Cut out, and now grinding on restart?

[Sycamore]

Hi all

My bike (ER-6) was ticking over fine, and after 5 mins or so, the revs went lumpy and started to drop and the bike then cut out.

Now when I try to restart it, there's a grinding/clicking noise coming.

Any ideas where to begin to look?

Usually I'd say the starter is kaput, but would that have caused for the bike to cut out?

[trickywoo]

Battery being completely goosed would be best case scenario.

[Rubin215]

Have you checked your oil level?

[Rene Souffle]

Check oil first as already suggested. If it’s low, I’d be draining what’s left and checking for any metal swarf in the oil. If clean, new oil and filter time. If it’s a bit chunky, game over I’m afraid .

If the level is ok and you have access to a multimeter, check the battery voltage.

If it’s really low, then a new battery would be required. If you’re confident it’s not engine failure, then try starting it and checking the voltage while running.

Should be abound 14-14.5v. If it’s 12 or under, it may be your alternator or regulator rectifier has gone pop.

[Jakey123]

Suspect it's battery/charging.

As above check battery voltage, could just stick a boost pack on it to try and start it thought as that would rule it out also 🙂

[Davie Lad]

On an ER6, always keep the oil at the top level, as the stators have being known to burn out on them…

[spuds1]

Given the OP states it's grinding, that sounds a bit ominous to me. Would a duff battery cause anything other than a lazy turn over / not turning over at all?

Davie Lad said:

On an ER6, always keep the oil at the top level, as the stators have being known to burn out on them…

Is the stator housing in an oil bath?

[Sycamore]

I finally got to put my multi meter and battery booster to use.

I also posted this to the ER6 owners club on Facebook.
Someone messaged me a video of their bike doing the exact same thing mine was, suggesting it's the battery.

The voltage on my own battery was low, though I charged it for a few hours and then used my booster and the bike started up as usual.
I think my battery is just knackered. I'm not sure whether it's uniquely an ER6 thing, but the horrible grinding noise had me assuming the engine was fked. It really sounded like expensive metal parts on expensive metal parts.

I've had flat/duff batteries in the past, but the noise in this case is dreadful. New battery is on order, so we'll see.

Thank you for the help all. Hopefully it's as simple as being the battery.

[spuds1]

I still don't understand why a duff battery makes it sound like a bag of spanners?

[trickywoo]

spuds1 said:

I still don't understand why a duff battery makes it sound like a bag of spanners?

Op said grinding/clicking. It wasn’t a great description but I immediately thought battery.

A shot engine isn’t going to sound especially bad just on the starter or nothing at all will happen.

[Sycamore]

trickywoo said:

spuds1 said:

I still don't understand why a duff battery makes it sound like a bag of spanners?

Op said grinding/clicking. It wasn’t a great description but I immediately thought battery.

A shot engine isn’t going to sound especially bad just on the starter or nothing at all will happen.

Indeed, bad description.

The awful grinding noise was when I tried to start it up, which is why I thought it may be the starter motor. Sort of gears clashing. The bike wouldn't actually fire up. The engine was running fine until it cut out, it just went lumpy before it did.

Fingers crossed it's a new battery that's needed.

I can't see why a battery would be the cause myself, but what do I know

[2ndclasscitizen]

Sycamore said:

trickywoo said:

spuds1 said:

I still don't understand why a duff battery makes it sound like a bag of spanners?

Op said grinding/clicking. It wasn’t a great description but I immediately thought battery.

A shot engine isn’t going to sound especially bad just on the starter or nothing at all will happen.

Indeed, bad description.

The awful grinding noise was when I tried to start it up, which is why I thought it may be the starter motor. Sort of gears clashing. The bike wouldn't actually fire up. The engine was running fine until it cut out, it just went lumpy before it did.

Fingers crossed it's a new battery that's needed.

I can't see why a battery would be the cause myself, but what do I know

If your charging system is on the way out the bike may have been running partially or completely off the battery. Battery gets low, bike can't run, bike stops. The sounds you're describing sounds exactly like a starter and/or starter relay not receiving enough juice to fully engage.

[Krikkit]

Sprag clutches can make odd noises when they're not spinning over fast enough, as can starters as above

[TheInternet]

spuds1 said:

I still don't understand why a duff battery makes it sound like a bag of spanners?

The battery powers the solenoid which actuates the starter pinion, without enough juice it doesn't mesh and ends up spinning/grinding away.



https://www.allfourx4.com.au/Blogold/Starter-Motor...

[spuds1]

Ah gotcha.

Krikkit said:

Sprag clutches can make odd noises when they're not spinning over fast enough, as can starters as above

I was going to mention sprag clutches and if it was because of that but I don't know enough about them (other than their purpose) and didn't want to make a fool of myself!

OP let us know if a new battery sorts it for you and whether your charging circuit is good or not.