Starter motor issue

I just bought a 99 VFR800Fi earlier today. I was taking it out for a drive, and i noticed it seemed like the battery was discharging. So, I get home and stall as I'm trying to pull in the garage, and when I went to start it, it made a familiar buzzing sound i heard from my Ninja once-- the battery was too low to crank it. So I get it in the garage and try to start it, but all that happens is i get a click from the dashboard area and the lights dim (as if current was being drawn). No attempt to spin the starter. Any ideas as to what happened and how to fix it?

 

Sounds like a typical dying battery. Are your terminals clean and tight?
Remove and charge the battery, take it to a good auto parts shop and they will load check it for you.
Also you need to confirm your charging system is up to scratch. What charging voltage do you read at the battery at idle and 5000rpm?

 

I tried starting the engine with a battery that i know is good and charged and it did the same thing. Does not seem like an issue with the battery, though i will still be replacing it in the future.

 

In that case you may have an issue the the Starter Relay. Check the Main Fuse A 30amp located in the relay, check it for any heat stress. Also pull the electrical connector from the relay and have a good check for burnt or heat stressed wiring and spade connectors.
Another thing you can try is to unplug the electrical connector then independently supply 12v to the relay coil momentarily making contact to test the Starter Relays ability to run the starter motor, refer attached wire diagram.
MAKE ABSOLUTELY SURE YOU ARE IN NEUTRAL BEFORE TRYING THIS AND ON THE CENTER STAND FOR SAFTEY. Keep the ignition switch to off.

You might also have an issue with the Starter Motor itself.

 

I tried pulling out the relay and testing it with a battery, at first it clicked when i gave it power but now it doesn't. Anyways, on the two big connectors on the relay, ones supposed to go to the starter and ones supposed to go to battery positive, right? Because the wire that i think is supposed to be the starter is reading continuity to ground. This is all really confusing...

 

If you've tested the relay and it does't click with every time you apply power to the coil then replace it. Also whenever you power the coil there should be continuity between the two large terminals.
When the relay is fitted to the bike YES the two main terminal will be one going to the battery and the other to the motor. The reason you are seeing very low Ohms to Ground on the motor terminal is because you are dealing with a Series Motor, this is why the leads to the motor are heavy gauge because of the current the motor draws, it draws high current because it has low resistance through it to Ground. However it still may possibly be shorted!
With a healthy battery AND a known good starter relay if it doesn't crank over then you can assume your starter motor may be the issue.

 

starter motors can usually be repaired by replacing brushes and a general clean up.

 

i think it's shorted. I pulled the wire off the motor and broke continuity to ground, and i tried using a 12v battery to run the motor manually, and all it did was arc.

 

I forgot about this thread. I ended up solving the issue a while ago. For anyone in the future who has this issue:
I replaced the starter motor and it turns out that the old one was perfectly fine. I replaced the relay and it fired right up. While the bench tests on the relay seemed to pass and it would click when off the bike, it wasn't making contact while it was on the bike. The click that I WAS hearing when pushing the starter button was the relay that would turn off the headlights when you push the starter (so it can draw more power). As for why both starters read continuity on the positive wire when they weren't moving... I have no idea. But when power was running to the starter, the continuity stopped. Not sure if this is normal, but nonetheless it works now, and that's what matters to me.

TL;DR- if this happens to you, replace the relay FIRST, even if it passes the bench test. If that doesn't work, try pulling the starter motor and running it with a high amp power source to see if it'll run outside of the bike (be aware that the starter draws a LOT of power and will jump away if you don't have it secured to something!)
Good luck to you, and ride safe out there <3
(Also, thank you to everyone who contributed to this thread)

 

You obviously didn't read my post explaining why you would get this reading. Research a Series Motor!

It was also mentioned, if the Stater Relay did not click EVERY time you applied power to the coil then Replace it. You had this situation but went and wasted time and money on another Starter Motor! Shame about that!

 

Try the glass half full view. Where's the shame in having a spare starter motor on the shelf for the greatest bike ever made? Parts for these 22+ year old 5th gens aren't exactly becoming more available.

 

Yep no harm in gathering spares you may or may never need if you can afford it.

But......Do you go and buy a new Ignition Switch every time your Main Fuse blows for whatever reason? Not the best fault finding method!

 

I can't say the main fuse blowing constantly is an issue I've run into, but I understand your point. For context though, I've put 12,000 niles on a VFR in the last 3 months so my view of having spares around and ready to go may be a little different than most.

 

^^^^ WOW, thatsalota riding !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

have any photos for us ?