Stuck Starter

[timmie415]

I have a 2002 DL1000 with 44K miles on it. Most of which have been carefree happy miles. There has been a few exceptions, today was one of them...

As I pulled into a parking space, I kicked down the side stand to kill the engine, it turns off and I hear the starter running. Odd. I key off and then back on, still in first gear :var_52: and it lurches forward a foot, D'OH.
Clutch in and the bike fires.
Pop it into neutral and hit the kill switch. Engine turns off but the starter is still cranking.
Key off and starter still cranks.
Key back to on position, clutch in bike starts up.
I key the bike off, pull the seat and pull the negative cable with a nice spark. All is quiet.
Negative back on and there is a spark and the starter is going again.
Pull negative and positive leads to the battery. Removed my Eastern Beaver Powerlet set-up from the battery and reattach the battery cables. Silence, golden.
Start the bike, turn the bike off, no starter problem.
Reattach the powerlet to the battery and start and kill the engine no problem. Ride home. Kill the engine no problem.

I do not know if it was the Powerlet or not, I would wager not. Could just be pulling the positive "fixed" my problem. I hate having problems that resolve themselves and was curious to see if the Collective had any ideas on where I should look for a culprit.

[FieroDude]

Stuck solenoid perhaps? Disengaging the positive was enough to let it release.

[silverstrom]

I agree with FieroDude. The solenoid is most likely the problem. Sometimes it just happens for no good reason. If it does happen again, try giving the solenoid a smack to see if the problem goes away.


SS

[timmie415]

I like smacking things. Nothing like getting off a bike, whipping out a hammer and bashing the shit out of the side of the engine. That is if the bike is a Harley...

My meager understanding of the solenoid is it moves the starter gear forward to engage the flywheel. So if it was stuck in the starter would be engaged to the engine all the time, and if it was stuck out it would just spin when you try to start it. Is this correct in its function?

I pulled the starter relay and did the described service checks from the manual. It was within the specs it gave. I will try to trace the wiring today to see if there is a nicked wire allowing something to ground out causing this problem.

If not i will just start carrying a hammer with me and hope it does not happen again. Thank you for your responses.

-tim

[greywolf]

The starter to flywheel connection is a clutch. #4 is basically a one way bearing. If the starter is running faster than the flywheel, it is engaged. If the starter is not spinning or running slower, it is disengaged. It could be the starter solenoid is sticking but the starter clutch could be sticking too.
http://images.powersportsnetwork.com/fiche/images/SUZUKI/2002/Motorcycles/7229_8.gif

[silverstrom]

The starter to flywheel connection is a clutch. #4 is basically a one way bearing. If the starter is running faster than the flywheel, it is engaged. If the starter is not spinning or running slower, it is disengaged. It could be the starter solenoid is sticking but the starter clutch could be sticking too.
http://images.powersportsnetwork.com/fiche/images/SUZUKI/2002/Motorcycles/7229_8.gif

I was thinking solenoid because it released when the power was removed. Would removing power from the starter cause a stuck starter clutch to disengage?


SS


SS

[greywolf]

Looking back, it can't be the clutch. The starter was running with the engine off.

[timmie415]

Interesting.

A check of wires did not yield anything abnormal. Which is both a relief and a return to the frustration of what happened. Perplexing.

I'll report back if the problem presents itself again.

-tim

[silverstrom]

[QUOTE=timmie415;454052]Interesting.

A check of wires did not yield anything abnormal. /QUOTE]

That's good news. If it was a stuck solenoid it may never happen again. I wouldn't woory too much about it. Just ride like always, and if it does happen again you can turn the power off to fix it again. At that point it might be worthwhile pulling the solenoid out and having a look.


SS