Why would the starter stop spinning?

[spayne83]

I know the obvious, "The connection is bad," or something along the line of the solenoid or wiring, but as far as the starter itself, what other reasons would it stop spinning for?

I'm just wondering if I do redo all the connections and it still won't spin, what might be wrong?

Right now it will spin and then turn over, fire off once, backfire and stop. Also sometimes with the throttle open the bike won't turn over. It seems kinda strange that it will turn over with the throttle closed, but not with it open. Like I said, it is an intermittent problem and the button is going to be replaced, but I just want to know if the starter sounds suspect.

[TopCatGr58]

Hey Spayne,

A quick test you can do is to get a good ground jumper, and take the starter button switch apart, and then jump the wire at the button thru the jumper to ground and see if the starter behaves normally. If so...then you know that the problem is just the button, it's corroded contacts and possibly poor grounding thru the handlebars and frame. If the starter still misbehaves, then you will first need to disconnect the battery and then clean all of the large starter circuit cables, the battery ground AND the engine Ground to frame strap. Repeat test. If still acting up, then the starter can be suspect.

Good luck, hopefully it's just some poor grounds!

T.C.