big red won't start

[ATCcountryboy]

I was riding my big red today for about 30 minutes and I put it up, but when I went to start it again...it just clicked. It does this sometimes when I ride it a while, but now its getting worse and is doing it more often. Any idea on whats going on, could it be the coil or cdi?

[motordude]

Sounds to me like your starter is going maybe?

[another owner]

Starter motor dieing out or your battery isn't putting out enough power. slap a volt meter on it mate.

[Daninmin]

I have the same problem with my 250 es. I took the starter out, cleaned all the black dust out of it, reinstalled it and it still does it. I was wondering if it was worth rebuilding with the brush kits or just by a new starter. I did try and put the positive from my battery charger on the post and just touched the housing with the ground. That wouldn't make it spin either. Should it have spun with the battery charger?

[campdrew]

Daninmin, if you put power directly to the starter with a charger, it should spin.

ATCcountryboy, if it just clicks when you hit the start button, it doesn't have anything to do with the coil or cdi. It's either a weak battery, starter solenoid, or the starter itself. The first thing to do is check the battery and that the battery cables are tight. Put a meter on the battery and read voltage. It should be around 12.6 volts. Then, hold the start button for a couple seconds while watching your voltage. If it drops below 9.5volts, then you need to replace the battery. If the battery tests good, then put the positive meter lead on the starter post and the negative lead on the starter body and check voltage there when you push the start button. If you don't have battery voltage to the starter, then it's your solenoid (one side of the solenoid should always read battery voltage and the other should read battery voltage when the start button is pushed). If you do have voltage to the starter, then your starter is bad. You can usually rebuild the starter, but sometimes the extra cost of a new one is worth not having to worry about it.

[ATCcountryboy]

Thanks for the help. I will try the things you said.