Yamaha Radian 600 project

Jradd127

New Member
Oct 6, 2013
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NJ
It's been a while since I've been on here but I know I have always gotten great info from this group.

New Project: My boss gave me his 1989 Yamaha Radian 600. It was parked 7 years ago due to gas being blown out of the airboxes. Carbs were professionally rebuilt, I believe the issue was a bent valve but not sure. He does have the title & he told me whatever I sold the bike for he would split with me.

The bike will need a basic tune up from sitting there, new lines, cables, seals, paint, etc. Before tearing into the head and finding a bent valve I need to get the bike to turn over. The battery is shot so I removed it & hooked up a battery charger directly to the +/- terminals and the bike had absolutely no response. I have a feeling the ignition is no bueno (no good) because of the difficulty to remove the key, I can't turn it to lock the bike, & there's generally no crispness to the turning of the key. With the battery charger hooked up I got no response. My uncle said to start at the kill switch to check if i have electricity & start cleaning out the grounds & any exposed wire to ensure metal to metal contact.

Any info on getting this bike turned over? It is solely electric start so kicking it over is not an option...I appreciate the help, would like to keep the bike if I can finish it but I may just toss it on Craigslist and get what I can rather than waste time/money
 
i've never had any luck trying to jump anything without a battery in it.
connecting directly to the +/- wires never worked for me.
otherwise a car with a dead battery would start up immedietly when connected to jumper cables.
a severly dead battery will only start the car after some time charging, even with jumpers to a running vehicle.
IMO....you need to put a battery in it before it will even try to start.


and we're going to need before pics of this thing :)
 
check if there is a fuse from battery to whatever it is connected to,then if there is try your car battery..i started my sons 90cc quad on a car battery sometimes when i did not want to wait for his tiny battery to charge :)..if there is no fuse then i would think twice before trying that :)
 
I beg to differ awk motorcycles take less to turn over,not saying its a good idea but I have started a gs850 a gs1000 and a cbr900rr neither of which had a battery
 
I start cars, truck, buses, motorcycles all the time with jumper leads.

No battery is required in the vehicle, providing the current carrying capacity of the jumper leads is adequate to carry the amperage required.
 
On the other side, if you are trying to start a vehicle which draws a lot of current, it may need to have a little charge in its own battery if you are using a Porta Pac battery, like the one pictured.

image.jpg
 
I'll have to get some pics of it for you guys, I did find a fuse box on the bike. I get the feeling the ignition is no good, but I'm not sure. I gotta find something to test the electricity at different points to see where I'm beat. My neighbor just got a motorcycle with an electric start so i may be snagging his new battery for a few tests :D