starter question

[XSive Okie]

After killing the ignition and engine stops turning, I sometimes can hear the starter still run or spin for maybe 1-2 seconds. Could it be staying engaged the whole time I am riding, and possibly be a culprit of poor MPG? I know these are not like a typical automotive starter, so I am unfamiliar with them.

[GLoweVA]

I've never seen the inside of our starters, but i would think that there's a spring or something that forces the gear to disengage.
When the starter spins up the centrifugal force spins the gear out to engage, but then once the engine is running, then the 'spring' should force the gear to disengage.

If it is indeed spinning with the engine, then yes that would be a drag on the performance. I would also surmise that the starters are NOT designed to spin faster then 1100ish rpm (engine speed).

I've seen some fairly inexpensive starters on ebay and even Andreas may have a few. I'd suggest swapping it out and seeing if that changes anything.

[CaptonZap]

There is one bad point about the starter wiring.
IF, there is a short to ground, either in the wiring, or in the starter switch, (the button is broken, but the spring is still in there, and you use a pointy thing to use the starter, and the spring gets jammed sideways, or a screw falls out of the clamp inside the switch housing and falls to the bottom and shorts out to the Blu/W wire occasionally), the solenoid remains engaged.
Check the blue/white wire at the solenoid for no continuity to ground except when the start button is pressed. Take the start button switch housing apart and make sure that all is secure inside. BTDT
CZ

[XSive Okie]

CaptonZap, the starter button crumbled a couple of summers ago, so I do stick something in the hole to get her started. But the spring has been removed, so I know it is not jamming. Going to order another one from Mike's XS someday.

GLoweVA, I probably will just order a new starter eventually. Even if that doesn't correct the "run-on" problem, it would be good to have one on hand.

I appreciate the responses, and will keep these things in mind, as I chase away yet another gremlin!

[DAVINCI]

I doubt the starter is constantly running, it would probably fry the cable. they draw a lot of current.

At the solenoid end, feel the cable with your hand after taking a ride. If it's hot, then you're on to something.

[CaptonZap]

CaptonZap, the starter button crumbled a couple of summers ago, so I do stick something in the hole to get her started. But the spring has been removed, so I know it is not jamming. Going to order another one from Mike's XS someday.

In that case, take the housing apart and see if one of the inside screws fell out and is bouncing around inside the housing.

CZ

[TopCatGr58]

Hey Okie and George,

Our bike's starter works and engages totally differently than an automotive one. On a car starter, the gear that engages the flywheel slides on a shaft at the end of the starter motor....and the solenoid throws it out on the shaft to engage the flywheel....once you let go of the key, power is cut, and the solenoid disengages..a spring pushes the gear back towards the starter motor on the shaft and away from the flywheel.

The Bike's starter motor has a stationary gear on the end of the motor shaft, it engages another gear that is around the starter clutch assembly. When our solenoid engages....it just provides the power from the battery to the starter motor, it spins which spins the starter clutch assembly....the starter clutch has the 3 pinch rollers in it which act like a pipe wrench and grab the starter shaft and spins it which spins the engine. Once the engine is running/the starter shaft is now spinning faster than the starter clutch and it's pinch rollers, and it releases its grip, and allows it to just free spin inside the starter clutch. You release the starter button, and the starter motor stops spinning.

It's possible that the starter clutch pinch rollers are staying pinched which would keep spinning the gears which would keep spinning the starter motor, but at the speeds the engine turns, it would probably burn up the starter motor bearings really quickly.

SO....as has been said by Davinci and others, it's more likely that the solenoid is staying energized which keeps spinning the starter motor. But because the engine is already spinning much faster than the starter motor can spin the starter clutch, it doesn't actually grab the starter shaft....it's just spinning without any actual load on it. But the starter motor isn't designed to spin like that for very long, even without a load...like only 30 seconds or so. If it's running the whole time the bike's engine is running, then it's not good, I would not expect that starter motor to last very long!

T.C.

[skids]

If the bike was started and near idle speed, and your solonoid remained activated, you would lose battery capacity very quickly! Below say 1500 rpms, there is no charging going on and the starter would pull the battery down.