2015 tiger 1200 starting issues

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N

nelson

Member
just bought it.. bike only has 36000km and has been well maintained and serviced so I am told...
as all things electronic it has a mind of its own... often when I push the starter, nothing happens?
battery is good, in neutral, clutch in, kill switch off, fuel good... nothing.
sometimes this will last for a few seconds, sometimes for 20 - 30 seconds, sometimes nothing.. ever?
best I can determine is it could be related to hot weather here in Saudi and the ecu?? useless pieces of sht.
as a kid I loved triumph motorcycles.. as a young man I had a triumph stag.. my brother had a 2500 sedan.. and now I have the tiger 1200... every one of them has been a disappointment due to unreliability and often its electrical...
I also have several jap bikes and they have never ever ever let me down or failed to start and go...
unless this is simple, it will be a trade in on another jap bike or bmw.

any ideas?
 
Yes...is it the original battery? If not, how old is the battery? Battery life is very much shortened in high temperature climates, which you point out Saudi Arabia certainly qualifies. Try a new battery. Unless you by a very high-end battery, I doubt you will get more than 2 years of life out of a battery in that climate.
 
Greyfell said:
Yes...is it the original battery? If not, how old is the battery? Battery life is very much shortened in high temperature climates, which you point out Saudi Arabia certainly qualifies. Try a new battery. Unless you by a very high-end battery, I doubt you will get more than 2 years of life out of a battery in that climate.
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cheers my friend, battery is good. engine turns over and over handsomely.. i should have mentioned that..
 
nelson said:
cheers my friend, battery is good. engine turns over and over handsomely.. i should have mentioned that..
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If you have the tool for removing connectors try removing and WD40 them. Vaseline is a OK for keeping moisture out.
But don't know about millions of tonnes of sand.
I'd say it sounds like the switch connections on the Side stand or gear selector or clutch. Might even be connection to Starter Relay on the heavy current side. Do yo hear the Starter Relay clicking. That would indicate battery side or starter button side.
 
ChrisAnglophile said:
If you have the tool for removing connectors try removing and WD40 them. Vaseline is a OK for keeping moisture out.
But don't know about millions of tonnes of sand.
I'd say it sounds like the switch connections on the Side stand or gear selector or clutch. Might even be connection to Starter Relay on the heavy current side. Do yo hear the Starter Relay clicking. That would indicate battery side or starter button side.
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Maybe there's 2 issues as the problem yesterday was the starter turns over and over but it won't fire up.
When I push the starter and 'nothing' happens, if I wait for up to 30 seconds still pushing the starter it will suddenly start.
This time it's turning over no problem but won't fire.
Either no spark or no fuel.
 
nelson said:
Maybe there's 2 issues as the problem yesterday was the starter turns over and over but it won't fire up.
When I push the starter and 'nothing' happens, if I wait for up to 30 seconds still pushing the starter it will suddenly start.
This time it's turning over no problem but won't fire.
Either no spark or no fuel.
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Without using a voltmeter and a fuel pressure gauge. There's not much can be said.
Just because " this or that happens ", such as it turns over now but won't fire, doesn't means much, its not much of a pointer. Taking a spark plug out or better still, putting a intermediate spark tester on the plug, will let you know if there is spark.
If the fuels old or mixed with old or fuel tank has a litre of water in it from a roadside dodgy fuel seller in your or someone else's past, can't blame it on TRIUMPH.
The rust issues and pump sludge breaks everything.
I would not get into issues of Japanese being better than Brit Bikes,
there's to much of that stuff around and in the beginning.......
Chris
 
ChrisAnglophile said:
Without using a voltmeter and a fuel pressure gauge. There's not much can be said.
Just because " this or that happens ", such as it turns over now but won't fire, doesn't means much, its not much of a pointer. Taking a spark plug out or better still, putting a intermediate spark tester on the plug, will let you know if there is spark.
If the fuels old or mixed with old or fuel tank has a litre of water in it from a roadside dodgy fuel seller in your or someone else's past, can't blame it on TRIUMPH.
The rust issues and pump sludge breaks everything.
I would not get into issues of Japanese being better than Brit Bikes,
there's to much of that stuff around and in the beginning.......
Chris
Click to expand...
Out here without the luxury of diagnostics or a workshop within a bulls roar, it comes back to 'this or that' fundamentals if I want to get home... engine turns over means I've got electrics.. no start means no spark or no fuel... its that simple.. and that's what I 've got to work with when I'm 180km from the nearest bike shop that just might recognize the triumph name.
It's not likely old or watery fuel as none of the many other engines out here ever have any trouble and this is the third tank full since ive had it.
What I can say Chris is that this Triumph has a peculiar issue that in my 41 years of owning and riding different bikes in rough country all over the world, i havent experienced before, so i thought i'd give the triumphtalk forum a go...
As for what you 'would not get into', I couldn't care less.. and 'in the beginning' there was Jesus... but he's dead now too... so I guess I'll just continue to say whatever my experiences tell me.. and as you might need to know.. any opinion formed without the pain of experience is worthless.
And as for... 'there's too much of that stuff around'... maybe there's a reason for that too... anyway I was hoping for some objective fact based comments that might have helped but with a tag of 'anglophile' i m guessing objectivity is not your strong suit.

I'll see myself out.
 
Had a bad starter button on my 14 T'bird I owned before my Tiger. It would work intermittently. Figured just bad contacts. It was under warranty so they changed it. I know your bike is long out of warranty, But good place to start searching to solve the other problem. I am sure the dust and heat where you're at may play some havoc on the electrics.
 
Yeh ... it's starting again so you may be right. The engine warning light remains on however which is something else that makes me think it's more than dust.
That or ive got more than 1 problem.
 
Qship said:
Definitely needs to be hooked up for a diagnostic. Too bad the nearest dealer is far away. Is there any other dealer that may be able to check it out?
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None worth gambling with... dealer is 1700km away.. looks like ill buy dealer tool diagnostic and give it a go myself.
 
By the way, don't think that buying a BMW will solve your reliability issues - my K1300S went back six times under warranty.

In your climate, the only transport you can trust is a camel.
 

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