what happens when I... uh oh.. Battery time?? Worse?

[funkamongus]

Ok, Im a dumbass. I know most of you already know this ad this message is redundant. Here is how Im a dumbass today. Last summer, I put an additional ground on my bike.. it hapened to be a red wire and I figured Id remember.. well.. Today I hook up a charger.. You guessed it, neg of charger to frame  (I couldnt get to the post on what I thought was the positive side) and  heres the kicker, positive of the charger to the neg post of the battery, to lots of shocks. Now it just clicks.... the lights come on...

What have I done? Im not being dramatic or rhetorical, literally, what have I done?     

[fiat-doctor]

Good news... what you describe cannot hurt anything on the bike at all.  You have essentially just connected both of your charger leads together.  Not good for the charger, but no harm to bike.  Hook up the charger correctly and use a digital voltmeter to see if it still works... should see 13.5 or so volts as it charges the battery.
Steve

[funkamongus]

sahweeeeet.. battery should be fine too?? Why is it just clicking now?? drained?

[funkamongus]

Its just one big click, not a bunch like a solenoid... I think I blew a fuse somewhere? I checked the four in the fuse box.. is there another?

[funkamongus]

the solenoid physically jumps, but theres no action when arced with a screwdriver, just a big click, and the solenoid moves...

[Re-Vision]

Make sure your battery is charged or try another battery.   BDC

[funkamongus]

Its fully charged now, Ive tried jumping with a truck battery, still nada. Just a click.

[Re-Vision]

Pull the starter and see if it turns over when applying twelve Volts directly.  Appears to be a starter motor or starter wiring problem.   BDC

[RedRocket]

Sounds like my XV920.  ::)  We could both use help.

[Lucky]

First, we cant tell you what component you fried, but you fried something.  go buy a DVOM & start some diagnostics.  the service manuals will tell you all you need to know, but you'll have to see what is working & what isn't.  narrow it down & procede from there.  there are at least 5 realys that i can think of in my head, & all of them click when they activate or deactivate. you can feel it with your hand.

now, why you fried something:

most jap bikes are ground side switched.  this is opposet of non metric vehicles, what most of us were raised on.  when you shorted out the charger you provided 12v & however many amps the charger pumped out, into the ground system.  on a negatively switched vehicle this should be less of a problem, because most relays are set up normally open, BUT things like the sidestand switch are closed when the stand is down, so there is one potentialy fried relay. 

to make matters worse (harder to diag actually) the fried relay WON'T click, plus it'll still show voltage in.  you'll have to remember to check voltage out as well......

--Lucky

[Lucky]

btw, you don't have to drain the oil & remove the starter to prove it's good, just use some jumper cables fed from the battery positive to the pos terminal on the starter.  for your own safety do this on the center stand...

[Re-Vision]

When you shorted across the starter solenoid you caused twelve Volts to be applied directly to the starter, if it didn't move it might be burned up or mechanically jammed, pulling it and applying twelve Volts will eliminate these possibilities if it (starter motor) runs.  No reason to troubleshoot relay problems if starter motor wont turn, I think it unlikely that you will have relay problems as the frame should carry most of the current (unless that red wire had a poor connection to the frame) rather than the harness wires.    BDC

[funkamongus]

Nah, the red wire was pretty good sized and attached well to a bare spot. I think a relay is gone, though, because I was looking at the  front spark plug when I realized what I had done.. and I smelled, well, Magic smoke.. you know the magic smoke??? The Magic Smoke resides in all electronics. When you let the magic smoke out,, you cant recapture it and re insert that smoke and make it work again. Its gone. I smelled that magic smoke... I must have let it out of something...

[Re-Vision]

Make like a bloodhound and locate it with your sniffer.  HaHa.   BDC

[funkamongus]

lol!! If I hadnt abused myself here and there, my sniffer might do it!! But, it only works when it wants,, and Im never sure if its right..