minor electrical/starting issue

[dougrs]

When was the last time the starter was serviced? 

Starter was installed in May. The old starter gave me problems, slow starting, hard starting, etc. For much of this summer I did not have starting issues with the new starter, then occasionally I had the issue described above, and recently it has been more frequent.

[FJ_Hooligan]

How's the main lead going to the starter?  Flex it to make sure there isn't any corrosion anywhere along its length.

Once it starts, does it run normally?  Not like it needs to clear up excess fuel or anything like that?

If you can make it happen, you might try putting a wrench on the left side of the crank and see if you can turn the motor over by hand.  That would tell you if it's anything mechanical in the engine (although I can't imagine what would lock the crank up then fix itself and run normally).

[movenon]

Something to throw into the fire here. The starter relay contacts (connector or internal relay contacts) might be in not the best shape ? You could jumper past the relay and see if she spins and better ?
George

[dougrs]

How's the main lead going to the starter?  Flex it to make sure there isn't any corrosion anywhere along its length.

Once it starts, does it run normally?  Not like it needs to clear up excess fuel or anything like that?

If you can make it happen, you might try putting a wrench on the left side of the crank and see if you can turn the motor over by hand.  That would tell you if it's anything mechanical in the engine (although I can't imagine what would lock the crank up then fix itself and run normally).

It does run ok once it fires. I have been getting some more vibrations once it is running, but I have not been able to look into that yet.

[dougrs]

Something to throw into the fire here. The starter relay contacts (connector or internal relay contacts) might be in not the best shape ? You could jumper past the relay and see if she spins and better ?
George

I have not had any time to look into the issue more. I will attempt to jump the relay and report back. It does seem though that most below that this is a starter issue, so that is where I will focus my efforts. thanks for the suggestions so far.

[movenon]

It probably is your starter or battery but it would be a bad deal if you replaced the starter and found out it was something else that you should have checked.
Not that I haven't been down that road myself.  Let us know what you find out, its a learning experience for all of us. 
George

[dougrs]

Something to throw into the fire here. The starter relay contacts (connector or internal relay contacts) might be in not the best shape ? You could jumper past the relay and see if she spins and better ?
George

I have not had any time to look into the issue more. I will attempt to jump the relay and report back. It does seem though that most below that this is a starter issue, so that is where I will focus my efforts. thanks for the suggestions so far.

I wanted to follow up on my previous posts from last month.....
I used a jumper wire to bypass the starter relay today and the bike turned right over and cranked with no issue. So I have determined that my starter relay is bad and I will be replacing it. Making progress...

However, My fuel gauge has gone a little crazy the needle seems to read correctly at idle, but then when riding it fluctuates up and down. I am assuming this is an issues with one of the wires going from the sender to the gauge and will be trying to fix that soon.

[Pat Conlon]

Clean your electrical connections...all of them. It's a pain, but necessary on our old bikes.
That may be the reason for the failure on your starter relay. Voltage drop.
On relays, as the voltage drops (via poor connections) the amperage draw increases on the contractor coil. (ohm's law)
This higher amperage can, and will over time, cook the wires in the contractor coil.

Clean your connectors.

[movenon]

Thanks for the follow up. I am glad it was just a starter relay. Easy to fix and easy to work around in an emergency to get you started.  
George

[FeralRdr]

Clean your electrical connections...all of them. It's a pain, but necessary on our old bikes.
That may be the reason for the failure on your starter relay. Voltage drop.
On relays, as the voltage drops (via poor connections) the amperage draw increases on the contractor coil. (ohm's law)
This higher amperage can, and will over time, cook the wires in the contractor coil.

Clean your connectors.

This may sound a little strange, but a handy way to clean connectors is to use this: http://www.jelmar.com/TarnXbasic.htm

Just dip the connector in the TarnX for a few minutes, and rinse with very hot water (not boiling - you don't want to melt your connector).  The hot water will evaporate/dry quicker.  You do want to make sure it drys thoroughly (hair dryer works great for this), then use dielectric grease to prevent further corrosion.

[dougrs]

Clean your electrical connections...all of them. It's a pain, but necessary on our old bikes.
That may be the reason for the failure on your starter relay. Voltage drop.
On relays, as the voltage drops (via poor connections) the amperage draw increases on the contractor coil. (ohm's law)
This higher amperage can, and will over time, cook the wires in the contractor coil.

Clean your connectors.

This may sound a little strange, but a handy way to clean connectors is to use this: http://www.jelmar.com/TarnXbasic.htm

thanks

Just dip the connector in the TarnX for a few minutes, and rinse with very hot water (not boiling - you don't want to melt your connector).  The hot water will evaporate/dry quicker.  You do want to make sure it drys thoroughly (hair dryer works great for this), then use dielectric grease to prevent further corrosion.