Yamaha R3 starting issues | GTAMotorcycle.com

Yamaha R3 starting issues

dexter

dexter

Well-known member
Hello GTAM members,
I brought my R3 in 2017, rode full season on stock. Long story short, had startup issues since 2018 intermittenly but managed to ride entire 2017/2018. March of this year first thing i did is swap out stock yuasa to motobatt battery. I rode the bike since start of March everyday until last week (when it rained) and bam it wont start.
Including youtube video that shows the problem. I think the problem is either a) starter relay or b)stator. I called two Yamaha dealers in Toronto both of them are heavily booked until June due too all the recall work for R3. If anyone have any pointers or willing to help dm me, will appreciate it.

Can someone help me in ruling out whether my starter relay is bad? I dont know how to test that thingy.

Thanks
Dexter
 
battery is dead
it's in a discharge state
relay is squawking at you as it opens and closes
 
Battery is new (a month old) , holds charge without connected to trickle charger.
 
6 cell lead/acid battery charged voltage = ~ 13V

that battery is dead, don't care how old it is

you hit the starter button and it goes to nothing
 
Last edited:
roadrash said:
What happens if you connect the Yuasa back on after charging it?
Click to expand...
same doesnt start.


JavaFan said:
6 cell lead/acid battery charged voltage = ~ 14V
that battery is dead, don't care how old it is
you hit the starter button and it goes to nothing
battery is dead
Click to expand...
@JavaFan , so even if the battery discharge is not going down to 10V , a drop of 2V is definite indication of dead battery?
 
watching the first part of that video, Dexter
batt voltage is under 12 V with key off
drops a bit when you turn the key on

when you hit the starter button it drops to 6V
we can hear the relay turning on and off - that is the buzzing

can't see from the video, but I'm assuming the cluster also is turning on and off as you crank
sorry for the blunt reply earlier, but I'd bet my underwear that battery is dead :)
 
Take the batteries to a shop and have them both load tested. Until you verify their condition you're just pissing into the wind.
 
You have to charge the battery before you can test it.

After charge the battery must show at least 12.7 volts at rest.
 
Battery tester -

I recently bought a Topdon AB101 (ArtiBattery101) Recommended by Scotty Kilmer, LoL

Thought that I needed a new battery in my truck and decided to acquire a tool that can give me accurate information on battery status. Tested my wife's car and her 4-yr old battery is not as healthy although it doesn't show any issues starting. Note - this tester will not work on Li-Po batteries...

AGM batteries -

If you drain the battery, i.e. leave the ignition on, and it drops below 10V, most smart chargers won't charge them back up. There's a hack where you can temporarily connect a good battery in parallel, start the charger, then disconnect the good battery and leave the drained AGM to continue charging.

Jump starting -

This is a contentious topic sometimes. My opinion and advice: if you jump start a motorcycle from a car, the car should not be running. Once the bike starts, the voltage regulator will shunt excess voltage to ground and if the car is running, the car's alternator may ramp up it's output and overwhelm the bike's VR.
 
I had a trouble once with the negative battery cable on my HD sportster. The cable connected onto the starter where I assumed the frame was also grounded - the cable frayed underneath the insulation. I found it when it eventually broke but for the two years prior, I thought I had a weak battery.

You could test this by checking the resistance from the battery ground terminal/wire to the frame ground. I'm not sure where this terminates on the R3, or where your starter is. Meter on resistance setting, ignition off. Should be very low / 0.
 
Shoutout to @FLSTC for helping me with diagnosis and teaching me a thing or two about bike electricals.
@JavaFan is right on the money (or underwear) .. Artibattery failed my battery.
"Supposedly new battery" - at rest:
Atrest.jpg

Battery test in Charging mode:
charging.jpg




Will take it to the battery vendor for warranty.

?
/Dex
 
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Well that's much fancier than my battery tester that is basically a glorified heater.
 
We also checked resistance from the negative battery terminal/lead to the shell of the starter motor (could fit the lead in from the right side of the bike): 0 ohms = good connection from the starter motor to ground, no issues with that leg of the connection.

But what caused the OEM battery to go bad? A couple of winters? Even being trickle charged?

And why did this new battery go bad? Coincidence?
 
FLSTC said:
We also checked resistance from the negative battery terminal/lead to the shell of the starter motor (could fit the lead in from the right side of the bike): 0 ohms = good connection from the starter motor to ground, no issues with that leg of the connection.

But what caused the OEM battery to go bad? A couple of winters? Even being trickle charged?

And why did this new battery go bad? Coincidence?
Click to expand...
Did you bumpstart and let Artibattery analyze the charging?
 
Dexter had a lipo battery pack - we connected this in parallel to get the bike started then removed to let the ‘charging’ test continue on the tester. It asked us to rev the engine more to get a proper reading...
 
FLSTC said:
Dexter had a lipo battery pack - we connected this in parallel to get the bike started then removed to let the ‘charging’ test continue on the tester. It asked us to rev the engine more to get a proper reading...
Click to expand...
I don't expect the vast majority of bikes (especially a 300 cc bike) to charge well at idle. As long as it was charging properly around cruising rpm I would be happy.
 
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