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I have a 1970 FLH shovelhead, bike runs great had it for a few years. The issue I keep running into is the push button for the starter burns out every few years, had it sent to get gone through and while it was in the shop the guy soldiered in a new button and it works somewhat. Occasionally the button sticks and keeps turning the starter, is there a "beefier" button you guys would recommend in this scenario? I have no problems kicking the bike or jumping it with a screwdriver but it's just kind of lame to have a feature that only kind of works correctly. Bike shown below
Does the bike have a starter relay? (it should) the current required to energize the relay should be low enough to prevent premature wear of the start button. If you only have replaced the start button with a cheap replacement, try swapping to one of the remaining good "Grayhill" pushbuttons (horn or L or R turn button)
The Bosch relay is not a problem for the little-bity button to "bring in". However, something like the Ford relay requires too much juice to be sending thru that cheezy little bugger!! Absolutely if sourced from the Far East!!
To expand on what Race was saying, The original starter relay on the bike requires a lot of juice to energize. i.e. the relay coil has a low resistance.
Bosch makes a more modern relay that draws a quarter of the current and is much easier on the switch.
Source a standard Bosch 100 amp (does'nt need near that much) 12v relay on Amazon.
Ford solenoid and manual lever switch. Ended the issues for me after many attempts. My ‘82 does not have a kickstart, otherwise, I would have given up and tossed the electric starter. I’m glad I kept looking for a solution.
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