New Starting Getting Hot

[Rustle]

Howdy, All.

I recently was given a project GL1100 and found the starter was burned up. I replaced it with a cheapo and upon cranking the engine over I found my cables were getting quite hot and the starter began to degrade cranking power as a result. The original starter was fond to have the wires connected to the brush blocks melted through. I believe the starter got too hot due to the previous owner non-stop cranking the engine over hoping to get it running even though the fuel tank is full of crud.

Could this be a starter solenoid issue? Or is it a symptom of the cheap chinese starter? I'm convinced the new starter installed would be failing after 20 seconds of cranking, but I don't see how putting 12v to the starter through the solenoid would cause this issue. Maybe the engine is hard to turn over thus causing excessive current draw through the cables?

[Rambozo]

Remove the spark plugs and see how the motor turns over by hand. Over current is a sign of something being tight. Also do a few voltage checks to be sure there isn't a problem with resistance between the battery and the starter.

[JoBoy68]

Ok, I have an 83 I restored and experienced some of these problems. I had a new battery and starter and things got hot, the starter and battery were very hot to the touch....... problem was the main ground from the battery to the frame, there was rust in there you could not see until you took the cable off, I cleaned the frame and replaced the cable ............. next I replaced the starter solenoid with a modern version eliminating the dog bone fuse it came with wiring and I used it. after I had all the wiring tapped up I noticed the wiring was very hot to the touch and the metal connectors would burn you, the wires were too thin of a gauge put in thicker automotive wiring and now nothing gets hot ......... I hope this helps you

[Rustle]

Thanks all for the suggestions. I pulled the rear wheel and gas tank out, I found my main battery cable was frayed at the bend into the solenoid and the connection to the battery was pretty loose. After replacing the cable with some heavy wire and tightening everything up the starter worked flawlessly and no longer got hot.

Got the bike running on ether and confirmed the fuel pump works. Now I'm dropping the tank off at a radiator shop to be de-rusted and I'll begin the adventure of rebuilding all the carbs.