[tombstone]

Lately I'm experiencing a problem that I thought someone may be able to offer some insight into. My issue revolves around starting the bike.

I have an 06 V-Star 1100 custom with about 25K miles on the odometer that’s giving me some problem staring…sometimes

I'll start out by confessing that I don't have a lot of experience with bike maintenance. I was a general helicopter mechanic in the Army so I do have some wrench time, just not on bikes.

I haven’t been able to rule out ambient air or bike engine temperatures because it doesn't seem to matter. It just seems really intermittent.

I have a new battery and I’ve verified that the charging system is performing A-OK.

Here are the symptoms.

Sometimes the bike starts perfect and sometimes it just turns over and over. When it finally starts, it’s a little “gurgly” at first (maybe too much fuel or maybe not enough) and then smooths out after a couple of good revs. Sometimes it gives me a dull thud and acts like it’s struggling to turn the engine. Turning off my passing lamps will sometimes help. Again, it’s an intermittent problem. Some days it starts fine every time during that particular day. Sometimes I can start it, turn it off, start it again and again with no problem.

After reading a lot of articles on this forum, I have three suspects. The starter or starter clutch or the throttle position sensor (TPS).

If anyone has had a similar issue or can tell me how to rule these out without major disassemble or throwing a bunch of money at it to troubleshoot, I’d appreciate it. I can do medium level testing & maintenance but I have no expensive electronic machines at home. I do have plenty of hand tools, a multimeter etc.

Thanks a million.

Tombstone

 

[Fulltilt1]

I'm gonna say its rich. You can also check your connections for the starter circuit and the battery to frame gnd. These are notoriously bad/ loose.

 

[tombstone]

So would that be to check them for a particular ohm reading or just secutiry? Where is the starter circuit located?

 

[Fulltilt1]

I would check from post to post (not the wire terminal but the post its attached to) no load then do it again with with load and check for voltage drop. If you find one then check terminal to post the same way on each end. Usually its the battery (-) to the chassis gnd that gives problems.

 

[DMTJOY]

When you experience the dull thud, does the engine seem like the timing is too advanced? Like when starting a small motor and the rope is pulled out of your hand. If your starter clutch is bad the engine will not turn over at all, but the starter will spin.
I had something similar to this happen on my 06 1100 silverado and turned out that the rear cylinder cam timing slipped, this in turn caused the starter clutch to fail.
Hope this is not your problem.

 

[tombstone]

It kinda feels like that. It's not all of the time though. Most of the time the starting problem happens, it's just like it won't ignite. I do smell fuel. It's really weird that it's so intermittent.

 

[DMTJOY]

When mine was acting up it was usually the first start of the day or after sitting for several hours. I never did smell raw fuel but then the bike spends its life outside. No garage or carport just a bike cover.

 

[tombstone]

Min is garage kept. I'm going to tune up the carbs, check the grounds and see what happens. I've long suspected it's been running rich and the low fuel mileage may be a clue.

Thanks for all of the input.