FZRSupport: the FZROnline Archive

Well after having it apart for over a week I put my bike (a beat up 1996FZR) together and went to start it last night. The fuel pump was pumping gas in the carbs so it's not that. My battery was reading 12V on the multimeter too so it should be good. When I turned on the key the oil light and all electronics were working fine. When I pressed the start button nothing happened besides the fuel pump pumping gas. The only thing I can think is that somehow it's not even in neutral. I'm at work so obviously I can't check but I doubt the fix is that easy which is why I'm posting here. How likely it's just the button? I don't even know where to start diagnosing. Would that happen if I put in a spark plug wrong or something?

Occasionally the switch or button on my right side controls stick or don't work properly. If the bike doesn't do anything when I hit Start I flip the kill switch off and on once or twice and it's fine.

When you push the button - Does the headlight go out? Does the oil light go on?

Is the bike in neutral? Is the neutral light on? (Two different questions!)

Have you tried with the sidestand up and / or with the clutch lever pulled in?

Ok so progress was made anyway. I went home, and it wasn't in neutral. I felt very dumb but the guy I bought it off of told me the dash lights didnt work but they all do so that was good. So it started trying to turn over but it would start losing power almost then just started clicking. I tried it a couple times and the more I did it the quicker it would get to clicking so I stopped. The battery still has 12+ volts and I don't know much about electrical systems to be honest but i believe its fine. Does this sound like a starter problem? As far as I can tell gas is getting through the pump into the carbs. It sounds like it doesn't have enough power to turnover. I have an old battery charger that plugs into a wall outlet. Is that fine to charge my battery? I doubt its too powerful.

It actually sounds like it could be the battery. A battery can have 12v but also have a bad cell in the battery so it won't produce enough current under load, like when you hit the starter button. Try jumping the bike off of a car battery, just don't have the car running when you do it, just jump it off of the battery.