Starter stuck on!!! CURSE YOU EXCELSIOR

[sparkfly88]

At the gas station on the way to work today I restarted my bike and the starter stuck on....I recognized the noise.

I killed the key, no luck, killed the switch, no luck..

Put it in first and tried to stall it out, no luck.

Pulled side cover off and unplugged solenoid...and it died....

Pulled out ol trusty backup kickstarter and that disengaged the starter...
Killed it and tried electric again...same problem

So I killed it, kicked it over, and rode to work....

Whats its issue this time........?

[DGXSER]

Most likely is your starter button is not releasing. It is a spring return button, the spring may be old corroded and crusty in there. You can clean them pretty easily, or replace it for about $5.

[sparkfly88]

how could it be the button if i shut everything off and it keeps goin?

[DGXSER]

So, you turn the key switch off and the starter continues to turn? What do you mean when you say you unplugged the solenoid and it died?

Two sides to a solenoid, the low side that activates the magnetic field to pull or push the plunger to connect the high side terminals. And the high side, that gets connected. On our bikes, the low side gets fed from the battery, through the key switch, through the stop run switch, to the solenoid. The ground circuit of the low side is broken by the starter switch / button. The high side is the cable straight from the battery and bolted on, and cable straight to the starter that is bolted on.

So when you said you unplugged the solenoid, that would have to be the wires to the low side. If you turned the key off, and/ or the stop run switch to off, you already broke the circuit to the low side, so pulling that connector apart would have no effect. And the starter button would have no effect.

If you had the key switch off and the starter continued to run, then the solenoid is sticking. You could try to open it up and clean it. Or replace it.

For one reason or another, I have found that when my battery is weak, my solenoid has stuck a couple times. Charge the battery, or replaced it, and never happened since. My theory is that with a weak battery, I was holding the button longer, holding the solenoid in longer, giving the connections time to heat up and stick.

[BA80]

Sounds like the solenoid is stuck.

[JeffH]

Most likely is your starter button is not releasing. It is a spring return button, the spring may be old corroded and crusty in there. You can clean them pretty easily, or replace it for about $5.

+1
Same thing happened to me. The flimsy internals behind the button were slightly bent so the button would not release. I think PO or somebody had mashed the button too hard and bent the contacts.
Starter was stuck ON. Luckily it happened in my driveway.

Here are some pics and I bought the aluminum buttons and springs upon bikerphils recommendation.
Replaced both the Horn button that was missing and the starter button.

http://www.freewebs.com/kibokojoe/bu...stallation.htm

You should have all the bugs worked out soon I hope.

Jeff

[BA80]

Key off should kill the power to the button though I think.

[sparkfly88]

When the solenoid is hooked up, no problems. Nothing happens.

Then when I hit the start button, it just keeps on turnin.
Key off, and kill off doesnt matter. It just keeps on turnin

Till I pull a wire off the solenoid. That's when it quits.

[James England]

It's a stuck solenoid then.

I cleaned mine and it wasn't a difficult job. It was as good as new afterwards. Just clean everything with something like carb cleaner and make sure the heavy duty contacts aren't dirty or pitted. It they are, lightly sand them with emery paper.

[sparkfly88]

Guess I have something to do when I get home today then.

The kickstart fires my bike right up with one kick, so no issues there

[DGXSER]

So "unplug" meaning, pulled off one of the larger wires that are bolted on. That would indicate a stuck solenoid. Yep, clean it up is a good option.

[sparkfly88]

So "unplug" meaning, pulled off one of the larger wires that are bolted on. That would indicate a stuck solenoid. Yep, clean it up is a good option.

Correct.

Now I've seen a thread on how to do it...now I must find it.


http://www.xs11.com/forum/showthread...stuck+solenoid

got it!

[IanDMacDonald]

Lol, so the kickstart is not just there for show? I tried kicking mine over the other day on a cold engine. No joy. Electric start it was.

[sparkfly88]

Well, it's fixed. The solenoid wasn't that bad... A bunch of copper deposits on all of the terminals inside...

Other than that it was flawless inside.

I also did the button as well, I've already been inside there from where the solder failed on the button.
It must have been a combo of the two....

When I finished the solenoid, it was starting by itsself... Then when I removed the button and cleaned it all up removing the water that was inside... It got better.

I also changed the angle of my goldwing handlebars, I noticed my brake master wasn't level... Well it is now and now I have a weird new position to get used to... Amazing the change an inch of movement at the end of the bars can do... Feels so odd now. Lol.

[James England]

Lol, so the kickstart is not just there for show? I tried kicking mine over the other day on a cold engine. No joy. Electric start it was.

Problem is, there's no bush or bearing in the clutch cover for the kickstarter. It's not meant for regular use as it's a steel shaft in relatively soft casing alloy (and not much of it, at that). I remember reading a thread here about modifying the casing in order to put a bush in there but drilling it out to take a bush leaves very little metal inside the casing to support the shaft. I don't think regular use of the kickstarter is advisable..... Correct me someone, if I'm wrong...