This may be similar to
https://www.ninjette.org/forums/show...hlight=starter, but I am not sure.
Basically, I went out to startup my 2008 250r and it would not even crank (been sitting there a couple of weeks or so, and the battery was NOT on the tender). It would make a sound like the starter was trying to engage (a quick grinding noise), but nothing. Since the battery was really old, and I had a spare that I purchased a couple of years ago but never used, I changed it out.
No joy - not even the starter sounding like it was activating, but it DID sound like the relay was engaging because every time I pressed the ignition switch, I hear a click like a relay engaging. I then wiggled and pressed the red solenoid cap that contains the 30A fuse in all the way, and the starter started to grind again, but no crank. I unplugged it thinking the 30A fuse was blown, checked it with a meter, and it was good. Put it all back together, and again - no sound other than the relay engaging when I press the switch.
Does this sound like the starter is bad, or some other problem? How would I go about troubleshooting it to find out?