Hey all, just got my 2003 Triumph America about 2 months ago and recently took off almost 3 weeks from riding (nasty weather plus holidays). Anyway, it's been covered but outside for that time and now it won't start. I think I tried all the knucklehead stuff: Kill switch is off, choke is on, sidestand is up, bike in neutral, clutch pulled in, when starter button is pressed I didn't hear anything, the lights barely seem to dim (maybe they don't at all). Checked connections for the clutch and sidestand safety switches. Checked all fuses. Tried jumping it (with car not running). Tapped the starter. Looked for any other loose connections. Attempted (barely) to push start.
Any ideas? This is my first bike, so my friend that has been riding for a few years helped out a great deal with all of this. Maybe we missed some quirky Triumph thing?
First guess is a low battery charge. Second guess is a duff starter switch. Can you jump across the leads on the solenoid and spin the starter to eliminate the battery guess?
I don't think it's a low battery charge since we did try jumping it. All the lights do come on strong as well. Any idea how to get at the starter solenoid switch on the America? I don't see anything in the manual (not that I'd expect to).
The solenoid is behind the right hand side panel. It has the name America on it. Just pull it off and jumper the two leads. Make sure the bike is in neutral first.
You look like you've done all the obvious things, it's been outside but covered in bad weather, could be some condensation in the starter button, seems like a poor connection somewhere. When you attempted to push start, barely as you say, did you get the wheel in gear to turn over just in case the starter itself has stuck on a blind spot. Try bumping it again in gear.
So I got it to start with a screwdriver to the solenoid switch. Now I just have to figure out if it's a wiring thing or a solenoid problem. When I got the bike, the shop had just finished doing a bunch of wiring work because they change the bars for me. So maybe that's it. Thanks for the help everyone.
Ah, wiring changes..why didn't you say so? You'll likely find a loose connection at this point, maybe in the headlight bucket where the mass connectors are or it could simply be in the right grip housing. Start at the grip and work your way along the path. I'll even go so far as to suggest you pull the tank and insure the relays are well seated in their plugs along the backbone. The best news for you is that the battery and starter are fine.
Do you happen to know if there's a good guide around (hopefully on the net) for pulling the tank? I'd probably be a tiny bit worried about messing something up if I did that with guess work. Even a general Triumph maintenance reference would actually be nice, since the manual isn't all that detailed. Thanks again for your help so far.
I drained mine (alas, more than once) and borrowed a friends battery charger. Sometimes there would be enough charge for the lights to come on strong, but not enough for the starter. Letting it charge a bit longer helped. Also, I have jumped mine, but with the car running. Dunno if that helps...
As far as pulling the tank, not hard at all. First, have somewhere to put it! I usually lay on old towel on the ground. Second, disconnect the main fuel line running from the petcock to the carbs (after ensuring the petcock is in the OFF postion). (The petcock will come off with the tank). Remove the front seat, and then remove the tank retaining bolt. Lift the tank up and slightly forward and it should come off. Before going too far though, have a helper disconnect a breather line plugged into the bottom of the tank, right hand side if I remember correctly. )There might be another line if you still have the AI, but I forget).
Have some rags handy to pick up gasoline dribblings. Reassembly is just in reverse order. Let me know if you need to find the torque on the tank bolt, and I'll run out to the garage and grab my service manual for that or any other questions.
JT
P.S. This assumes no major differences between the '03 and '07.
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