Hello there, I bought a 1990 TW200 two months ago. I took it apart to powder coat the frame and then put all new plastics on it. So here is the issue: I put the key in the ignition then turn it to "ON" and you can hear the starter turn over for a second. Next I will press the starter button and here rrrrrrrrrrrreeeerrrr. I was thinking it was the starter relay so I bypassed it and then I heard the same thing; rrrrreeeerrrrrr. The electric starter system was not turning over the motor. I figured it must be the starter clutch, so $94 and 2 hours later it was fixed. NOT the case. I kick started the bike on Saturday and road it 75 miles thru the mountains--wow, it was a great ride. I got to my destination and let the bike sit for 2hrs. I put the key in, turned it on, and then I heard the starter run nonstop, but it never turned over the motor. Is it the starter? The relay? Or did I mess something up when I put the bike back together? Hope you can help. Thanks
Electric starter problems
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If it's always running, the starter relay may be stuck in its energized state or it's getting 12 volts from somewhere it shouldn't or your start switch is sticking/wires get shorted together. When you turned the key on and the starter spun, were you in neutral? Was the clutch pulled in? Will it spin when you aren't in neutral? How about if you don't pull the clutch in?
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Thanks for replying. When the bike is in neutral the starter will spin and you here rrreerrrr out of the relay. So I bypassed the relay and the starter will spin faster with no rrrerrr out of the relay. I also have pulled in the clutch, no go with that and the kick stand was up for that part. I was thinking it could be the safety ( I'm not that lucky) It will only spin when you turn the key to "ON" then push the start button. Could it be the starter or maybe the relay? Just got done looking over all the wiring to see if she was grounding out some how. Big no on that.
***Sorry, I think I read your post wrong. I was thinking the starter never stopped spinning. If it's just making a funny noise or not spinning fast enough to engage its teeth on the starter clutch, then go with the below post's recommendation about the battery.
The starter relay could be sticking or the starter button could be sticking. The starter button on the handlebar could just have a piece of debris inside of it that makes it stick when pushed and never allowing the starter to stop, until bumped or knocked loose. Or the starter relay itself is sticking and preventing the starter from stopping.
If it were the starter button stuck, then putting the bike in 1st gear and no hands on the clutch should stop the starter (the neutral and clutch safety switches would not allow voltage through the "starting ckt cutoff relay"...if you still have these safety switches intact). Or turning the key to OFF would stop it. Or if the R/W wire going to the starter button is grounding out then it'd fire off the starter.
If it were the starter relay sticking, turning the key to OFF would do nothing to stop the starter.
The starter relay could be sticking or the starter button could be sticking. The starter button on the handlebar could just have a piece of debris inside of it that makes it stick when pushed and never allowing the starter to stop, until bumped or knocked loose. Or the starter relay itself is sticking and preventing the starter from stopping.
If it were the starter button stuck, then putting the bike in 1st gear and no hands on the clutch should stop the starter (the neutral and clutch safety switches would not allow voltage through the "starting ckt cutoff relay"...if you still have these safety switches intact). Or turning the key to OFF would stop it. Or if the R/W wire going to the starter button is grounding out then it'd fire off the starter.
If it were the starter relay sticking, turning the key to OFF would do nothing to stop the starter.
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Sounds to me like the battery. If the battery is low it will cause the relay to make noise and the starter will not turn. Top off the battery with distilled water and put it on a slow, like 1.5amp, charger for a day.
If the starter is spinning but it is not engaging the motor then something is wrong with the gear to the motor. Did you have the left side engine cover off at all?
If the starter is spinning but it is not engaging the motor then something is wrong with the gear to the motor. Did you have the left side engine cover off at all?
I have replaced the starter clutch first, because I was thinking the starter idle gear was not engaging. Well I had it apart I checked to see if the starter motor was even turning over IT WAS. Its like the starter system is not turning over the motor. I can kick start it just fine.
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870 Posts
If the battery isn't strong enough it will cause the problem your describing. I'd check that first before moving on.
It doesn't take much drop in current from the battery, they are not that strong to begin with. It may spin without the load of the motor on it and I think that is what you are seeing. Charge the battery !
It doesn't take much drop in current from the battery, they are not that strong to begin with. It may spin without the load of the motor on it and I think that is what you are seeing. Charge the battery !
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1,761 Posts
I had this problem on another bike and it turned out that the starter was turning backwards. I unbolted it and rotated the cover 180* and it fixed the problem. If you or someone else has taken the starter apart then it may have been put back together incorrectly. This drove me mad trying to figure it out but when I did it has not been a problem since. I would put money on this being your problem. Give it a shot and let me know if it fixes it.
The starter was never taken a part. But I was thinking it maybe spinning backwards.
I did check the water level on the battery and it was fine. I charged it over night and no go.
Yep, give the manual a shot so you don't throw too many parts at it....although, you could have peace of mind those other parts are now fixed for quite some time
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I don't believe it's the relay. If the starter spins when you press the starter button, the relay is good. But, you never know!
You could try taking out the starter and make sure the gear on the end of it moves along the starter shaft, if it's stuck in place it won't engage the starter idler gear (#1 below) which then won't engage the starter clutch. Could just be gummed up. Pop the starter out and give that gear and the shaft it rides on a good cleaning with a tooth brush and WD40.
When you put the starter clutch in, was the idler (part #1 below) in there?? You may not have a connection between the starter gear and the starter clutch.
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I don't believe it's the relay. If the starter spins when you press the starter button, the relay is good. But, you never know!
You could try taking out the starter and make sure the gear on the end of it moves along the starter shaft, if it's stuck in place it won't engage the starter idler gear (#1 below) which then won't engage the starter clutch. Could just be gummed up. Pop the starter out and give that gear and the shaft it rides on a good cleaning with a tooth brush and WD40.
When you put the starter clutch in, was the idler (part #1 below) in there?? You may not have a connection between the starter gear and the starter clutch.
Up date, I put a new starter clutch in & just put a new relay in today. The eeerrrreee sound that was coming out of the relay is gone
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BUT I have the starter issue still. My pre-starting is: Turn the gas on, then turn the engine stop switch on run, last the ignition on that's when I here the starter spin. ( ANY TIME THE IGNITION GETS TURN TO ON THE STARTER JUST SPINS) . Is the starter bad? Its about the last thing to replace @ the speed I'm going with replacing parts.
You have two issues going on here:
1) There is something going on with your wiring. The starter should not spin with the key in the ON position and the stop switch on RUN. With the key ON and stop switch on RUN, the starter will spin only if you press the starter button. That's how it should be.
Either your starter push button wires are shorted together, the starter button is frozen, or the wire leaving the starter relay is grounding out somewhere on the frame/engine/etc (talking about the R/W wire, red wire with white stripe).
Try this for us....turn the gas on, turn the key to ON but leave the stop switch to OFF. What happens? No starter spin? Keeping the key to ON turn the stop switch to ON, does it start spinning? Then turn the stop switch to OFF again, stop spinning? Let us know. If it does that, your starter switch is stuck. If it spins no matter what, then...
The R/W (red with white stripe leaving the starter relay) wire is grounding out somewhere. To check this, use a multimeter with the diode/continuity setting and put one probe on the R/W wire right at the starter relay and the other probe on the negative terminal on the battery. Do you have continuity? If so, that wire is shorting out between the starter relay and the starter button.
2) When the starter is spinning it's not spinning over the engine. You charged the battery, but it could still be bad. Otherwise, your starter gear is not protruding out when the starter spins and therefore the gear isn't engaging the idler gear and you get a no-start situation even though the starter is spinning.
1) There is something going on with your wiring. The starter should not spin with the key in the ON position and the stop switch on RUN. With the key ON and stop switch on RUN, the starter will spin only if you press the starter button. That's how it should be.
Either your starter push button wires are shorted together, the starter button is frozen, or the wire leaving the starter relay is grounding out somewhere on the frame/engine/etc (talking about the R/W wire, red wire with white stripe).
Try this for us....turn the gas on, turn the key to ON but leave the stop switch to OFF. What happens? No starter spin? Keeping the key to ON turn the stop switch to ON, does it start spinning? Then turn the stop switch to OFF again, stop spinning? Let us know. If it does that, your starter switch is stuck. If it spins no matter what, then...
The R/W (red with white stripe leaving the starter relay) wire is grounding out somewhere. To check this, use a multimeter with the diode/continuity setting and put one probe on the R/W wire right at the starter relay and the other probe on the negative terminal on the battery. Do you have continuity? If so, that wire is shorting out between the starter relay and the starter button.
2) When the starter is spinning it's not spinning over the engine. You charged the battery, but it could still be bad. Otherwise, your starter gear is not protruding out when the starter spins and therefore the gear isn't engaging the idler gear and you get a no-start situation even though the starter is spinning.
I will try these steps out to night. Thanks for all the information you have gave me. Thank again
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