Waiting for the battery to charge, but when I tried to turn it over the positive wire to the solenoid began to over heat. everything works normal, except the wire gets really hot when I try to start it, but not other wise.  Any thoughts?

Almost acts like it's shorting through the starter, but I didn't do anything to the starter.

I think it is hopeless.  You should sell the bike to me and get another one.

tbalam wrote on 12/31/69 at 16:00:03:


Double check the ground.
Also, just make sure nothing got pinched off in a bolt or anything.
A friend bought a used KTM with the street kit on it (lights, signals, etc) and it had a weird fuse popping problem... I tracked the wiring on it and found that the previous owner who did the front turn signals had just slightly tagged a wire in the bracket and if you turned the bars a ceratin point it shorted out. but only if turned the right way.

I just read what i wrote man i sound like a moron.

I'm not sure if you have figured it out yet but....

It is well known that startup current on any electrical motor is considerably higher than when the motor is running. Sometimes as much as 3 times the current draw. Under normal conditions, the brevity of the current spike won't hurt anything. However, pushing the start button - there by providing power to the starter - and having the motor NOT turn will draw lots of current. Possibly enough to melt wiring.

An example. Have you ever noticed the lights dim briefly when the refrigerator starts up? Now imagine what that would be like if the motor in the fridge was stuck and couldn't or wouldn't turn.

Provided the battery is good and there is nothing wrong with the ground and power line, I would check that starter for binding, bad brushes or corrosion.

Just my 2 cents here.

Jimsey

Yes, applying current to a not turning motor (starter) prevent it from creating counter EMF (electromotive force or voltage) that acts as a current limiter.  If you measure with an OHM meter a starter motor is is essentially a very low resitance path to ground. As soon as it spins it starts the EMF and the current draw goes down. that's why the size of the booster battery doesn't make any difference if the starter is working correctly when jump starting. It is a current limiting device on its own and will only draw as many amps as rated at full RPM. However, have a mechanical problem in the engine and cause it to turn slow and you could have hot wires, melted wiring and a burned out starter.  You had another request about the ground wire. It needs to be resitance free as the amps that leave the battery (using old + to - automotive as a reference not more modern electron theory) has to get back to the opposite plates. Any resistance - corrosion, loose connections small wires for that circuit and load - will decrease the starter RPM and also decrease the ability of the amps to flow. So start by cleaning and tightening all connections from the both battery terminals. If there is a question a vibration proof washer (sometimes called a star washer) under the terminal ring (not necessarily under the bolt head) will help. Do let us know what you find (or did if that fixes it and you are not sure what fixed it). Max

Thanks for the replies, I had checked all the wires traced the starter circuit from one side to the other. Everything was good. As much as it sounds like I haven't I have had experience with this, physics and engineering in college. I haven't had a day off in a couple weeks, and have been doing this late at night, so that might have something to do  with it.
anyway,  this one was perplexing. So I started from the beginning and took the magneto cover off and checked the gears,  no binding. Tried to turn it over and no problems. Put the cover back on bolted it down and same problem. AH HA!

After all that I found one washer that I had put in the wrong spot that was binding the starter, starter gear, and starter clutch against the cover. Took about an hour to figure this all out, but I finally got it.

Put it all back together and she fired right up and purred, oh man she sounded good, and no more hot starter wire.

I also replaced the ground and positive battery cables with 4 gauge auto wires.