "I thought there was no round in the chamber".     Can happen to anyone.

[tooseevee]

Of course the "kill switch" has been inspected?

They have a habit of becoming "bumped" off when no one is looking.
Especially if women and children have been within 100 yards of a motorcycle. 

            Well, you & hillntx have won the door prizes. Arizoni for hitting the nail on head first & hillntx for agreeing with him. And now the whole ugly story can be told.

            I was hit with a huge bucket of dumb yesterday.

            After I wrote my last here yesterday I went back down at around 9:00 (I can't leave this kind of thing alone). I pulled the solenoid out & jumpered the connector from the push button - nothing. The solenoid at 12V at the Pos stud & continuity back to the Batt.

             Then I jammed a screwdriver between the solenoid studs - nothing.

             Then I quit, took the Pos loose again & put the charger back on. It showed that the battery was fine (& so did my voltmeter).

             Packed it in & came upstairs about 10:00 & that's when I read Arizoni's message & the "Hey, Dummy" light went on. So back down I go & there it is, of course! The kill switch is in KILL! It was then I realized what happened.

             The day before (after my ride) my twin 10 year old granddaughters were over. We spent a half hour in the garage talking, Sasha sitting on the harley, Lily on the Enfield. I remembered that Lily was standing up on the pegs with her hands all over the bars playing freestyler at one time. That's when it happened. I never use the Kill Switch & it never enters my mind (''til the brilliance of Arizoni shown a light through the dumb).

              Anyway. That's my story & I'm stickin' to it.  We grow too soon old & too late smart.

               I have a new question which I will make a New Topic.

[GreenMachine]

Go figure..You know I've never use my kill switch..Not once...Maybe once to see if it worked...For some reason it has the occasional habit of switching off....

[tooseevee]

Go figure..You know I've never use my kill switch..Not once...Maybe once to see if it worked...For some reason it has the occasional habit of switching off....

               Me neither. Not on any bike I've ever had.

                There's a good question. Has anyone found the kill switch necessary except on bikes where you attach a cord to your wrist so that when you DO fall down (like on scramblers or hill climbers) the engine gets Killed?
                 The twice in my life I've dropped harleys, I could barely REACH the kill switch. The engines just die after a while while the pipes are burning grooves in your leg.

[Arizoni]

Over the last 45 years I've used the kill switch once on my Suzuki 80, my Honda 400F and my BMW K75.

All except for the BMW were caused by dropping the bike due to wet conditions.
The BMW was due to a &#@*&%##  in a '78 Ford changing lanes into me.

None of the times I needed to use the kill switch made it easier to use than just reaching over and turning off the ignition key.
The only reason I didn't use the key is my preconditioned response to the situation was, "TURN OFF THE KILL SWITCH".

Had it not been there, I could just as easily have thought, "TURN OFF THE KEY".

[Kevin Mahoney]

Don;t feel bad, most of us including myself have done this. I have done it several times. Same with trying to start a UCE bike with the kickstand down.