FZR 400 1WG 86' clicking solenoid!

[willandrip]

Not the engine bars; I powdercoat mine !
The frame has other earth points but some if not most of the earth will be thru the engine mount bolts.
In your case you need the engine and hence the starter body to have a good earth.
This should be the fat wire straight to the battery earth terminal.
The fat positive wire goes from the starter motor positive stud and straight to the solenoid; it must not touch earth.

If wires are heating and/or sparking;
Positive feed is shorting to earth.
Terminals are loose.
Starter is jammed and drawing too much current.

Downstream of the solenoid is a VERY simple circuit.

I have had only 1 starter fault in seven or so of my FZR's.
One motor would spin and lock up when fixed to engine but if the intermediate gear was removed from the starter train it span perfectly.
On stripping the starter motor; the end bushing was severly worn causing the armature to jam in the starter motor casing when placed under load.
I put this down as a 1:1000 fault.

[Evilchicken0]

The earth wire goes from an engine bolt to the frame and then to the battery so engine bolts don't really mean a great deal.
First Id say to recharge the battery you should get 14 volts across the terminals when thats done. it could be a dodgy earth strap just make sure it goes to the frame and battery
If that doesnt work then move on to renewing the solenoid.

Facebook is good for ideas but like you found it can be everybody suggesting different things that just confuse things

[lukeinorbit]

Ok brilliant well i will have a real dig at it tomorrow, Ive been fiddling with the starter motor today, had it apart, cleaned the soot out. Brushes seem all good… And yes Facebook is always gonna be hit and miss as its people with other bikes a lot of the time :/ man i just want to ride!

[lukeinorbit]

Well the sun is shining today guys! i sorted out earth strap and live feed to starter motor, had the peanut cover in place, not bolted down and she turns! no clicking, i think i may have been putting the cover on too tight as when i tried with cover bolted on (reasonably tight) it clicks, so i pressume its jamming the gears... so is there a specific torque?

[willandrip]

Is the gasket and the dowels in place.?
You may have to experiment with the tightening order of the bolts and faffing with the alignment of the casing although the casing may have been damaged in a fall;
causing the gears to be slightly misaligned.
The torque is 4.5 ft/lbs;6N/m but is not critical just so long as its oil tight.

You might get out for a ride in the sun today yet !

[lukeinorbit]

Well i dont have a gasket for the cover, probably something i should get/ make... yes the bike has been dropped before with slight dent/ graze to the case. She is being ver reluctant to want to start though, checked that i have spark which i do. But no luck of it catching :/

[willandrip]

The gasket may be relevent to space the casing off the crankcase.
If its stood for a while; use jumper cables to maintain battery voltage whilst "churning".
Any brake cleaner spray to use as a starting aid ?

I started 6 off the little buggers in the garage last week after a 3 month layup; it will go eventually.
Plugs cleaned and heated on a gas ring work wonders on a recommissioned motor.

Full choke; no throttle initially, tweak throttle slightly if it starts to fire intermittingly .

[lukeinorbit]

I tried using some 'easy start' with no luck, ok i will try that, can i just hook up a car battery straight to terminals on my bike battery? also thats a gorgeous collection of bikes there sir!

[willandrip]

Yes; using jumper leads.
I prefer NOT to have the car running though; sometimes a car alternator can "swamp" delicate motorcycle electrics.

Ensure the float bowls are filling from the fuel pump.

Be prepared for explosions in the exhaust and carb backfiring when using a starting aid (ether).

[lukeinorbit]

ITS ALIVE!! i did what you said and tried with a car battery, did the trick in the end, running abit lumpy-ish, backfires too... but thanks for the help, you basically just suggested what 100 others didn't, awesome man!