Unofficial Royal Enfield Community Forum

Royal Enfield Motorcycles => Bullet with the UCE engine => Topic started by: lj3 on July 04, 2011, 03:43:37 pm

Title: Electric start failure, had to push start C5
Post by: lj3 on July 04, 2011, 03:43:37 pm
i rode about 60 miles yesterday, mostly at speeds of 50+. in the middle of the ride i stopped to fill up. after filling (and 15 minutes of talking to two brothers who had a really cool 40 Mercury hotrod with a full race flathead) i turned the key and no light, no fuel pump, nothing. i opend the left toolbox to check wiring, fuses etc and could find no problem. i turned the key back on and i shaded the idiot lights and i could see a faint red glow from the engine light. so i pulled the gear lever up into second, four big strides - hopped on - popped the clutch - fired right up. i rode a couple of blocks to a new bar in the area, stopped the bike and went inside for a water, (i parked on a hill). five minutes later i walked out put on my gear and turned the key - lights - fuel pump - starts right up.
this happened once before, since then i've kept the bike on a tender.
other than that this bike has been perfect, i've owned 5 of the new triumphs and countless old britbikes, plus 2 of the iron barrell enfields. the C5 is in the league of the new triumphs, my '99 Triumph, a Tiger had to be pushstarted many times.
i'm going to invest in a new gell battery. what do you think?
Title: Re: Electric start failure, had to push start C5
Post by: prof_stack on July 04, 2011, 04:11:17 pm
I had a similar thing, but my "solution" was to pull down on the wiring harness under the front headlamp.  That seemed to reconnect something.  The shop looked it all over after that, and no problems since.

Better still is to go through the bike and better connect things that attach.
Title: Re: Electric start failure, had to push start C5
Post by: 2bikebill on July 04, 2011, 04:45:16 pm
Apologies if I'm being obvious, but was the side stand down? Mine still catches me out that way now and again...... ::)
Title: Re: Electric start failure, had to push start C5
Post by: olhogrider on July 04, 2011, 05:22:26 pm
The dim glow would indicate low voltage. Most likely a bad connection from the battery to the bike or a bad battery. I had a battery cable fail and the connector on the red wire to the fuse box also.
Title: Re: Electric start failure, had to push start C5
Post by: Sub on July 04, 2011, 05:58:29 pm
Have another closer look at all of the wire harnesses in the fuse box area. I had a short on one of mine - was rubbing on the sharp plastic behind the two relays. It was the tiniest of frayed wires, I almost didnt see it.
Title: Re: Electric start failure, had to push start C5
Post by: TWinOKC on July 04, 2011, 06:33:39 pm
A couple of times my bike has failed to start because of the battery, when I first got the bike I fell victim to the old kick stand down syndrome.  The original battery seems to run down pretty quick.    I am going to get an AGM soon, have used them in my boat, they last a long time and are maintenance free.   
Title: Re: Electric start failure, had to push start C5
Post by: prof_stack on July 04, 2011, 07:19:25 pm
I'll get an AGM battery when my '10 C5 battery is kaput.  But I keep it on the Battery Tender when it's parked.  That thing has saved me at least 3 batteries over the years.
Title: Re: Electric start failure, had to push start C5
Post by: lj3 on July 05, 2011, 01:59:45 pm
I'll get an AGM battery when my '10 C5 battery is kaput.  But I keep it on the Battery Tender when it's parked.  That thing has saved me at least 3 batteries over the years.

i went through the wiring and found nothing loose. the next day my wife rode the C5 about 50 miles with no problem. i bet a new (better) battery would solve this problem.
AGM or gel???
Title: Re: Electric start failure, had to push start C5
Post by: Kevin Mahoney on July 05, 2011, 02:44:30 pm
Get a new battery and then double check that it is charging. You should be on your way.
Title: Re: Electric start failure, had to push start C5
Post by: rbelyk on July 05, 2011, 03:11:57 pm
I haven't swapped mine out yet but will in the future
sounds like AGM is the way to go
http://www.batterystuff.com/tutorial_battery_gel_agm.html
anyone else have experience?
Title: Re: Electric start failure, had to push start C5
Post by: barenekd on July 05, 2011, 04:34:38 pm
I have one in my G5. Works great, doesn't dribble. However it is a bit larger than the stock battery and some of the wires are a bit tight around it. I have to get back in there and do a bit of rerouting. A job for later this week.
Bare
Title: Re: Electric start failure, had to push start C5
Post by: Sub on July 05, 2011, 07:29:57 pm
I bought a scorpion battery for my other bike (much larger motor) after reading a bunch of positive reviews and its been great this season. I went several weeks with no usage and it started up strong. The other benefit is that they're really inexpensive! Give em a try.