Problems restarting engine after stalling

[Mouse]

Over the weekend I had the misfortune (or some might say ineptitude) to stall in the middle of a river.

I pulled in the clutch (was in 1st gear) and pressed the starter. The starter motor turned the engine for a fraction of a second and then stopped. The starter button then refused to do anything. There were no indications of a problem on the display.

So I changed to neutral, and tried the starter again, and it worked fine.

So - why won't the bike start in gear after a stall? Obviously I realise it's better to start in neutral, but when the water's up to the top of your boots you want to get going ASAP

 

[TheJoker]

Did you have water up to your side stand sensor? It might have sussed out, wrongly, that your sidestand was down?

 

[Mouse]

Hmm yes that's a thought ... even if it wasn't submerged it was certainly wet.

The sensors on these bikes don't seem very resistant to water do they?

Might have to investigate waterproofing it somehow. Of course it might be something else causing the problem but that sounds like a good place to start. Cheers joker

 

[TheJoker]

Hmm yes that's a thought ... even if it wasn't submerged it was certainly wet.

The sensors on these bikes don't seem very resistant to water do they?

Might have to investigate waterproofing it somehow. Of course it might be something else causing the problem but that sounds like a good place to start. Cheers joker

Keep us posted, as I might well want to dip mine in a tub of baby oil and sausages...

... no wait...

wrong babe...

 

[evoBM]

Don't think this has anything to do with water cos I had the same problem on a test ride when I satlled it at the traffic lights. Had to stiick it in neutral before the engine would fire up

 

[Fanum]

Oh shit.


Mouse me old rodent.......I hope I'm wrong but you may have hydraulicked it.

Water obviously doesn't compress, so if you've gone a wee bit deep, or the splosh came over your cylinder heads (where the oh-so badly placed air intake is), then the pots might have filled with water, the starter can't compress it and it dies trying.

Take out the spark plugs, then turn it over and see if ten foot squirts of water issue forth.

You may be lucky......sometimes you get away with no damage, but two people here did this at the same ford last year- one ripped the starter casing aprt and the other stripped the starter splines and the ring gear.

Fingers crossed it's not that


PS DAMHIK

 

[aspad]

I've had this happen after a stall too - without any water involved.
Have not diagnosed the issue yet though

 

[GrinningGSer]

Same here, stalled bike today and starter would not engage until I went to neutral and then through test process. Side stand was up and bike very dry. Embarassing time issue

 

[(RIP) Geriatric Germ]

According to the Meister's, you cannot start the engine in any gear. to do with EC Safety/idiot proof.

 

[The Machine Cat]

Stalling in second gear seems to do the same thing to mine. It happened 3 or 4 times to me and each time I had to power off the bike and start it again. Not only it is embarassing but on the top of it it smells like dead fish when you start it again...

 

[Mouse]

PS DAMHIK

I think I'm missing something, what's DAHMIK ?

I know about the dangers of hydraulic lock ... and it certainly wasn't that, because the engine started fine once I changed to neutral. The water wasn't that deep either, although I agree the air intake is a dumb place, I'm thinking about rigging up some sort of snorkel.

I'm confused because it's clearly not simply the case that the bike won't start in gear - it seems to be something like the bike won't start in gear without a reboot.

Maybe once the engine starts, the starter motor is disabled unless you enter neutral ... pure speculation.

 

[Fanum]

Damhik.....don't ask me how i know

 

[Russ]

Did you pull the clutch all the way back.

When i stalled it i just grabbed in the clutch and thumbed the starter and she fired straight away.

I have adjusted my clutch for a wider span, i wonder if there is a switch that is not quite engaging if you have a reduced clutch lever span? thus causing bike to not start in gear

 

[Cestria]

Stalled mine at least once last weekend. Cant remember having a problem restarting - just pulled the clutch in and thumbed the button, dont think I put her in neutral, but it was done in a hurry.
The only thing was , after she fired up and I continued, I then noticed I had a amber warning triangle, with no other indication of problems. So I stopped and 'rebooted' (fer gawds sake!) and all was well.

 

[Russ]

and so it came to pass...

...i stalled it this morning, at the lights (of course), at the head of the queue (of course)

pulled in the clutch, thumbed starter, it cranked for slightly longer than usually, but fired, and off i rode.

I wonder if the software re-checks the key code before allowing you start the bike after a stall.

 

[RobC]

" I agree the air intake is a dumb place, I'm thinking about rigging up some sort of snorkel."

Another Mouse modification!

I've just got to see this! I've some spare hose pipe and a watering can rose you can have.

 

[Mouse]

" I agree the air intake is a dumb place, I'm thinking about rigging up some sort of snorkel."

Another Mouse modification!

Oh yeah

I've just got to see this! I've some spare hose pipe and a watering can rose you can have.

Well I may not get it done this week, as I'm playing with LEDs and stuff, but I'll post pics when I think of something

 

[Mouse]

By the way, I've also had a warning triangle show sometimes after starting the bike after a stall (or after using the kill switch but not rebooting). But in my case it's a red triangle.


I spoke to my dealer about this at the 6k service, and they said it was a battery warning (I assume they check the fault log to find this out). They offered to give me a new battery if it keeps happening. I found I can prevent the warning most times by giving the throttle a good blip after starting. I assume the program works along the lines of "if the voltage doesn't reach x within y seconds of starting, log a fault".

 

[The Machine Cat]

By the way, I've also had a warning triangle show sometimes after starting the bike after a stall (or after using the kill switch but not rebooting). But in my case it's a red triangle.


I spoke to my dealer about this at the 6k service, and they said it was a battery warning (I assume they check the fault log to find this out). They offered to give me a new battery if it keeps happening. I found I can prevent the warning most times by giving the throttle a good blip after starting. I assume the program works along the lines of "if the voltage doesn't reach x within y seconds of starting, log a fault".

I had at first the same problem with the same results and my dealer changed my battery, but...
It did not change a thing, each time I stalled, and a few other time for no good reason, the red triangle appeared...

Then they "erased" the software from my bike (they told me that they did not upgrade before clearing information from all the electronic boxes of my bike, sorry for my English) and installed the new firmware on my bike.

Since that day (4 months ago) everything is just fine...