S50 stalling and not restarting

A

arabesque [once more]

New member
I have a new S50 with 650 miles on it. It always starts in the morning or at the beginning of a ride but if I stall it out on the road, I haven't been able to get it restarted about half the time. It seems to go completely dead, no lights, no starter, nothing. A few times I got a clicking in the starter. Having no idea what's is wrong I've cycled through the kill switch, key, and kickstand, etc. until it finally restarts.

The first time I had it into the dealer they couldn't find anything wrong. Well Ok, I understand, it's an intermittent problem.

The second time they couldn't find anything wrong again. So I took the keys and went out to start the bike and go home, and it wouldn't start. I quickly got the tech and showed him the clicking sound. They said it was a loose wire on the battery. They recharged the battery and I was off.

It was good for a few days then started acting up again. Three days ago I was out for my first night time ride and it seemed to me that the headlight was flickering somewhat. I decided to head home but two blocks from my house at a stop sign it died again. This wasn't from me stalling it or accidentally hitting the kickstand (yeah I do that sometimes). It was a total lights out and nothing from the starter. After about five minutes of on and off again of the switches and some pushing the bike it started up again.

It's at the dealer today for the third time. I am posting this in the hopes that someone out there might have a suggestion based on a similar experience. I'm starting to loose confidence in my dealer. After I pick up the bike, one more trip to the shop without a resolution to the problem and it might qualify as a "lemon" in Wisconsin.

I just want it fixed though.

Thanks,
-Mike
 
lights flickering?

sounds like the charging system... isn't.
looks like something isn't keeping the battery charged... could be a higher resistance short (ie: battery slow leak) which is draining the battery...

i've had that experience twice in a car... once the alternator died... the second time the stereo had a short in it which drained the battery... odd.

anyhow... if i were you, i'd get something like this or just use a regular volt meter...

when running at 5000 rpm, you should have a 14.# v charge on the battery...


maybe the master relay is flaking out or main fuse? could be an odd one :(

let us know of your findings...
 
I'm jealous!
Of the bike, not the problem. :mrgreen:

It could be a loose wire INSIDE the battery. Happens more often than you would think.

I think I'd tell them I didn't want it back until they actually found something wrong and fixed it; no more guesses.

And if the lemon laws in your state apply to bikes, by all means, drop a hint. It might work wonders. :bluethum:
 
just read in another thread a guy was having problems with his C50...
it would slowly die down and konk out ... not exactly your problem i know..
.
turns out it was a bad cell in the battery... bad contact after a little bump and vibrations inside the battery could be a problem...

they should check that battery, and not just charge it... could be a bad cell...
 
I think the fact that the dealer had to charge the battery was my first good clue. So apparently the battery isn't getting a charge or the battery itself is failing. What strikes me as strange is how it can be completely dead one minute not even able to light up the idiot lights, and a few seconds later have it fire up strong like nothing was ever wrong. I've had about a dozen theories so far, but heck, I really don't much about these things anymore.

The battery is of course what comes with a new bike so I don't think it is a sealed unit. I wonder if it would be worth dropping it out and checking fluid levels? Maybe I'll stop in tomorrow and see how things are moving along.

BTW womper I like that battery meter you linked to. It's not IF a battery will fail, it's WHEN will it fail.

Thanks for the help guys.
 
Womper, I see you posted something while I was in the middle of writing my last post. Based on what you and E.R. have said I'm becoming more suspicious of the battery too. I'll have to check up on those guys tomorrow for sure.
 
Yeah Easy, you are more right than you know. In this case I'm the loose nut.

I feel like I'm being punished. If I hadn't crashed my first S50 this spring I wouldn't be having these problems now.
 
There are two bolts on each terminal of the battery, the dealer should have removed the battery and checked but perhaps not. I would have them take the battery out and check, they can not check both bolts while the battery is in the bike. It happened to me with my s50 at about 500 miles, in fact it would cut out when I hit a bump in the road. This would be a good time to top off the water in the battery to be sure it is correct while it is out of the bike. If you do it yourself roll both wheels up on a 2x4 to get some extra clearence, the battery is located in front of the rear wheel and comes out of the bottom of the battery holder.

Old Codger
 
I just picked up the bike and thought I would post an update. The news is that there really is no news.

They had the bike for a few days and it always started whether hot or cold, wouldn't you know. They had the battery out and checked the cells plus the fact that it tests out as being Ok. I talked to the service manager and shop owner and while they had not called the Factory Rep up to this point they will do so next week.

Anyways I'm charging up the cell phone, writing down a few numbers of towing services, and then I'm out of here. The suns out and it's 75F, a good day for a ride.
 
let us know if it craps out again!
and try to remember what you did right before it konked out...

i wonder if a pinched/broken wire or something (like someone who had a pinched wire in the hand controls) like that is causing this... it would be hard to find
 
Yup, it did. I was in some slow moving traffic going through a small town with a lake and beach on one side of the road. I had the clutch in and was coasting for a bit when it died. There was no response when I tried to start it so I pulled off to the side. It took about ten minutes to get it started again and had no problems for the rest of my ride of about 12 miles. When I got home and stopped it so I could open the garage door it wouldn't restart, so I just pushed it into the garage.

In other words, more of the same. So far I haven't had to call a towing company.

I'm trying to be patient but it's wearing thin. I understand that they would fix it if they could, but I paid for a functioning motorcycle and this one isn't. In addition to this problem it's just a poorly running machine. I've had enough.
 
VS800s are known for poor battery connections- if they are even the slightest bit loose, the bike dies. Mine died a few times the first year I had it, but once I put star lock washers on the battery connections it never did it again in 135,000 miles. The bike runs a lot stronger with good battery connection also.
 
Thanks DrBob. I guess I'll have to drop out the battery and check it myself. Yesterday was the first day I couldn't get it started at all. Funny thing was that when I pushed it back in the garage the idiot lights flashed on. So I held the front brake and pumped the front end up and down, and got the lights to flash on and off. Seems to me that it has to be a bad connection somewhere or something wrong with the battery.

I had the dealer put on V&H Classics IIs when I bought the bike and they sound good. I was really disappointed though when the dealer told me last week that I should expect only about 35 to 40 mpg with these exhausts. I knew I should have done DrBob's drilling but didn't want to take a chance of voiding the warranty. I was going to do it this year on my 2005 S50, but, well, that bike's gone.
 
Some batteries have screw on terminals, so check those connections also if yours has them. Also make sure the battery cables are attached at an angle where they do not touch the battery box and ground out the system. Then get them as tight as you can with some star washers.
 
Thanks, I'll be working on this tonight. I was going to call the dealer today to have them pick up the bike today but a spring on the garage door broke and I can't get anything out of the garage now. Geeesh.
 
Yeah, try this fix yourself. It's one of those little things Intruder/ S50 owners figure out that the dealers usually are unaware of. Battery connections, gas cap rattles, headlight buzzes, squeeky brakes- these are all easy fixes if you are just familiar with the model, which most dealerships are not. Not their fault though- their mechanics have to be familiar with EVERY bike, dirtbike, and ATV in the Suzuki lineup, plus any other makes the dealers sells. We, on the other hand, just have to learn the one model we own, so it is a lot easier for us to become experts on our one model than it is for the mechanic to become expert at dozens of models. That's why I am such a big fan of learning to do your own maintenance.
 
Here's an update for anyone curious.

Got the bike back yesterday. They claim the problem was the grounding cable to the frame. It was tight every time they checked it but this time the mechanic noticed some corrosion flakes fall from the screw when they tightened it again. So that definitely was a problem. When I get some time I will be doing the star washer thing that DrBob mentioned. Good advice in my opinion.

Anyways it's been starting good for a day now. This weekend I leave for two weeks at the corporate office in Kentucky so I'm debating whether I should take it along for a little riding on the back roads. Can't make up my mind though, some of these roads would be out of cell phone range.

Hmmm.......

My thanks to everyone who took the time to pass along some advice. Appreciated.
 
Took it in this morning and had them tweek the carb just a little because it was popping too much for me. Wow, big improvement, it is running real good now.

My fingers are crossed but it's going on the trailer in a matter of hours and we will be in KY tomorrow evening. This could be fun.
 
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