Starter motor sticking Again....

[rog1215]

Went through this last year. Dealer replace3d the switch and one burned up starter motoer that engaged and fried while i tried to make it home from town. I heard it engage again while riding, not when i started the engine. I dont think its the switch since it is not being engaged at the time.
anyway all suggestions are welcome it is a 10 that is out of warrenty and i refuse to take it back to a dealer that never fixed the problem in the first place.
i remember seeing a thread for installing a kill switch on the started wire but cant seem to pull anything up on a search .Thanks guys. we will be in the iron horse lodge on the weekend of the rally, we have been going to maggie vally for the past 10 years and this year we deceided to pull the toy hauler up and use it as base camp. see ya

[msocko3]

Went through this last year. Dealer replace3d the switch and one burned up starter motoer that engaged and fried while i tried to make it home from town. I heard it engage again while riding, not when i started the engine. I dont think its the switch since it is not being engaged at the time.
anyway all suggestions are welcome it is a 10 that is out of warrenty and i refuse to take it back to a dealer that never fixed the problem in the first place.
i remember seeing a thread for installing a kill switch on the started wire but cant seem to pull anything up on a search .Thanks guys. we will be in the iron horse lodge on the weekend of the rally, we have been going to maggie vally for the past 10 years and this year we deceided to pull the toy hauler up and use it as base camp. see ya

Don't feel rained on, my dad has had 3 start buttons plus starter relay replaced since he took delivery of his 2009, last year he had 2 replaced. I've had 1 switch and relay replaced on my 2010. We decided to resort to installing a button on the end of the solenoid and unplugging the wire that goes to the starter and pulls the solenoid in when you push the button, the down side is you have to bend down and push the button on the end of the solenoid in every time you want to start it. Earlier this winter I was working with another guy trying to track down what is going on, we looked at everything we could get our hands on with no smoking gun found.

Without being able to get a failed start button there is no way for me to tell if that is the culprit or not, all my dads and mine were replaced under warranty so we didn't get out hands on the parts.

[rog1215]

thanks for the reply i knew i was not the only one. can you tell me where you got your button. until someone comes up with the culprit this is a real weak link espically on a trip!

[BinIdaho]

thanks for the reply i knew i was not the only one. can you tell me where you got your button. until someone comes up with the culprit this is a real weak link espically on a trip!

msocko jr had the web site posted for the kill button....maybe he'll chime in.

[eagle1]

you can go to auto zone ( gold colored oneand get a sealed rearter button. and under the right hand side cover there is a hole in the frame that the switch will neatly fit into. use a heavy starter
wire (auto motive type) cut & soder a brass eyelet onto the end. eyelet at ACE hardware. also wire in a starter solinoid ( like the old FORD trucks had on the firewall) another auto zone part. when you get the wires sodered, i coated them with RTV so they were water proof.all this fits neatly under the cover. i'll post a pic. in the am .thgere is a hole in the frame on the left side too.

[msocko3]

thanks for the reply i knew i was not the only one. can you tell me where you got your button. until someone comes up with the culprit this is a real weak link espically on a trip!

Ebay is where I got them CHROME SOLENOID COVER PUSH BUTTON STARTER FOR HARLEY | eBay Their cheap enough and install within a couple minutes.

[Oldmsocko]

thanks for the reply i knew i was not the only one. can you tell me where you got your button. until someone comes up with the culprit this is a real weak link espically on a trip!

I now travel with my starter button unplugged. I rely of the button on the front of the starter.I'm afraid the starter switch will short out while I'm traveling down the freeway and not hearing the starter trying to engage. It plain sucks to get stranded hundreds of miles away from home.

[BinIdaho]

Been awhile since I purchased the starter button (have not had it installed)....refresh my wayward memory please....does the "button" override the starter switch on handlebars? Would anyone be able to start engine? Assuming the key fob is not within the area, could someone drive off? Thanks in advance.

[Oldmsocko]

Been awhile since I purchased the starter button (have not had it installed)....refresh my wayward memory please....does the "button" override the starter switch on handlebars? Would anyone be able to start engine? Assuming the key fob is not within the area, could someone drive off? Thanks in advance.

If the key fob is not there they could not start the bike.

[rog1215]

Thanks again going to install one this coming week.

[eagle1]

when i installed the starter solenoid i just left the wires loose (but secure) so if i ever need to start the engine without all the safety stuff, i will have to put the t/g in neutral, and hook up the wires. i haven't had any problems, but thought this was a back-up.in my case yes they could steel my t/g, but it hidden, & thats a chance i'll take.i'll have to try & see tomorrow, but it hot-wired to the battery.

[rog1215]

Hate to beat a dead horse"literally" but my starter motor engaged while riding again and by the time i realized it the motor was fried.
I have had this "fixed" under warranty twice and here we are again. I am out of warrenty and fuming.
I have been building and fixing harleys all my life but when i started buying new bikes 15 years ago i really enjoyed just changing oil and riding. Just does not sit right to have major failures like these on a new machine 2010 17,000 miles. I have it up on the lift in the garage now.
any suggestions are appreciated.

[msocko3]

Hate to beat a dead horse"literally" but my starter motor engaged while riding again and by the time i realized it the motor was fried.
I have had this "fixed" under warranty twice and here we are again. I am out of warrenty and fuming.
I have been building and fixing harleys all my life but when i started buying new bikes 15 years ago i really enjoyed just changing oil and riding. Just does not sit right to have major failures like these on a new machine 2010 17,000 miles. I have it up on the lift in the garage now.
any suggestions are appreciated.

I'd call Harley customer service and make it a point to let them know you've had the very same thing fixed twice under warranty so far, let them know you feel they should be picking up the tab because there are others who have had the same problem happen, just the others caught it before the starter fried. My dad has had it happen 3 times to his 09 and I had it happen to the 10 I owned.

I'm pretty sure the only reason my dad or I didn't have any more problems is we installed buttons on the end of the solenoid and unplugged the green wire which goes to the solenoid. I also as a precaution disabled the automatic Compression Releases since thy are activated as part of the start circuit.

I did however remove the button and re-enable the ACR's before I sent my 10 down the road.

One other thought, has the servicing dealer ever replaced the starter relay when you had this happen in the past?

[rog1215]

Msocko3, thanks for the input as you can see from my previous post i did buy the remote switch and then tempted fate by not putting it in.
I am going to call harley and rag on them about this also.
Going to dig up that ticket and see if they replqaced the relay or not also. Guess i might have to instal the remote switch also.
All seems a bit much for a new bike. The company should own their faults and figure this out and do a recall.

[rog1215]

Instead of juping into the repair myself i called the dealership and they said they would cover the repair with help from the Motor company.
I asked if they had figured out the inherint problem and they said "no".
He said they had sold lots of trikes but mine was the only one with the starter issue.
He did state that he was aware that there was other trikes with this same problem, but the company has no course of action yet.
I guess i will take the free parts replacement and pray for better luck this time around.
I could put a quick disconnect on the battery negative cable for when she jumps into start mode again.
Problem is with my loud pipes the only way i can tell its happening is to glance at the Volt gauge and watch it drop to 10 volts as the starter motor draws the amps!
oh well onward we go.

[msocko3]

Instead of juping into the repair myself i called the dealership and they said they would cover the repair with help from the Motor company.
I asked if they had figured out the inherint problem and they said "no".
He said they had sold lots of trikes but mine was the only one with the starter issue.
He did state that he was aware that there was other trikes with this same problem, but the company has no course of action yet.
I guess i will take the free parts replacement and pray for better luck this time around.
I could put a quick disconnect on the battery negative cable for when she jumps into start mode again.
Problem is with my loud pipes the only way i can tell its happening is to glance at the Volt gauge and watch it drop to 10 volts as the starter motor draws the amps!
oh well onward we go.

Thats great news the dealer and MoCo are going to take care of it for you, maybe the MoCo will become more interested in a permanent solution.

[rog1215]

One can only hope my friend

[rog1215]

Hello Friends, just wanted to post that the dealership covered the new starter motor even though i am out of warrenty. It is only right though due to the fact this has happened twice and they supposdly fixed it.
starter replaced and the start switch was blamed again. just dont know. hope this ends it but i have a quick disconnect system setup on battery just in case!

[Frang]

Man after reading all the different posts on this website owning a Harley trike is getting scary!!!

[CADOO]

Man after reading all the different posts on this website owning a Harley trike is getting scary!!!

I here ya Frang,hopefully my 12 will not let me down.