Ideas Welcome.......

[Choirboy]

Having a problem on my VTX with hot starting. Thought Id try tapping some of the cranial mass here. Since the VTX and Valk batteries are the same and I swapped to see if I could move the prob to the Valk. No impact here and battery that was fine on Valk is having same issue on VTX, discounted the battery. Also the VTX battery starts the Valk as usual. Next since the starter button is the same, I opened up and did the starter button maintenance. It didnt look corroded at all, but cleaned, lubed and reinstalled. No resolution. Next I looked at the ground, it was solidly connected to the battery and to the grounding point. Then moved on to fuses, looking for a loose fuse, taking no chances, I swapped the fuse for the starter/ignition using the provided spare. No resolution. So now Im thinking maybe the battery is bad, so out comes the multimeter. The battery not running is at 12.7 volts. I start the bike since its cold and the reading is 13.6-13.7 on the meter, so looks like the charging system is working. I'm stumped? Any suggestions?

[Houdini]

Is the VTX over-heating?

Do you smell gas when starting the VTX hot?

What exactly are the symptoms the VTX is displaying when hot?

[Choirboy]

Not over heating, no light, no smell of fuel and choke is off. Symptom is press button and get no result or incomplete result. Press again and same.....let stand and starts.....it starts fine first time when engine cold.....strange.

[Daniel Meyer]

Headlights and such work at those times? If so, I'd suspect a bad starter relay.

[Choirboy]

Headlights work, they go off when button pressed (normal), dash lights on.....starter relay is under the gas tank, was headed there next....(darn gas tank is full, was hoping not to have to go there....lol).

Any visible symptoms to look for at relay?

[DrewDanube]

There was/is an issue w/ V-maxes and hot starts...  On that bike, due to the layout of everything, the heat would soak into the cable that connects the battery to the relay and starter and cause JUST enough resistance to keep the starter from turning fast enough to make the bike start. 
What I learned from owning a v-max is that is wasn't all of them that had this problem and typically indicated a starter that was just a little on the sick side or the starter relay was balking at the heat.  I'd check the resistance in the wire from the battery to the relay and from the relay to the starter...

You don't specify whether its not turning over or not starting at all...that may help the collective come up with something my meager knowledge can't touch...

[Choirboy]

When it fails it feels like it wants to turn but doesn't as opposed to clicking.....acts like bad battery or connection. All fails are when hot, so the relay since its under tank and behind the radiator/fan is right there for heat to get at it. It starts to turn but stops short of turning. Let it sit a while and it turns and starts right up....are there any relay maint tips anyone knows of?  Thx to all who have replied.

[godfire]

Any visible symptoms to look for at relay?

There are two types of relays, one is sealed and there is nothing to look at.

The second type is unsealed, and you can take the cover off. It is pretty easy to tell if you can take the cover off or not. If you can, you will see a set of contracts and a coil.
Usually the contacts are pretty dirty and sometimes pitted. If they are dirty they can be cleaned with rubbing alcohol and maybe some light sandpaper. If they are really pitted, or if parts of the contacts are missing, you need to replace the relay.

I had a similar problem on a Sportster and it was the starter. I’ve never been in a Honda starter, but on the Harley the solenoid pushes a large copper ring up to two contacts. One is contact is connected to the battery, the other contact is connected to the starter. The copper ring completes the circuit and handles a lot of current. On the Harley, the copper ring was extremely corroded. It always seemed to work great when the bike was cold, but when the bike was hot I would just get a single heavy click and nothing else. I took the solenoid apart and cleaned everything up I then added some di-electric grease to the copper ring and it still works today. Probably won’t help you, but just FYI.
Good Luck!
Keep us posted of what you find.

[Mr.BubblesVRCCDS0008]

I had a guy at work that was having trouble with a VTX1800 he had to remove all the ground cables and clean the frame where the cables connected. It solved his problems. Also wastold it takes about twenty minutes of running to cable the battery back up from each start.

[Madmike]

A couple of ways that you could check the start solenoid/relay:

You could apply power to the control circuit and then check the resistance of the load circuit.  You may require a jumper if the source for control power is from the power side of the load circuit (same as Valk??).  If you do this check cold and then hot you would have a comparison to go by which may allow you to make a determination regarding the integrity of the start solenoid - if resistance increases significantly when the relay is warm it is an indication that you have found your problem.  

If the relay is tough to get at you could pull it cold, check the resistance and then heat it up with an external heat source - hot air gun may work - and maybe get an idea what is going on that way.

Alternatively you could run the bike till operating temp., pull the tank before it cools off and check the voltage drop across the load circuit of the start relay with a multimeter, the result should be a low number.

[Hollywood]

since u live in Keller, can u get the bike here this weekend? Maybe we can help u fiigure it out.

We live in Haltom City, off 377 and Webster. email me and i'll give u our phone #.

[Choirboy]

Murphys law.....just when it looks like nothing is working, it works. I did "pop" the starter relay and check the leads in and out and removed the ground wire and cleaned them even though if there was corrosion I would have needed super vision to see it. So after going over everything once more, the bike starts normally. Go figure. I think I'll do some stress testing tonite driving around the city returning home and seeing if I can recreate the problem. It does bother me that I still cant put my finger on what went wrong. I can say with all candor that the advice I recd here was far more productive than elsewhere. Thanks again, I hope this thread is over....fingers crossed.

[Super Santa]

Can't close the thread until we know it is working and you are happy.  Let us know.