starter sticking on 98 vfr800

[11jalrge]

I had been out riding for a while in my neighborhood and when i turned the bike off the starter was stuck engaged.I have no idea how long it had been like that but i had to unhook the battery to get it to stop running as when i turned the ignition off the starter tried to keep it turning.Has anyone on here seen this before and where should i start to look for the problem?  thanks 

[JZH]

Unusual.  US-spec bikes (and maybe all Hondas with always-on headlights) have a starter button that first "breaks" the headlight circuit and then "makes" the starter circuit (so that the bike's battery power is not diverted to the headlights during starting).  Check the starter button to see if it's stuck.  There is also a starter relay somewhere under the seat, which could have got stuck.

 

Ciao,

[11jalrge]

thanks for the help it looks like my starter switch stuck so i will keep a close eye on it. Has anyone took one of those apart to clean the contacts? thanks

[JZH]

I've had them apart before, but they usually don't fail, so I've never had to fix one.  The good news is that Honda's probably used the same exact switch on dozens of different models over the last 20 years, so finding a replacement shouldn't be very hard.  There are somtimes wiring differences, but basically if you find a RHS switchpod from another Honda sport-ish bike from the same era on eBay, it will probably plug-n-play.  Always check the wiring to be sure, of course!  Good luck.

 

Ciao,