Starter disengaging prematurely

[Breezerider]

My starter motor has begun disengaging prematurely when the bike is just warm.  The the starter motor cranks fine when the motor is cold or fully warmed up, but when it is semi-warm and I hit the start button, it starts to crank but immediately disengages, not allowing enough turns to get the motor going.  I assume there is a torque sensor that disengages and turns off the starter circuit when the motor fires up, but  if it's half warmed up and is trying to fire, the sensor doesn't stay engaged quite long enough.  After a dozen tries with the throttle slightly cracked and the choke tweaked just so, it will start.  Anyone have an idea how to defeat the starter circuit shutoff or have it not disengage quite so easily?

[Bob_Roller]

There is no starter circuit sensor cut out .

All there is, is a start button on the handle bar, a relay under the tank, a solenoid on the starter, and a Bendix unit that moves the starter gear to engage the flywheel teeth .

These engines, won't start very well with the throttle opened, on a cold engine .

Sounds like you may have other issues with the bike .

[Lucky_Lou]

Could be a battery problem when starting from cold its draining alot of juice from the battery when fully warmed up its had time to stick some back in !! bear in mind you only start chargeing at over 3000 revs so starting semi warm haveing drained the battery when cold could be your problem maybe a cell down get it checked out.
Lou

[Breezerider]

There is no starter circuit sensor cut out .

All there is, is a start button on the handle bar, a relay under the tank, a solenoid on the starter, and a Bendix unit that moves the starter gear to engage the flywheel teeth .

These engines, won't start very well with the throttle opened, on a cold engine .

Sounds like you may have other issues with the bike .

When the motor is between being cold and being warmed up, this problem happens.   If I shut the choke too much (it can be a bit sticky) before it's warmed up and the idle dies, I have the problem.  The Bendix pulls the starter cog off the flywheel, BUT...it also cuts off the starting circuit for a second- the Generator light goes out and comes right back on.  I figured this was engineered into the relay circuit to keep the starter from being engaged while the motor is running.  

[Breezerider]

Could be a battery problem when starting from cold its draining alot of juice from the battery when fully warmed up its had time to stick some back in !! bear in mind you only start chargeing at over 3000 revs so starting semi warm haveing drained the battery when cold could be your problem maybe a cell down get it checked out.
Lou

I have a new Odyssey kept on a battery tender, it has plenty of oomph.  It's not that the starter motor isn't cranking, it cranks but then it disengages just at the motor wants to start, but doesn't.

[Yikes]

A short time after I got my 82, the starter stopped working when i pressed the statrer.  I could hear a click under the tank when i pushed the starter button, so I knew something was at least connecting - somewhere.  I pulled off the tank and found the relay that was making the click and it was the starter relay.  I managede to remove the plastic cover from the relay and saw that the electromagnetically controlled arm that pulled the relay points together was working, but current wasn't flowing through the points.  If I gave the arm a push to force the points together, it started up fine.  I tried bending the arm a bit for closer contact and even filing the point faces like I used to do on my old VW, and it worked sporatically.  About half the time it would work and the other half I would have to pull the tank, pop the relay cover, push the relay, start the bike, replace the cover, replace the tank and reconnect the fuel line, and all was fine.  I got really good at it.  I finally replaced the relay and have had no problems ever since.

Perhaps your relay is getting on and it's getting a weak pull on its electromagnet and as your bike starts, it shakes the points apart before you really get going.  I'd recommend you try opening up your relay and pushing the contact arm and see if that does it for you.  Then replace the relay.  It is a relatively inexpensive fix and a remove-and-replace job.  (My favorite kind)  I think my relay was 26 years old when I replaced it, so I can't really complain.

Good luck with yours!

John McC