'99 Monster issue w/Starter solenoid?

[timmer357]

I just bought a 99 Monster 750.  27k miles and it seems the previous owner was really on top of maintenance and service.  I got a good deal on it but now, after only 6 miles put on by me, it is dead in the garage.

I rode it home from the local mechanic's shop after having him address a sticky throttle.  I put it neutral when I parked in the garage, or so I thought.  The light was on for neutral but I did not rock the bike to confirm it.  I came out a few hours later, turned the key on, and confirmed the neutral light was on.  Pushed start once with no result.  Pushed again and still nothing.  Held the bars (I know, should be everytime) and pushed a third time.

The bike lurched forward and narrowly missed hit my Thruxton.  The back tire started slowly turning on the garage floor as it continued to try to start despite me not pushing the button.  I turned the key to off, put the kill switch to off, and it continued to try to start.  Pulled the spark plugs and still it tried to move.  I finally moved the bike to a safe spot and sat on it.  It tried to start still and finally died.  Intermittently it would give a burp and try to start without the key in.

It was discovered the bike was actually in gear and the weird behavior of trying to start continued.  Finally it stopped and it is sitting in the garage on the stands so no more crazy stuff. 

Anyone have ideas?  My mechanic (not Ducati, but very good) says the starter solenoid is probably gone.  The former owner told me he had a similar issue 10k miles ago and it was the solenoid. 

I am just trying to avoid buying anything that is not necessary.  Also, the solenoid looks fairly accessible and I am figuring I could replace it myself.  Any thoughts on that for a fairly non-mechanical guy.  My starter button is also sticking but seems to pop back out most of time. 

Thanks in advance.

[needtorque]

My 01' m750 had the same issue with a sticking solenoid 3 times in the first 3k miles.  Sounds like the same thing.  The start button itself can be lubed lightly inside with some dielectric grease and will be fine.

[Howie]

Either the starter button stuck or you have a bad solenoid (most likely).  Unfortunately, the only way to stop the engine from cranking if it is to disconnect the battery.  If it is the switch, disconnecting the white connector will stop  it.

Changing the solenoid is pretty straight forward.  If you want to save some money on the solenoid you can buy one here:      http://www.ca-cycleworks.com/shop/catalog/ducati/elec.html     Scroll down.  Same as OEM except for the connector.

A sticking starter button can be caused by the switch being mounted to tight.  Back off on the screws a little and see if that helps.

[timmer357]

Thanks folks.  I am just going to buy one and install it.  I found one on this site... http://desmotimes.com/product160a.htm ... and I will just order this or the one listed in the other link for the yamaha.  The less connector splicing the better for me.  $60 to fix is okay.  It just looks really tight in there to get to the solenoid without removing the battery and tray.

Also found this, so looks pretty straight forward.  Just good that I have little hands.

[ScottRNelson]

Starter solenoids don't seem to last forever, so expect to have to replace one occasionally.  At least when mine failed it wouldn't start at all instead of sticking in the start position.  Smacking the solenoid with a hammer or some other similar object might be enough to stop it from being stuck on.

I've had the bad habit of parking my bikes in neutral and assuming that they're always still in neutral when I get back on them.  I'm trying to change that.  Tipping over my XR650L at a gas station when it rolled forward off of the sidestand while I was on the right side of it was the embarrassing event that finally pushed me to change my ways.  At a minimum, I was already in the habit of holding the clutch in while hitting the starter button, to slightly reduce the load on the starter motor, battery and electrical system.  Now part of the startup procedure is to find neutral before starting.  You only have to roll the bike two inches to verify that it's not in gear.

I used the Yamaha solenoid on my bike and had already ordered it from the local Cycle Gear before I discovered that California Cycleworks carries them with all of the wiring parts that you'll need.  That is a better solution than the OEM part because it eliminated the occasional problem of the wires coming loose again.

I also had some problems with both starter button and horn button sticking.  My bike no longer has the locating pins to keep the controls from rotating, so if it is tightened up enough to prevent rotation the buttons are likely to stick.  My solution there was a strip of duct tape under each control so that the screws don't need to be tightened nearly as much to keep everything in place.

[timmer357]

So is the fix using the Yamaha wiring just a simple two wire connect?  I am not mechanically superior but I think my 3 year could do that.  I have done some wiring on my bikes for signal, LED tails, etc so if that is all it should be easy.

[ScottRNelson]

So is the fix using the Yamaha wiring just a simple two wire connect?  I am not mechanically superior but I think my 3 year could do that.  I have done some wiring on my bikes for signal, LED tails, etc so if that is all it should be easy.

When I did it, I cut off the two wires to the old connector, crimped those two wires to a new connector and plugged it in.  The solenoid itself is the same as the Ducati part, just with a different connector, so the main wires hook up the same way and the rubber piece that holds the solenoid works the same way.

If you have any mechanical or electrical skill at all, it should be a fairly easy task.

[timmer357]

Sure, that is basic 101 stuff that even my dumb butt can do.  I am going to order that thing right now, throw some 2-3 day shipping on it, and hopefully be riding this weekend.  Oregon rain showers permitting of course.  So I guess I am not going riding then.

[timmer357]

What the ...?  Just went out into the garage and she fired right up.  Of course I just ordered the part, but for $47 with 2 day shipping I am just going to replace it.  It also had seemed the battery was dead from the 5 minutes of it trying to fire the other day and it has been on a tender for two days.  It fired up immediately today.  Oh well.

[BumpaD_Z28]

What the ...?  Just went out into the garage and she fired right up.  Of course I just ordered the part, but for $47 with 2 day shipping I am just going to replace it.  It also had seemed the battery was dead from the 5 minutes of it trying to fire the other day and it has been on a tender for two days.  It fired up immediately today.  Oh well.

It as probably just the low battery, when I had my battery going south, it would just not "engage" the starter solenoid like it should, finally got it charged up and got the bike started, and then got a replacement battery ....

Try it for awhile with a healthy battery and keep the part on the shelf

~DaVe

[needtorque]

The solenoid is a common problem on these bikes.  They will stick and then unstick later so it is still probably faulty and I would change it to avoid getting stuck somewhere.

[junior varsity]

Speaking of doing things electrical, my god man - please upgrade to DynaCoils! Its been the best upgrade I've made on my Ducati thus far, even over suspension. Bike that doesn't run but with great suspension on it is pretty useless.