rotten egg smell

[j0ker]

I took the VStar 1100 out for about 2 hours in the mountains yesterday. When I rolled into Boulder I smelled a rotten egg smell, but thought it was something local. The next stop light, same thing, rotten egg smell. When I stop and get off the bike I can definitely smell a strong sulfurous smell coming from the front half of the bike. I didn't see anything leaking or any obvious issues.

Any ideas?

[Clovis]

Sounds like your bike has a natural gas leak!

j/k - sorry, don't know -- have you tried washing it off?

[madvlad]

Is the bike new? Usually you get that smell when either exhausted baffling is burning off or your catalytic converter took a crap... could be something else, not sure.

[j0ker]

Is the bike new? Usually you get that smell when either exhausted baffling is burning off or your catalytic converter took a crap... could be something else, not sure.

I am pretty sure its NOT bio-methane Clovis!

This is an old bike. Been ridden a lot. I was doing some googling and it said it could be battery boiling over. I pulled my battery plate and it "looks" fine.

[Ezzzzy1]

Most of the time that you smell rotten eggs, it the cat.

[j0ker]

I am lost with what is going on here. I put the VStar on a battery tinder which reported that it was still a good charge. When I try to start the bike though, I get a loud clicking sound and no fire. It doesn't sound like it's about to kill the battery either, the clicking is loud and strong.

Any ideas on what is going on? The battery is apparently good but the bike will only click with trying to start.

Help!

[madvlad]

Did you have it load tested? Usually continuous clicking means a bad battery but just a single click means either starter or something else. Anymore of that smell?

[j0ker]

Did you have it load tested? Usually continuous clicking means a bad battery but just a single click means either starter or something else. Anymore of that smell?
I have not had it load tested. Who or how do I do that? I plugged it into the tinder and the tinder lit up green. That's the only thing I have indicating the battery is OK.

No more rotten egg smell since I haven't been riding it.

[madvlad]

Take it to an auto parts/bike dealer store, they have testers that load them and can tell you if they have a bad cell and what not

[TFOGGuys]

No cat on that bike. Check running voltage at the battery with a voltmeter at about 3000 rpm. You should have 13.5 to 14.5 volts, any more than 14.5ish, and you probably need to replace the voltage regulator. if it's a flooded (not maintenance free) battery, check to make sure the electrolyte level is between the lines, and that the vent tube is attached and not blocked.

[madvlad]

There you go :lol: Jim ftw

[j0ker]

Ok, I am back here again. I have replaced the battery and the voltage regulator rectifier on the VStar 1100 and I am still getting a strong clicking sound with no combustion.

What can I check next? I would love to ride this loud, slow, grocery-getter this summer.

[madvlad]

Starter maybe, hit it with a hammer a few times and see if it goes

[j0ker]

Went out and listened again, this noise is coming from the battery area. From what I understand about the vstar the starter is on the bottom front. Any ideas?

[Grim2.0]

If its not even cranking or turning over the first step like Damir said is the starter. In the past i have pulled the starter hooked it to the batter and hit the starter to see if she spins, if not there's your problem. If it does it could still be the starter, those starters are little DC brush motors they get a lot of carbon buildup and lose efficiency and will still "try" but cant quite put out the power to actually turn the gears.

Have you tried bump starting?

[Ezzzzy1]

Went out and listened again, this noise is coming from the battery area. From what I understand about the vstar the starter is on the bottom front. Any ideas?

Id look at the schematics and see what the path from the battery to the starter is. If there is a relay it could be toast and that would explain why you are hearing the clicking by the battery. Would be a simple fix if that was the case.

EDIT

Quick search found this. There are fuses that could be blown but the relay is still working. Worth looking into

http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/321428331916?lpid=82&chn=ps

[Zanatos]

Check the ground connection. On some bikes it's a small metal strap bolted to the frame. If the bolt vibrated loose, then you might not have a good ground connection any longer.


I once bought a new battery that had a loose plate inside. If the plates were touching, all I would get is a click. But if the plates were separated, the bike would start right up. It took me a long time to find the problem because I (falsely) thought that a new battery could never be the issue.

[The GECCO]

Here's a novel idea - take it to a mechanic who knows what they're doing instead of throwing random parts at it until it works.

[#1Townie]

Here's a novel idea - take it to a mechanic who knows what they're doing instead of throwing random parts at it until it works.

Sounds like a plan.

[TFOGGuys]

Possibly a failed starter relay. The easy test for that is to jump across the 2 large terminals (one goes to the battery positive, the other goes to the starter) with a screwdriver that you don't care about. The starter should turn at that point. If you have the key on, the bike should start. If the starter doesn't turn with the terminals jumped, it's probably bad or bound up somehow.

[j0ker]

Possibly a failed starter relay. The easy test for that is to jump across the 2 large terminals (one goes to the battery positive, the other goes to the starter) with a screwdriver that you don't care about. The starter should turn at that point. If you have the key on, the bike should start. If the starter doesn't turn with the terminals jumped, it's probably bad or bound up somehow.
Thanks for the sanity TFOG. If you were not so far away you would be the one looking at this beast. :)

[j0ker]

Here's a novel idea - take it to a mechanic who knows what they're doing instead of throwing random parts at it until it works.
Yea, god forbid I ask people who know about motorcycles anything.....

[Ezzzzy1]

Today I was reminded about the difference between volts and amps.

A friend took his battery to a reputable motorcycle shop last week because his bike was acting the same way. Bike would start after the battery was on a tender all night but wouldn't start again after being shut off. He was told the battery was "good".

Today after the battery died again we went to batteries plus just to have it tested again. Confirmed that the volts were good but the amps were only at 3 instead of 10. Basically there were enough volts to run the electrical side of the bike (ie fans and lights) but there wasn't enough amps to completely turn over the starter.

Take the battery somewhere that will test the volts AND the amps. If the amps are low the battery is shot.

[#1Townie]

Sorry wrong thread.

[j0ker]

FIXED! I took the VR I just bought and the new battery to have them tested. My brand new battery shows positive charge but actually had half the cranking amps it was supposed to have. Replaced the new battery with another new battery and boom, the VStar is rumbling again.

Thanks to those of you that helped me with my cruiser questions. Your assistance was very much appreciated.

[Grim2.0]

FIXED! I took the VR I just bought and the new battery to have them tested. My brand new battery shows positive charge but actually had half the cranking amps it was supposed to have. Replaced the new battery with another new battery and boom, the VStar is rumbling again.

Thanks to those of you that helped me with my cruiser questions. Your assistance was very much appreciated.

Im slightly curious, with the new (bad) battery did you fill it up with the acid yourself?
Voltage and current are def important like EZZY said, you will likely always have 110V coming out of an outlet but the current draw changes with the demand, lower current = low load, higher = larger load. The battery will read full voltage but if it cannot produce the current draw it wont actually move anything and yea your SOL :)

[j0ker]

Im slightly curious, with the new (bad) battery did you fill it up with the acid yourself?
Voltage and current are def important like EZZY said, you will likely always have 110V coming out of an outlet but the current draw changes with the demand, lower current = low load, higher = larger load. The battery will read full voltage but if it cannot produce the current draw it wont actually move anything and yea your SOL :)

I bought it from Rocky Mt. Kawasaki already filled.