I feel like I just stepped into a Stephen King novel. Yesterday it seemed like the rain wasn't going to let up, but I had no intention of letting that stop me from getting some riding in. I rode down to my local restaurant with the rain pouring down.
After leaving the bike parked under an awning for a few hours, the restaurant closed just as the rain let up. I climbed on my bike, hit the run switch and proceeded to back the bike out. As I'm wheeling it backwards, the bike buzzes and then roars to life. Yeah, it started by itself. I found it to be pretty odd, but kicked it into gear and took off anyway.
A mile or so later, I'm cruising around a very wet corner, rolling onto the throttle, and the bike suddenly dies and immediately restarts, nearly sending me into a low side. It dies and restarts several more times, then clears up for a half mile. Then the bike starts dying every time I pull in the clutch, and kicking back over when I let it out. I wrestled the bike into my driveway and into the garage. After some screwing with it, the bike consistently started as soon as a hit the run switch without hitting start. After a little while it stopped, and now it's back to business as usual.
What the hell is going on? I thought maybe water got into the switch housing and was completing the circuit, but when I took the covers off it was bone dry inside. I'm clueless when it comes to electrical stuff. 03 V Rod, previous owner chromed literally everything. The switches and housings are the Harley chrome replacent.

 

Saw this happen with a Road King once. Dud had put on some ape hangers and a wire inside the headlight nacelle got skinned a little. Happen to be the wire to the starter button. Bike would start on it's own occasionally when the bars were turned and the wire got pulled tight and shorted. Do not know if that is your problem, but it might be a place to start.

Tom

 

Did you figure out what it was?

 

First thing I'd do is take the start and run switch apart, dry, clean, and reinstall with dielectric grease on the connections.

 

I have replaced a couple of the starter switches for this. I think one of them was Masterblasters in the hotel parking lot at the rally a few years ago