| Author | Message | ||
     Robinpeck |
Yesterday after a great long ride on my '98 Buell Lightning S1 (w/ race kit)with plenty of starts and stops and after turning off the bike in front of my house, I fired it up again to ride it into the garage..and the motor wouldn't turn off when I turned off the key...the bike kept trying to start itself when I turned it off...like the starter wouldn't stop...I couldn't get it into neutral and was in a dangerous position with a bike that wouldn't stop running...I tried the kill switch...nothing...I eventually managed to turn the gas off and that finally killed it...but now everything is dead...no electrical response at all when I turn on the key..what just happened? Do starters just do this? (Message edited by robinpeck on September 12, 2011) (Message edited by robinpeck on September 12, 2011) | ||
| Brother_in_buells |
maybe that the ignition has a short!? it's also possible that a cable or wire from the starter makes contact with the engine or frame. | ||
| Ft_bstrd |
Demons. They like that trick. | ||
| Natexlh1000 |
Sounds like your starter solenoid jammed. The +12V comes directly to the starter motor in the huge wire from the battery. A smaller wire comes from your thumb switch to a solenoid. The solenoid does two things at once: 1: connects the battery power to the motor 2: pushes the gear into the primary. Sounds like it just jammed. Perhaps thake the solenoid housing off and clean it out and lube it up would fix it. I'm pretty sure you don't have to unmount the motor to do this. DISCONNECT the battery before messing around in there!!! fire is bad! | ||
| Buell_bert |
If a solenoid STICKS the gas had nothing to do with it and the starter is probably fried. And most likely the battery. At least one or the other. Also your battery cables sure got hot and may have damaged the insulation. Did the engine run (as with intake, compression, power, exhaust) or just turn over (as with the starter staying engaged? | ||
| Robinpeck |
Took it over to the local chopper shop ("Chopper Rods")and they fixed it...Yes, the starter jammed and fried the battery..they unjammed it ...needed a new battery but not a new starter... To their credit they fixed the bike quickly and within a few hours of me bringing it it...and didn't overcharge me for the labor either...plus they gave me guided tour of their chopper and drag bike custom shop. Is this "sticking starter" something that just happens out of the blue with Harley motors?..I've been riding since'64 but this 98 Buell is my first Harley motor...The Buell is just an extra fun bike...I was a KTM Superduke 990 guy and I'm normally a Triumph Speed Triple 1050 guy these days. (Message edited by robinpeck on September 15, 2011) | ||
| Fahren |
Starter solenoids go, and because of that, rebuild kits are all over ebay and lots of other places. Some even do a low-tech mod to add a manual push-button setup on the end of the solenoid to start the bike if the switchgear or some other component fails to operate the solenoid. | ||
| Buell_bert |
Solenoids are cheap so replace it. I have heard of them sticking but been lucky that have not had it happen. I do not remember a problem of my own like yours in my 50+ years though have heard of it rarely. Good luck and let us know. |
