starter cranks slow sometimes, starter wire melted insulation????

[Chuck78]

Getting ready to look at a buddy's new project bike tomorrow, wanted a few pointers on opinions.

80 KZ550 "Cafe Racer" project done by amateurs. Emgo pods & Kerker 4:1. Only goes well enough at 1/4 throttle or less, bogs badly at half throttle & higher. pilots are a bit lean even. So it stalls occasionally due to this on first test runs with my 1st time rider bud cruising on it.

Wiring/electrical was moved into a tray under the seat. Occasionally it won't start & he cranks it a while, and seems like it kills the battery, but lights are still fairly bright. Previous, a few times, it'd barely crank twice for 1 second and seem like dead battery, then hit starter button again & it cranks full power & starts. I was thinking starter may be bad.

Cranked it 45 seconds on & off when he stalled it last, saw smoke under seat. Heavy gauge starter wire off starter relay melted the insulation off the clean copper conductors!!!

I suspect a bad starter (just a good hunch), but also plan to check connections all over & see if there is a good ground between the engine and the frame, and frame and battery. I should probably convert it to a single point ground as Jim always pushes to do.

If wiring and grounds are good, can I assume the starter motor is just shot?

[Chuck78]

Luckily the sellers at the swap still had the gauges, cables, and fenders they took off to "Cafe" it out, haha... Now to track down a stock seat to ditch this crappy cafe surfboard/hump. Silly hipster junk. It'd be one thing if it didn't feel like a super wide surfboard that jabs into your thighs... Not quality.

[chuck hahn]

I am on board with the starter going bad.. Cranks slow and draws a ton of amps..heating the cables excessively. Sounds about right.