I always thought it wasn't a good idea to jump-start off a car lest it blow something else up?
Thanks His Dudeness, that's a very comprehensive description. I must admit my ignorance of the finer points of electrical bits and bobs but I'm always willing to learn. I've bought myself a new battery today as I've been having problems with mine for a while now. I'm going to charge it up tonight and give it a whirl tomorrow. I'll also at some point get round to going over the electrical connections and the earths with the cleaner and grease, once my wife allows it. ;-)By the way, I hate bump starting, I'm always afraid I'll drop it just as I jump on. Plus I live on a main road.
They're REALLY easy to bump start, don't run with it, just sit on it and move it forward a bit, preferably not uphill or maybe get some helpful soul to give to a little push.
You probably know this already but a relay is just a magnetic switch that uses a low current circuit to control a high current circuit ( ie the small starter button on the handle bar is the low current circuit used to control the high current starter motor). They're used in the starting circuit so you don't have big thick wires running down the bike and a huge starter button They have two pins on the low current side (the starter switch side) which simplifying it a bit goes from the starter switch on the handle bar to the first pin of the relay, then the second pin on the low current side of the relay goes to ground. This powers a little electromagnetic coil in the relay. The electromagnet closes a switch on the high current side of the relay to complete the high current side of the circuit. There's two pins on the high current which go from the battery on the third pin, then the fourth pin goes to the starter and the starter grounds against the frame. The clicking sound you're hearing is the switch on the high current side opening and closing rapidly because the battery doesn't have the enough power energise that side of the circuit and spin the starter so it just clicks rapaidly. So a clicking relay is a good indicator that your relay is working but your battery power is low and needs to be charged or replaced if it doesn't hold a charge. Hopefully that makes sense. You can jump it off a car as long as the car is turned off or you can put it in second gear and push start it.
all sorted now guys, thanks for the input and explanations.T'was the battery after all. Buy new one, charge it, fit it hit started button and vroom.... lovely.As for the bumping (oo er), I've tried a couple of times, obviously with a knackered battery and i'm just shattered by the time I'm a hundred yards down the road, having to push the bike back to drive. I did have a cyclist stop once to give me a hand. And I dropped my CBR a week before a guy was coming to view and subsequently buy it. Luckily, just a scuff to the generator cover and a snapped indicator.Cheers all.