[Canyon]

So it's almost midnight, I'm getting ready to hit the hay. Doing my usual rounds around the house making sure stuff is locked, lights are out, coffee ready for the morning.... 2 steps up to bed, I shit you not, my bike starts!

Now... if you know, my bike needs the choke out to stay running and I NEVER leave the choke on for giggles.... But back to the MAJOR ISSUE here is... how on God's Green Earth did this just happen!?!?!?!?

The key is on the counter next to my wallet, the spare set it locked away in the safe! I'm not electronics wizard but I don't think a bad ground can cause ANYTHING to..START?!?!?!?

I go to the garage the bike is idling.... WTF??! No key in it. Low beam on, when I parked it hi beam was on.... recheck the garage door, locked. Throw on some shoes and hit the floods, walk around the property... no sign of anyone. Very strange.

So, as I am no electrician, is there any way a bike can start itself??? I wouldn't even know where to begin to look. Starter button? Well, doesn't the KEY NEED TO BE IN THE BIKE AND ON?!?!?!?!

Do I need to rename her to Christine's bad ass sister?????

 

[BuYA]

Run man, run away!

 

[Mortikus]

...ghost.

Mort

 

[Canyon]

Seriously though. I don't want to go to bed and have this thing start up again on me. I washed it yesterday, there's no way water could get somewhere to short ....something to make it autostart right?

I'm going to pull the battery and figure this out tomorrow.... We had on old John Deere farm tractor that would do this but we found that was a short to the starter when it sat out in the rain to long.

Just what I want to be doing at 1AM....

 

[BuYA]

Just cut the wires off the battery and save u the time.. Sleep longer? Lol

 

[T-town]

Turn the petcock to off (I'm guessing since the 1300 has a reserve it also has an "off"), crank it up and let the fuel run out so you can get some rest. Figure it out tomorrow.. If it starts again after that.. get the hell out of dodge!

 

[Marty W]

Turn the petcock to off (I'm guessing since the 1300 has a reserve it also has an "off"), crank it up and let the fuel run out so you can get some rest. Figure it out tomorrow.. If it starts again after that.. get the hell out of dodge!

Good call turn the petcock straight forward to the front of the bike that is the off posistion let it run for about a minute and that will use all the gas in the line and the bowl then it will not start again until you turn the fuel on.

 

[fencefixer]

Pull off the right rear cover - the connectors that protrude under the big rubber sleeve if you bridge those you start the bike, whether in neutral or not. Maybe something's in that area.

 

[Gonzo1970]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lysergic_acid_diethylamide


-Gonz

 

[Canyon]

Disconnected the battery for now, too late to think about this. I have 5 fuses blown now too. Like I said too tired to bother with it now and I'm leaving for FL in the AM so I will deal with it when I get back. Taped up the battery lines so there's no chance of accidental connecting.

Thanks Gonz... never did that chit, never will.

 

[Kalten]

If your bike has a battery that is starting to get weak it can cause an issue with your starter solenoid causing it to fail. When this happens the bike can self start unless the switch on the handle bar is in the off position. The motor can still crank I think thus killing the battery the rest of the way. Replace the battery and starter solenoid and you should be fine.

 

[Donut]

Iis the bike stock as far as wiring goes.
This is doughtfull but if you were to actually get water into the ignition switch and also
In the starter switch at the same time and it would have to be done in both switches at the same time. So next time you wash the bike don't soak either switch.
"do you have any ghost in your garage that you have been feeding or hanging out with".
Donut/Doug
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[Yard Dog]

One thought comes to mind.

RUN FOREST, RUN !

Actually, this is pretty interesting. Looks like it's possible according to fencefixer's and Donut's reply.

 

[Donut]

Also you might want to place a drop cord light close but not too close as to melt each switch for a few hours to slowly dry them out. Also to be safe flip the kill switch on and then it can't start.

Donut/Doug.


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[Donut]

Ghost Rider""""


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[battles06]

I really think there has to be a problem with the starter solenoid. There are a number of switches that should prevent this from happening but did not. I assume that it was in neutral since it did not go for a ride by itself. I would do as Tim suggested and turn the petcock off and let it run out of fuel so that it won't be able to start back up.

 

[Donut]

I really think there has to be a problem with the starter solenoid. There are a number of switches that should prevent this from happening but did not. I assume that it was in neutral since it did not go for a ride by itself. I would do as Tim suggested and turn the petcock off and let it run out of fuel so that it won't be able to start back up.

I disagree, because the lights were on with the key off and if the starter solonide (actually a relay) was bad all it would do is turn over the engine even with the key off tand kickstand down and in gear. with the relay shorted it would not start.

Donut/Doug

Also;
The ignition key shorted your from the water from washing the bike and when that happened there was also water in the starter switch that also shorted across the second contacts which are the starter contacts and the switch was in it's default position for the lights to be on with the key on (shorted from the water).

Donut/Doug

Next time cover the switches with a bread or a ziplock bag, all three (ignition,starter and headlight) switched and don't spray those areas heavily.

Donut/Doug

 

[blueknight]

Brother you better call a priest .

 

[pilotguy299]

So THAT's why the tail light was disconnected by the previous owner! :stirpot:

 

[battles06]

I disagree, because the lights were on with the key off and if the starter solonide (actually a relay) was bad all it would do is turn over the engine even with the key off tand kickstand down and in gear. with the relay shorted it would not start.

Donut/Doug

Also;
The ignition key shorted your from the water from washing the bike and when that happened there was also water in the starter switch that also shorted across the second contacts which are the starter contacts and the switch was in it's default position for the lights to be on with the key on (shorted from the water).

Donut/Doug

Next time cover the switches with a bread or a ziplock bag, all three (ignition,starter and headlight) switched and don't spray those areas heavily.

Donut/Doug

You're absolutely right about the starter would be the only affected by a faulty solenoid. Again, I assume that it was in neutral when it started by itself. One thing that is puzzling is that Papalonis said in the original post that he left the hi beam on and when the bike started up by itself, the low beam was on. Was the switch still on high beam when it started by itself? Also, was the bike in neutral when it started by itself?

Honestly, now that I think about it, with the lights on and the bike starting by itself, I am skeptical that this happened in this way. The odds are very slim to this ever happening and with as many VTX's that out there and as many washings they have received, we should have had more cases like this before now.