Starting Problems - observations and questions

Can the ignition switch be resoldered to correct problem?

rocket51 said:

I am going to put NKG Iridium plugs in either this week or next , I think that will speed up the start. I will let you know after I have tested them.

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they made no real difference to my bike

Hey rocket51, I see that you are from the metropolis of Savoy!! I grew up on the other side of Fannin County out in Bartley Woods. Worked out at the power plant for a few years, too. The retired football coach, Ronnie Brinlee, is a good old friend.

Anyway, your starting problems are a very common issue on Rockets. Some people have no issues but others of us have gone to winters praying each morning that the ol' beast will fire up.

Two winters ago I replaced the stock 1.2 kW starter with a bolt-on 1.4 kW replacement. At the same time, I also replaced the negative battery cable with a much larger cable. This has completely solved the cold weather starting issue. I would recommend that you do the negative cable mod first. If that doesn't help, then you can move on to the starter. It has been common that just buying a bigger, stronger battery has not been a good solution.

The biggest problem appears to be a voltage drop to starter some have found that by replacing the earth or negative cable down to the back of the engine with a heavier / thicker one and doing the same with the positive from battery to starter can make a big difference I have temporally solved the issue by putting a second battery in in my old air box and running it in tandem with std battery boosting the cranking power but will be replacing my cables at some stage, it has also been suggested to replace the starter with a higher torque one whitch actually requires less battery omf to achieve a faster turn over, if you have had heat damage to cable end caused by arcing I would be replacing the cable end at the very least also put some dielectric grease on and in all electrical connections to avoid corrosion, especially at the engine end of neg lead as it is attached to alloy cases which are more susceptible to electrolysis caused corrosion.
If you have not already put some dielectric grease in the starter button housing and also the hi/low beam switch blocks, do so.
If you have not already done so put an Eastern Beaver kit (or make your own , not hard) to protect your ignition switch.
Just some thoughts for you to ponder

Thanks for the info tdragger and hanso, I think it will be very helpful for me and is the first post I have seen about heavier wiring to ground and positive. I will plan on doing the cable changes. I also want to look at my ignition switch wiring to see if I have damage there. I don't see anything in my service manual about removing the switch. I have the gas tank up but as yet have not seen how to remove switch. I did the Eastern Beaver kit at 13K.

Tdragger me and my wife were house parents at the Bartley Woods boys home during Bible school summer break of 1975, quite the experience.

rocket51 said:

Thanks for the info tdragger and hanso, I think it will be very helpful for me and is the first post I have seen about heavier wiring to ground and positive. I will plan on doing the cable changes. I also want to look at my ignition switch wiring to see if I have damage there. I don't see anything in my service manual about removing the switch. I have the gas tank up but as yet have not seen how to remove switch. I did the Eastern Beaver kit at 13K.

Tdragger me and my wife were house parents at the Bartley Woods boys home during Bible school summer break of 1975, quite the experience.

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Really? I'm sure that we met then. We lived down the road that goes south from the cemetery that's just west of the school. Our neighbor bought up the old school property and used the gym floor throughout his house. Stunning floors and cabinets.

rocket51 said:

Can the ignition switch be resoldered to correct problem?

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The ignition switch can be re-soldered and, if bad contacts were the problem, it will correct the problem.

Another thing to look at is the fuse box. I was getting the infamous "click" several times a day until I found a problem in the fuse box. The contacts on one of the holes where the fuse plugs in were wider than they should have been. I applied a layer of solder to one of the fuse legs to fatten it up and make it contact better and it has worked perfectly ever since.

rocket51 said:

Thanks for the info tdragger and hanso, I think it will be very helpful for me and is the first post I have seen about heavier wiring to ground and positive. I will plan on doing the cable changes. I also want to look at my ignition switch wiring to see if I have damage there. I don't see anything in my service manual about removing the switch. I have the gas tank up but as yet have not seen how to remove switch. I did the Eastern Beaver kit at 13K.

Tdragger me and my wife were house parents at the Bartley Woods boys home during Bible school summer break of 1975, quite the experience.

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If you did the EB kit at 13k I doubt there would be any damage to the switch, those that have issues have usually done a lot more miles, I think it is a deterioration over time of the switch getting hot it is also been more prone to guys that commute in city areas more, hope this helps

IDK I checked the fuse box and conections looked good. Tdragger it is a small world, my wife and I were there only one summer and we were pretty busy keeping up with teenage deliquents.

if you don't think that the contacts is bad in the switch causing the solder to melt ,why wouldn't it melt on a low mileage bike. and if the problem was some where else then it would melt the new switch.
i have tore apart several car ign switches and what happens is the contact deteriorate and the current draw heats up the contacts. what we need is for some one to tear apart the bad switches and post pictures.
herman