Hello, three years ago my father purchased a Big Dog motorcycle but shortly after passed away. It has been sitting in our garage ever since but today, my mother and I finally got someone to come look at it because we would like to fix it up and begin putting it to some use. The last time we tried to do this our friend came over and tried to jump start the battery but it was no good. Now, we have a brand new battery because the old one was no good, but when we try to start it absolutely nothing happens at all. There are no sounds anywhere, no lights come on, nothing. The only indication we have that the bike is working in anyway at all is that there is a red light on second from the left, and the neutral light is on also. This seems to be another problem however because both stay on indefinitely, even if the key is pulled. We have no idea where to proceed from here but hope maybe someone can help! Please if you have any information let me know! (Sorry about the lack of specifics as I do not know much about the bike)
Need Help!
- Thread starter Mitracol
- Start date
Nukeranger
Nukeranger
First, don't ever jump a bike - at least from a running bike or car. I would only do it from a removed battery or a bike that is not running. Next, it is very important to remove a battery and test it for CCAs. Finally, check all the connections and make sure they are tight, clean and you have a good ground. Then the rest of the troubleshooting can begin.
There is info on this that what you did may have fried the EHC.
There is info on this that what you did may have fried the EHC.
nuke is right bad ju ju to jump start these bikes....if need be another bike shut off... or push start.... slam button not a bad idea either....sounds like you need to load test your battery if good then then you need to see if your gettin power to everything else lots of post on trouble shootin..and alot more knowledgeable people on here then me...they will chime in soon....good luck i'm sure its prob an easy fix...just dont go and assume its the ehc because you tried to jump it...but it certainly could be....but theres options....sorry to hear about the passing of your father...also it would be nice to know the model and year new or used when bought..mls what your sister looks like.. the important stuff you know...also i'm sure there gonna ask for a intro maybe pics of any pretty girls you know.. i mean the bike..sorry i get side tracked must be gettin old.....peace bro good luck get it runnin and ride...bet your pop would like that...................
What year skoot is it?
Shot in the dark the battery you bought isn't big enough to turn it over need at least 320 CCA
Shot in the dark the battery you bought isn't big enough to turn it over need at least 320 CCA
Oldhvymetal
Member
Post a picture of your mom. A lot of guys here might want to help... or not.
Is that wrong?
Seriously and with all respect it doesn't sound like you have a lot of experience with bikes in general, never mind big dog bikes. That's OK, those who ride and wrench (pay attention folks) should all look after those who want to learn how to ride and wrench, IMO anyway. It keeps enough of us on the road that the cops don't focus on the rest of us.
Assuming that you want to learn how to wrench and ride, we could go through some stuff to try and help.
Otherwise, take it to a local bike shop and let them charge you a million dollars- we like our local bike shops to thrive too. We need them sometimes.
So that being the case there Mr. Mitracol, with all respect, there's a lot of folks here I think that will take your case to heart- I'm not saying I'm one of 'em, but one never knows. I've already given enuf shit to you in this thread to shame me into wanting to help (if I can).
First things first, and everybody feel free to chime in please but let's take this guy through stuff one step at a time, make sense? This could be fun, especially if it works out!
The infamous one asks a good question- what year bike is it (if you know), and what model type? That's an important start for the crowd here.
We could go from there... I personally think Nuke is right the EHC got fried from a car jump- but what the hell, my Air Force kid home on leave did the same to mine after leaving the lights on for a few hours and mine survived after exibiting a few odd behaviors for a couple of days... it might not be all that bad. Then again, it might be.
Is that wrong?
Seriously and with all respect it doesn't sound like you have a lot of experience with bikes in general, never mind big dog bikes. That's OK, those who ride and wrench (pay attention folks) should all look after those who want to learn how to ride and wrench, IMO anyway. It keeps enough of us on the road that the cops don't focus on the rest of us.
Assuming that you want to learn how to wrench and ride, we could go through some stuff to try and help.
Otherwise, take it to a local bike shop and let them charge you a million dollars- we like our local bike shops to thrive too. We need them sometimes.
So that being the case there Mr. Mitracol, with all respect, there's a lot of folks here I think that will take your case to heart- I'm not saying I'm one of 'em, but one never knows. I've already given enuf shit to you in this thread to shame me into wanting to help (if I can).
First things first, and everybody feel free to chime in please but let's take this guy through stuff one step at a time, make sense? This could be fun, especially if it works out!
The infamous one asks a good question- what year bike is it (if you know), and what model type? That's an important start for the crowd here.
We could go from there... I personally think Nuke is right the EHC got fried from a car jump- but what the hell, my Air Force kid home on leave did the same to mine after leaving the lights on for a few hours and mine survived after exibiting a few odd behaviors for a couple of days... it might not be all that bad. Then again, it might be.
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Nukeranger
Nukeranger
It is hard to guess when you don't know what year and model you have! Post a picture. Did your Dad buy it new? The year has to be 2009 or earlier since your Dad passed 3 years ago. If you have a new battery, you didn't hook it up right - no light or anything.What battery did you purchase. The other possibility is the EHC is not turning on.
Nukeranger
Nukeranger
It is a Big Dog Mastiff 2004. Also, we had a more knowledgeable motorcycle buddy come over to get the new battery and connect it. It was connected properly and there were no stray wires (except one under the center cover between the gas tank that didn't seem to have anything else to connect to in the first place.) Also, yes we initiated the correct startup sequence before trying to fire the bike. Pictures to come!
bigdogtech01
Well-Known Member
Extra wire under center counsel is for tachometer. Make sure the wires you have hooked up to battery are on the correct battery side. You might think they are, but you might have a positive going to a negative, or visa versa. You buddy might know a lot about some motorcycles, but Bigdogs are a breed of their own. Not so much like a H-D and certainly not like an Import. If your budy knows much, he should be able to use a multi meter. Have him check voltage coming out of the battery to places such as the key switch, starter motor, handlebar off/run switch...ect...What state are you located in? Buy me a plane ticket, and I'll fix your bike for free
Sorry to hear about your father.....good luck
pknowles
RETIRED
"Post a picture of your mom. A lot of guys here might want to help... or not.Post a picture of your mom. A lot of guys here might want to help... or not.
Is that wrong?
Seriously and with all respect it doesn't sound like you have a lot of experience with bikes in general, never mind big dog bikes. That's OK, those who ride and wrench (pay attention folks) should all look after those who want to learn how to ride and wrench, IMO anyway. It keeps enough of us on the road that the cops don't focus on the rest of us.
Assuming that you want to learn how to wrench and ride, we could go through some stuff to try and help.
Otherwise, take it to a local bike shop and let them charge you a million dollars- we like our local bike shops to thrive too. We need them sometimes.
So that being the case there Mr. Mitracol, with all respect, there's a lot of folks here I think that will take your case to heart- I'm not saying I'm one of 'em, but one never knows. I've already given enuf shit to you in this thread to shame me into wanting to help (if I can).
First things first, and everybody feel free to chime in please but let's take this guy through stuff one step at a time, make sense? This could be fun, especially if it works out!
The infamous one asks a good question- what year bike is it (if you know), and what model type? That's an important start for the crowd here.
We could go from there... I personally think Nuke is right the EHC got fried from a car jump- but what the hell, my Air Force kid home on leave did the same to mine after leaving the lights on for a few hours and mine survived after exibiting a few odd behaviors for a couple of days... it might not be all that bad. Then again, it might be.
Is that wrong?". That just ain't right.
Oldhvymetal
Member
LOL knowles. It sounds like Mitra got a thick skin about it though. No harm meant. Consider it a weak OHM moment.
Sorry about your dad Mitra. Lost mine almost a decade ago. Still miss him. Now, if everyone on here is done wiping their freakin' eyes...
I'll assume the lights that stay on even with the key pulled are the instrument lights under the speedo. If so the red light second from left is low oil pressure, which makes sense because the bike isn't running. Oil pressure don't get any lower than that. The green neutral light is the neutral light, and it's green. It means the bike is in neutral... when it's lit (if stuff is working right).
So OK there's a guy who you trust who gave it a look for good connections and bad wiring, that's a plus. But, the bike sat for a few years, and you put a new battery in it after trying to jump start from a car so... now is where I would highly recommend the old "bypass the whole durn thing" trick just to test that new battery- and here is how THAT trick goes.
Take a more than thin, but not a real thick hunk of wire about 3 foot long (if you know wire guages than anything from 20 to 16 guage should work), and strip off 1/4 inch of insulation on both ends. If the wire is multi strand, twist the strands on each end together good and tight. Now set that aside for a bit...
Put the bike in neutral, on a level surface, with the negative of the wire harness still attached to the battery terminal (plus side doesn't matter if it's connected or not, I'm assuming it's not because you got those pesky lights that won't shut off now unless you disconnect the battery, right?).
It's best if you have somebody hold the handlebars when trying this one out, just so you know... that is, if you don't have a bike stand with a wheel chock. These bikes turn over and idle with a lot of torque so you could get the bike turning over then watch it FALL over if it's just on the kick stand with nobody holding onto the handle bars... fair warning. Paint and chrome are expensive.
OK, now take off the seat (probably already off), and locate the positive side of the battery. Hopefully you used a voltmeter to check where the positive and negative are but I'm going to assume that your other guy knew about that. Just make sure you know where the positive side is, and that the negative is connected well.
Now find the starter solenoid. Looking from how you sit on the bike, it's by your right leg. It should look something like this:
Spyke Starters Polished Supertorque Starter 1.4kw for Big Twin | 361-997 | J&P Cycles
If you want to wait until I get home later I can post a real pic, or maybe somebody here would be willing to. Don't mess with this until you are 100% SURE of what I'm saying OK?
There are two wires going into the starter solenoid, one positive and one negative. The top wire is usually the positive one- red insulation. It connects to the solenoid with a slip on lug that looks like this:
Female Insulated Cable Lug Type - Buy Cable Lug Type,Cable Lug Type,Cable Lug Type Product on Alibaba.com
Now- once you are SURE you understand everything I'm saying here... and once you are REAL SURE that the bike is in neutral on a level surface, and better yet if you have somebody holding onto the handlebars... pull the positive wire off of the starter solenoid and bend it aside so the connector isn't close to anything metal. Then take one end of that 3 foot hunk of wire and hold it on the positive terminal of the battery. Take the other end of the wire and- carefully, so that the wire doesn't touch anything else, touch the wire to the terminal on the starter solenoid where you unplugged the original wire from.
Does the engine try to turn over?
If no, then the brand new battery is bad out of the box, or you didn't get the right type, or it got fried somewhere in the process. That happens.
If yes- and the engine tries to start, then the problem is now somewhere in the wiring or the EHC (electrical harness controller). You might have fried it trying to jump start it from a car. That can be a whole lot more fun... if this is the case then it might be a good idea to tell us at least what STATE you live in for crying out loud. You'll probably want help from an experienced owner or at least get a recommend from here for a good shop which is as local as can be found where you are.
This takes the entire wiring harness and electronics out of the system for a test to try to start the bike directly from the battery (without a jump). Let us know what happens, we can go from there... especially if mom looks like Demi Moore, owns a liquor store, and is blind as a bat (with no sense of smell). If she doesn't speak english that's a plus too... and if that's the case then remember I should have first dibs over BDTech on any plane tickets you're thinkin' of buyin'.
Sorry about your dad Mitra. Lost mine almost a decade ago. Still miss him. Now, if everyone on here is done wiping their freakin' eyes...
I'll assume the lights that stay on even with the key pulled are the instrument lights under the speedo. If so the red light second from left is low oil pressure, which makes sense because the bike isn't running. Oil pressure don't get any lower than that. The green neutral light is the neutral light, and it's green. It means the bike is in neutral... when it's lit (if stuff is working right).
So OK there's a guy who you trust who gave it a look for good connections and bad wiring, that's a plus. But, the bike sat for a few years, and you put a new battery in it after trying to jump start from a car so... now is where I would highly recommend the old "bypass the whole durn thing" trick just to test that new battery- and here is how THAT trick goes.
Take a more than thin, but not a real thick hunk of wire about 3 foot long (if you know wire guages than anything from 20 to 16 guage should work), and strip off 1/4 inch of insulation on both ends. If the wire is multi strand, twist the strands on each end together good and tight. Now set that aside for a bit...
Put the bike in neutral, on a level surface, with the negative of the wire harness still attached to the battery terminal (plus side doesn't matter if it's connected or not, I'm assuming it's not because you got those pesky lights that won't shut off now unless you disconnect the battery, right?).
It's best if you have somebody hold the handlebars when trying this one out, just so you know... that is, if you don't have a bike stand with a wheel chock. These bikes turn over and idle with a lot of torque so you could get the bike turning over then watch it FALL over if it's just on the kick stand with nobody holding onto the handle bars... fair warning. Paint and chrome are expensive.
OK, now take off the seat (probably already off), and locate the positive side of the battery. Hopefully you used a voltmeter to check where the positive and negative are but I'm going to assume that your other guy knew about that. Just make sure you know where the positive side is, and that the negative is connected well.
Now find the starter solenoid. Looking from how you sit on the bike, it's by your right leg. It should look something like this:
Spyke Starters Polished Supertorque Starter 1.4kw for Big Twin | 361-997 | J&P Cycles
If you want to wait until I get home later I can post a real pic, or maybe somebody here would be willing to. Don't mess with this until you are 100% SURE of what I'm saying OK?
There are two wires going into the starter solenoid, one positive and one negative. The top wire is usually the positive one- red insulation. It connects to the solenoid with a slip on lug that looks like this:
Female Insulated Cable Lug Type - Buy Cable Lug Type,Cable Lug Type,Cable Lug Type Product on Alibaba.com
Now- once you are SURE you understand everything I'm saying here... and once you are REAL SURE that the bike is in neutral on a level surface, and better yet if you have somebody holding onto the handlebars... pull the positive wire off of the starter solenoid and bend it aside so the connector isn't close to anything metal. Then take one end of that 3 foot hunk of wire and hold it on the positive terminal of the battery. Take the other end of the wire and- carefully, so that the wire doesn't touch anything else, touch the wire to the terminal on the starter solenoid where you unplugged the original wire from.
Does the engine try to turn over?
If no, then the brand new battery is bad out of the box, or you didn't get the right type, or it got fried somewhere in the process. That happens.
If yes- and the engine tries to start, then the problem is now somewhere in the wiring or the EHC (electrical harness controller). You might have fried it trying to jump start it from a car. That can be a whole lot more fun... if this is the case then it might be a good idea to tell us at least what STATE you live in for crying out loud. You'll probably want help from an experienced owner or at least get a recommend from here for a good shop which is as local as can be found where you are.
This takes the entire wiring harness and electronics out of the system for a test to try to start the bike directly from the battery (without a jump). Let us know what happens, we can go from there... especially if mom looks like Demi Moore, owns a liquor store, and is blind as a bat (with no sense of smell). If she doesn't speak english that's a plus too... and if that's the case then remember I should have first dibs over BDTech on any plane tickets you're thinkin' of buyin'.
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Oldhvymetal
Member
Well then, I guess I may have gotten a tad bit offensive for some folks, which is kinda funny to me because since re-joining this site I was going out of my way to try to be polite, and was advised that I shouldn't or didn't have to be like that. Oh well.
Mitra, dude, I meant no offense. I was messing around. I grew up around bike shops and riders, one generation feeding and being replaced by the rest, all trying to maintain some level of being really good at stuff and "feeding" our children rather then "eating them". Kidding around was part of the whole thing too, and that's all I was up to. Geez either I was really bad at that, or maybe that's not the case anymore?
For everybody else who took offense, see statement above.
I saw a thread by Moespeeds who basically gave you the same procedure to test the new battery vs. the electronics. His positive starter wire is green, mine is red. Que c'era. I got a ton of respect for Moe and his efforts here.
Upon reflection though, if anybody wants to "have at it" with my mom, feel free. The only way we would have a problem is if you don't put her back where she came from and leave everything at least as nice and neat as we keep it after you having dug her up.
Peace, Respect,
OHM
Mitra, dude, I meant no offense. I was messing around. I grew up around bike shops and riders, one generation feeding and being replaced by the rest, all trying to maintain some level of being really good at stuff and "feeding" our children rather then "eating them". Kidding around was part of the whole thing too, and that's all I was up to. Geez either I was really bad at that, or maybe that's not the case anymore?
For everybody else who took offense, see statement above.
I saw a thread by Moespeeds who basically gave you the same procedure to test the new battery vs. the electronics. His positive starter wire is green, mine is red. Que c'era. I got a ton of respect for Moe and his efforts here.
Upon reflection though, if anybody wants to "have at it" with my mom, feel free. The only way we would have a problem is if you don't put her back where she came from and leave everything at least as nice and neat as we keep it after you having dug her up.
Peace, Respect,
OHM