[lptomas]

hi guys new to forum ,i have a c5 military brand new and just got 600 miles on it ,i love it but it its getting  a little annoying ,thh bike already spent 4 week at my dealer for a racketting sound inside the engine upper part when 300 miles ,got it back with that explaination: it is the decompression valve, we remove it after contacting royal enfield support guys.
i was like ok if you say so, to happy to get the bike back i broke the engine according to manual and now at 600 miles its my electric starter that as a 50/50 ratio of starting my engine sometimes it work sometime it does not and it make an horrible noise .
kick start work like a dream,should i take it back to dealer again? is the electric starter like the decompression valve an extra part you dont really need? i am stating to scratch my head over the bike my neighboors they all wanted one at first and now i can tell that by the way they ask me how the bike doing? with a little smile on their face that they have change their mind .thank any of you guys for your tips and advice any suggestion welcome.

[Ducati Scotty]

If it makes a nasty, irregular, clacky noise when you try to start it you may have either a bad battery or a failing sprag clutch.  Have the dealer check the battery and charging system.  If those are good have him check the sprag.

Scott

[Jack Leis]

 Check your starter solenoid

[lptomas]

ok guys apreciate your response i dont want to abuse of your patience. but where will be the solenoid ant what is it looking like! it is ok to laugh and make fun of me.

[Jack Leis]

 Maybe you had better take it to the shop.

[Arizoni]

lptomas
Because the motorcycle is new you should take it to an official Royal Enfield shop to have them fix it.

It is difficult for us to suggest what the problem may be because all we know at the moment is the electric starter only works 50 percent of the time.

Can you explain exactly what the starter is doing or is not doing when the engine fails to start?

When it doesn't start the engine is the electric motor running?
Does pushing the start button do nothing?
Is the motor running and cranking the engine but the engine doesn't start?
Is the motor running and making a grinding/clunking noise without making the engine crank?

These are just a few of the possible problems and each one has a different answer to fix the problem.

[lptomas]

arizoni thak-you, well  when i am pressing the starter button it makes a grinding noise and the engine is not starting ,what is bothering  is the auto decompression valve that the dealer removed at 350miles is that not making it harder for my electric starter to engaged and crank the engine? sometimes i get just a lttl bit of grinding noise and the engine start i have checked my battery and it is fine .

[singhg5]

now at 600 miles its my electric starter that as a 50/50 ratio of starting my engine sometimes it work sometime it does not and it make an horrible noise . kick start work like a dream,should i take it back to dealer again?

First check the battery under load to make sure that the battery is good.  Even a 12.2 volt battery may not have enough strength to start the bike.

It can be that sprag clutch is going out, it may have broken teeth. If so, the only cure is to replace it and clean the inside. You should take it to dealer to have it checked.

If you can, take a short video on camera and post it on youtube so that others can hear the noise and see what is going on ? Removing auto decompressor does not make much difference to make grinding noises when started.

Low battery and solenoid can also cause starting problems - but that would not make the kind of horrible noise that you mentioned. If you want to know more about where is solenoid and how to test it and the battery, check out this video link -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yV5wdGtP34o

PS - After writing all of the above and I re-read your last post that says 'sometimes i get just a little bit of grinding noise and the engine start'  -  Do you mean cranking noise of engine ?  Are you saying grinding noise is the same as cranking noise ?  Need some clarification of what you are really saying.

[Arizoni]

Because the starter motor is running, your battery is probably fine.  So is the starter solonoid ( the electrical switch that connects your battery to the starter motor).

The grinding noise is most likely the sprags in the sprag clutch slipping on their drive/driven surfaces.  These sprags can be thought of as movable wedges that temporally wedge between two circular parts.  This transmits the rotation of one part to the other.
When the engine starts the wedges move into a position where the circular parts can rotate freely.

Anyway, if the sprags (or wedges) or the parts that hold them in position are damaged they can grab, then slip, then grab causing horrible noises.
There is no cure for this except to replace the defective parts.

As for the "decompression valve", in my opinion, if it is missing or not working, yes, it can increase the load that the sprag clutch must move thus it could damage the clutch.

[Kevin Mahoney]

I agree about the visit to the dealer. If you have warranty left it will be covered

[lptomas]

to singh5 what i meant is when the electric starter work wich is now a 1 out of 2 occurence,the grinding noise is the same for 1 or 2 sec and then engine start,when it is not same horrible noise and a dead silent engine ,kick starting work like a dream.and i agree the shop is the best solution but the bike is 2and a half month and has been at the shop alleady for almost a month and i am reluctant to sent it back there ,there are pretty cool but it is a little slow, when they basically make no money out of your pocket your bike is not on their priority list.

[The Garbone]

I would check the battery.  If it is short of amps it could cause the starter not to engage fully.    Pull the battery and take it to autozone or some such.  They should have a tester (Medtronix etc) that they can clip to it, dial in the type of battery and put it under load and test it.   Chances are that your battery never had a really good charge to start with and then doing brake in riding ran it down more followed by the time in the shop that might have killed it.

If you do remove the battery disconnect the negative lead first and when putting it back in reconnect it last.  This will help you not grounding the positive side to the frame by accident and causing a nice spark.