Starter Button - FIXED! Thank you!

[Marinakorp]

Thank to this board, I was able to resolve the issue with my starter button randomly engaging.

It was intermittent... then if you wiggled it... then if you held it in and swung a dead chicken around your head while chanting some words in a language that was long forgotten... it would start.

Sprayed WD in there... worked for a bit...then repeat the above steps in getting it started...

Then nothing. I was out riding with the GF... and had to push star the Phat Gurl (not the GF) to get us home. That was fun.

Took apart the starter switch cover, unscrewed the starter swithch and the wiring holder...and scuffed up the contacts, removing the crud that has accumulated there over the ages... and they were nice and shiny

Reassembled and tested...BLAM... started right up. No wheezing, no wiggling, no archaic chants (OK I did say one the first time)...just press the button and BLAM... fired right up.

Thanks to this site (and some of the other  sites where information is housed, pictures, diagrams... etc) I was able to save myself 100 for a new switch... plus installation.

I am REASONABLE mechanically inclined... I can usually figure some thing s out... enough to describe a problem, or a possible solution to someone... i just lack the tools and the confiodences to rip something apart... and be stuck with a broke down bike in my driveway (no Garage)....

THIS WAS EASY... thanks to this site. Really appreciate the information posted here

[twdurdentwd]

The starter switches on the Phat Lady have a tendency to get hot and melt the plastic surrounding the contacts... The plastic then covers the contacts and prevents proper action to take place.. My first starter button repair involved a dremel to expose the contacts and to grind the raised plastic surrounding the newly ground down contacts.. After that, the switch was not flush against the button. My next step was very rigged: predrilled a hole slightly smaller than a small machined thread screw to be inserted through exposed side of starter button... This screw acted as a "handle" for me to maneuver the starter button to where it needs to be to contact the metal slides..... After all that, it burnt out again so I bought a new one off of eBay

[lacon]

It will happen again unless you add a relay.  That switch is just too small to handle the load over the long run.  Check Shop Talk for a how-to-fix.  Pretty easy to do.  (Basically the expensive factory starter switch operates a cheap aftermarket relay added inside the headlight housing - no added visible wiring - no modification to the factory switch)

[Marinakorp]

It will happen again unless you add a relay.  That switch is just too small to handle the load over the long run.  Check Shop Talk for a how-to-fix.  Pretty easy to do.  (Basically the expensive factory starter switch operates a cheap aftermarket relay added inside the headlight housing - no added visible wiring - no modification to the factory switch)

I am adding a block (beaver?) over the winter... hopefully this lasts long enough to get me to that time frame.

It only looked dirty... not melted...

[Moonshot_1]

That is a bunch of crap. You know it was the chant and dead chicken.

You know it was.




Good to see you got it working again. I've done it a few times. Thanks to this board.

[Bighead]

No melting issues here but have had to clean it a couple of times.

[twdurdentwd]

Mine was pretty dirty as well but assumed that was the causes of the added heat to melt the assembly...Perhaps my naivety is showing..

[Brian]

Mine acted up today. Had to use the GWRR membership to have the scooter brought home on a flat bed. The floating contacts in the movable slide piece were stuck below the surface. I had to pry the contacts out with a really small screw driver. It appears as this took a little heat. While taking the switch a part one of the wires popped off. Now I need to solder this on too. This is the first time I had this switch out. What a piece of crap? Time for the relay addition and possibly a new switch. This got me thinking about adapting a real push button to bypass this POS. I am glad it happened at work and only 5 miles from the house.

Is this what others found to be the issue?

[pancho]

It tends to be a problem when aftermarket lights are added, (running lights, spots, etc.) and wired to the headlight circuit without running them trough a relay.

[Brian]

I have the spots wired separate using a relay and a switch to activate them. Rear lights all LED. I ordered the new switch thru my local dealer. The guys I know there said I am not the first Valk owner to come in there with this problem. They have had to do many of these in the shop. After seeing how crappy these are I have no idea why anyone would buy a used one off ebay. The way this melted it would have been really hard to fix this on the side of the road. I did get it working but it will stick. I have the bike ready go and running till the new one comes in. My new project is to devise a switch to bypass this POS if it happens again. I plan to take the spot light relay out off this circuit all together so I can still have headlights.