Electric Starter = Dead? Hope Not

[drteeth1976]

Hi its been a while since I had to come here because my Ruckus has been running fine. Lately though I have had issues with the electric ignition. At first it wouldn't work about once a week; either I wouldn't get any power (no tail lights) or would just get clicking. It would always kickstart though. As the weeks have progressed the electronic ignition has become less and less reliable and at times the kickstarter has even taken multiple kicks to start. When I press the ignition the bike makes a little chugging noise like it wants to start then switches over to clicks. I have some ideas as to what could be wrong and was hoping to get some feedback before taking it to the costly shop.

Bad spark plug? Lose spark plug? Bad fuse somewhere? Starter is dead? I hope its not the starter because I cannot imagine that being inexpensive to fix.

Any suggestions here would be greatly appreciated.

[chanito]

First things first, take the battery box cover out, to gain access to the battery, make sure the terminals are clean and tight. Then on to the fuses, get (buy, borrow or steal one) a test light or a volt meter and check all the fuses by the positive terminal, replace any if it is blown of iffy. Then if everything is OK check if the brake lights work, by turning the ignition "on" and press either of the brake levers and then the other, both should turn the light by themselves, so if one fails to turn the brake lights you need to replace it. If everything is OK, them more than likely is the 5 legged relay, I doubt is the starter/alternator because you can kick start the engine, just to be on the safe side get a volt meter and check to see if the battery voltage is above 13 volts at half throttle, you can get the relay from your Honda dealer or from any of the internet sites. Hope this help