sticky starter

[c-rad]

Last fall, as the winter chill began to creep across the great plains, I was starting my '93 Tiger one morning after a 30 degree night (or attempting to start it, as it turned out).

I went through my start up ritual with the fuel, headlights, kill switch, etc. and hit the start button.  Turned right over as expected by didn't fire after a couple seconds so I let go of the start button to give him a chance to catch his breath.  Much to my surprise, the starter kept on spinning and turning over the engine.

My first instinct was to hit the kill switch, which had no effect.  Then I turned the ignition off and took the key out, which also had no effect.  At that point I was getting a little panicky.  I figured that the seat needed to come off so I could get to the starter relay, which must have been stuck on (yes?).  Anyway, by the time I got the seat off, the battery had worn itself out turning the starter.  I'm not sure what I would have done anyway.  Hit the starter relay with something heavy?  I might have been swearing loud enough to scare it into submission.

So, to get to my question:  If this were your bike and this series of events had only happened one time, would you buy a new starter relay (or some other component that might be the faulty one...I'm open to suggestions) or take your chances that this was a cold weather fluke (I usually don't ride when it's below freezing if I can avoid it).

I understand that this event might not have been of great benefit to the sprag clutch.  I had to replace the one on my '97 Tiger, and it was a bit of a hassle.

Thanks for any insight.

Your friend, C-Rad

[Mustang]

Looking at the wiring diagram that is exactly what happened the starter solenoid stuck on which now gave the starter motor a direct path to the battery .

I would buy a new starter relay/solenoid , cuz when you least expect it somewhere somehow it will come back to bite you in the ass !

[nightrunner]

+1 on a new relay.  15 years is a long time.  The contacts get oxidized and can stick like your's apparently did.

Cheers