2018 Batteries and Starter Doesnt work!

[JP4]

Note that this is Rob's first post on the forum. This has gotta be the best first post of all time.

Welcome!

jeff

Rob is the owner of Lang's Off Road in southwestern Ontario. He is a dealer for GG, Beta and Sherco.

Rob is also a skilled mechanic and an all around good dude!

 

[webmaster]

Rob is the owner of Lang's Off Road in southwestern Ontario. He is a dealer for GG, Beta and Sherco.

Rob is also a skilled mechanic and an all around good dude!

https://langsoffroad.com/

I'll add a banner ad here for him when I get the chance....

jeff

 

[hadfield4wd]

Nice. That makes sense and is simple.

 

[Neil E.]

I wonder how the cable size compares to the older bikes? The new cables must be a significantly smaller gauge (weight savings?). If the gauge is similar, maybe the direct grounding made the most difference.

Heavy cabling to prevent voltage drop is definitely important. The CDI may need improvement to enable a wider voltage tolerance (so it can function with a weak battery that still has enough charge to crank the engine).

 

[Jakobi]

Great work everyone! I spun past the local dealers for a squiz at the new stock this morning and low and behold a solid press of the button had the starter cranking over hard and the bike not firing. 2 kicks later it lived!

My dealer thought the same thing re voltage draw from the starter pulling spark. I'll have to let him know the outcome..

 

[markwoodlief]

Recall sent out. They ordered some cables for my bike, once they come in my bike will be dropped off at the dealer for the fix. Still find it amazing that GG never heard of this issue until LOTS more people jumped on the wagon. Then a customer actually figured it out for them. Not a lot of warm and fuzzy there at all.. But, whatever.. at least it'll get fixed once and for all.

 

[Moto7man]

I have found the solution! I believe the problem lies with the current draw from the starter is pulling the voltage down too low for the CDI to create a spark, I was getting no spark with the e-start, but good spark with the kicker. I changed out the main starter cables from the battery to the relay, then from the relay to the starter with 8 gauge cables, then ran an 8 gauge cable for the ground directly from the battery to the starter case. I'm now getting excellent spark & the bike starts perfectly on the e-starter. The mod took me less then an hour to do and about $5 in wire & connectors.

Rob

Lang's Off Road

Oh yea, what an awesome 1st post! Great job!

 

[Cox76y]

Just thought I would repost this. I'm wondering if the factory has a fix for this yet? I read on a Facebook post that there has been a recall issued. Does anyone know if this is the case?
Thanks
Josh

 

[markwoodlief]

Just thought I would repost this. I'm wondering if the factory has a fix for this yet? I read on a Facebook post that there has been a recall issued. Does anyone know if this is the case?
Thanks
Josh

Yes, official recalls have been sent out. 1 for the clutch and 1 for the battery issue, which I fought with them for awhile on. Of course they never heard of it before then, and a person in this thread actually figured out the fix that GasGas is now using as the recall. My bike is currently at the dealer under the knife.. I'm busy for a few days so will go pick it up Friday and will report back how it went. My local dealer said they already did one and the results were good.

 

[Cox76y]

Hi mark,
Thanks for the info. What is the issue with the clutch. Is there anything official by gasgas for either issue? I can't see anything anywhere on official websites and my dealer I bought the bike from had heard nothing. This is the first new bike I have ever owned and I just want any identified issues fixed. I have not had the starter working since the day I got it. I'm happy to do the fix mentioned however I am a little concerned about any warranty issues that may arise.. I am in Australia but imagine any recall would be world wide..
Thanks
Josh

 

[markwoodlief]

Hi mark,
Thanks for the info. What is the issue with the clutch. Is there anything official by gasgas for either issue? I can't see anything anywhere on official websites and my dealer I bought the bike from had heard nothing. This is the first new bike I have ever owned and I just want any identified issues fixed. I have not had the starter working since the day I got it. I'm happy to do the fix mentioned however I am a little concerned about any warranty issues that may arise.. I am in Australia but imagine any recall would be world wide..
Thanks
Josh

There is a washer in the clutch that could come loose. I would ask your dealer to call gasgas.

 

[markwoodlief]

Recall doesn't work. Had a very long conversation with my dealer this afternoon. After he replaced the wiring that GG said was the issue it still will not start with the estart. At this point my bike is unusable. I'm old, and have zero cartridge in my knee. I can not be kicking a bike over, hence wanting an estart bike.

 

[GasGas]

What exactly does the recall entail ?

 

[hadfield4wd]

Recall doesn't work. Had a very long conversation with my dealer this afternoon. After he replaced the wiring that GG said was the issue it still will not start with the estart. At this point my bike is unusable. I'm old, and have zero cartridge in my knee. I can not be kicking a bike over, hence wanting an estart bike.

So unuseable by you. Its still runs etc just won’t estart. I can appreciate the knee issue. I am 46 with a knee replacement so I’ll need an estart bike sooner than later.

 

[Mark Berg - CPD]

Real story

OK, tired of biting my lip.

#1. There is no recall on the clutch washer as it isn't a safety issue, it was a tech bulletin on the first shipment of enduro bikes that the clutch nut washer/tab may not fit tightly to hold the nut in place. It has only been 5% of the models so not an issue and has been resolved with production since August.

#2. The tech bulletin on the estart issue has been issued over 3 weeks ago from extensive testing in Europe and in the USA by our staff and some dealers all at the same time frame. It wasn't because certain members on here alerted GasGas. Tech Bulletins and proper research take time to insure the correct fix. When any brand issues tech bulletins, or recalls it isn't from one person having an issue and WHAM the factory sends out notifications. This process takes time. Not all machines are having the hiccup and %80 of those that have the issue, a simple modification to the ground resolves the issue. For those, like one members comments here, as of last night the dealership hasn't done the final modification yet, so it is completely inaccurate to say there is no fix and or jump to these conclusions!

GasGas of old would have looked the other way or not done any tech bulletin on either issue. We are not THAT company and do our best to be ahead of any issue, but proper consumer procedure and correct repair from our side takes time and especially takes getting the machine into the dealers hands so we can work with them properly.

 

[arminhammer]

OK, tired of biting my lip.

#1. There is no recall on the clutch washer as it isn't a safety issue, it was a tech bulletin on the first shipment of enduro bikes that the clutch nut washer/tab may not fit tightly to hold the nut in place. It has only been %5 of the models so not an issue and has been resolved with production since August.

#2. The tech bulletin on the estart issue has been issued over 3 weeks ago from extensive testing in Europe and in the USA by our staff and some dealers all at the same time frame. It wasn't because certain members on here alerted GasGas. Tech Bulletins and proper research take time to insure the correct fix. When any brand issues tech bulletins, or recalls it isn't from one person having an issue and WHAM the factory sends out notifications. This process takes time. Not all machines are having the hiccup and %80 of those that have the issue, a simple modification to the ground resolves the issue. For those, like one members comments here, as of last night the dealership hasn't done the final modification yet, so it is completely inaccurate to say there is no fix and or jump to these conclusions!

GasGas of old would have looked the other way or not done any tech bulletin on either issue. We are not THAT company and do our best to be ahead of any issue, but proper consumer procedure and correct repair from our side takes time and especially takes getting the machine into the dealers hands so we can work with them properly.

As one of the owners of a 18 Ec that will not start on the E-start I would like to say maybe if GasGas would have acknowledged the problem from the beginning and told us we are working on a fix please be patient this would not have become an issue. Love the bike and was going to buy 2 but glad I waited. I will see how this is handled and then decide. I would also like to say that out of the three 18 EC's that I know of all have the problem. It's not the end of the world for me but if I buy a bike with an E-start I would like it to work. I don't think that is too much to ask for.

 

[hadfield4wd]

Mark Berg, thank you for your continued support. And also clarification to mis-information.

 

[Cox76y]

Thanks Mark for the input.

 

[PEB]

FWIW. The mechanics at the Everett endurocross told me it works as a restarter, like the pre 17 ktms.

 

[swazi_matt]

FWIW. The mechanics at the Everett endurocross told me it works as a restarter, like the pre 17 ktms.

Why do that when the competition is becoming so confident in its starter that they are selling Bikes without kick-start?