Hi guys,
I have 1984 fxsb belt drive. For some reason my starter solenoid goes bad pretty often (about 1-2 a season). It is kinda expensive keep buying or rebuilding it that often... Is there anything I can do to fix that problem?
Anyone who had a problem like that or knows something I could try please let me know.
Thanks

 

Unusual problem , only thing I can come up with would be the battery cables are to small ( can't carry the current load ) or bad connections .

What exactly is happening to them ? coils burning out or the contacts going ?

 

Hard to say whats exactly happening to them. It looks like they are getting weak. The feeling when i try to start my bike is like battery is low, doesn't turn quick, kinda sticks a little. But its not battery, i keep checking it and its perfectly good. I hears before that someone had problem like this but never asked..

 

New and bigger cables and check clean all the connections and grounds , only thing that could be if the battery isn't shot . Or your starter brushes & armature are on their last legs that will cause overheating and dragging too .

 

Thanks
I will try new battery cables, that might help. I doubt that the starter gives problem, it is fairly new(about a year and a half old). And when i clean the contacts it helps for like a week.
Thanks a lot TwiZted. And by the way nice shovel you got there...

 

V-Twin has a starter switch (lever operated) that replaces the solenoid.
It requires a little rewiring and the old style starter relay (Ford type) but it eliminates the solenoid altogether and replaces it with a lever that you operate to move the starter linkage engaging it to the ring gear and at that point closes the contacts for the starter motor.
It costs around $100.
I have one, I have not installed it yet but it's such a simple device it looks like it'll work as advertised.
With one of those installed you will no longer use the starter button on the handlebars.
TwiZted, have you got any experience with these?

 

Seen them and they look simple stupid plus solid no hands on with on yet , only down side I can see is you better real sure about not being in gear when you hit it . Unless your running an outrageous motor like mine starter issues on a shovel can be narrowed to a few simple mechanical problems and one or two even simpler electrical ones . Bendix , brushes , and misalignment issues or corroded cables up in the cable itself where you can't see it or dirty grounds and connections and of course the good old weak battery everybody says is good . Those cover 90% of any starting problem most times .

 

For me, I think the only drawback would be if I stall the bike in traffic I'll have to get it into neutral to have a free hand to use the lever instead of holding the clutch disengaged and pushing the button. But I'm not in the habit of stalling in traffic.
Over the years I have had the bike get stuck in start mode a few times. Whatever the reason, with this sucker I'm thinking that ain't gonna happen again because I can pull it back out of engagement.
One of these days I'll get it on the bike and see how I like it.

 

The getting stuck in grind mode happens most times when the battery gets a bit low voltage wise or a loose or dirty connection . What happens is the system draws more amps to overcome low volts and welds the contacts together . That's why the cables get hotter than hell or the battery pops .

 

HA! I went through all the cable/connection routine and it always came back to this super whiz-bang Odyssey battery running low on voltage.
The damn thing cost so much I'm going to use it until it is deader than (insert whatever you think is really dead)...and then maybe for a while beyond that!
I am running a 96 inch, 10.5 to 1 compression Evo (the Shovel engine is log gone) and it works the old style shovel starter system hard.
Compression releases are coming in the not too distant future.
I think I have hijacked this guys thread enough...apologies to you kremyga.