Got woke up by my son this morning saying my bike was laying on it's side trying to start itself.  I went out to see what was going on and sure enough it was on the ground and the starter was churning.  It couldn't have been going on for to long because it was still turning over fairly strong against the motor without the decompression solenoid engaged. Now what is weird about this is the fact it did this by itself.  Key was in the house, key switch in the off position, nothing crossing the terminals on the starter solenoid, and what stopped the starter from going was me pulling the connector off the back of the fuse block.

This tells me where ever the short happened it bypassed all the safety switches, kickstand, clutch, ignition, and key switch.  

Any ideas on where to even begin looking for the issue??

Oh reason it was on the ground, I normally park with it in 1st gear.

R.F.

rfw2003 wrote on 08/01/12 at 11:11:02:

The fact that the short bypassed all the safety checks should make it easier to find.. just work back from the starter and see how it got +12V, simple!    (sorry I'm no help)

the starter relay gets it directly from the battery.
the starter button goes to the decomp relay over the carb to the starter relay.

I'd look for a pinched wire under the tank.



not as likely as it was sitting fine to early this morn... but relays sometimes get stuck.  And will take a good rap on the fender next to the key to unstick.

rfw2003 wrote on 08/01/12 at 12:15:15:

It'be hotter than that in the garage if you had one.
kick the kitchen table over and drag it in  

First thing that popped into my mind, Was someone trying to hotwire it and steal it and got spooked and ran off.

But sounds more likely the ground shorting. Strange this bike has so many circuits regulated by the ground and not the hot.  Its not very failsafe.

Spammy  Where I live it's not very likely that anyone would try to steal anything, and if there was that issue they would be to afraid to come onto my property with the known number of guns I own plus what my neighbors own, we kinda have a neighborhood watch thing going on here, and we do look after each other.

Splash yes I did question him and his friend that both found it thoroughly,  they had just walked out to go play and noticed it and came right in and got me. I also questioned my daughter as she had been out earlier then they were.  My son while being very smart just isn't capable of doing anything to try and hot-wire it.  He doesn't even know how to get the seat off, nor how the wiring on the any motor vehicle works, he's only 10 and hasn't been taught all of it yet.

rfw2003 wrote on 08/01/12 at 13:59:59:


"Yet"... so you plan to teach him how to hot wire?


--Steve

I had a similar problem on my '87. I went to start it one day and after firing up the starter kept right on spinning. I shut it off and pulled the key and there it sat, still cranking. Turns out there was a short in the solenoid. I had to pull the seat and reach down there where it's hidden, and rap it with a screwdriver to make it stop. It's mounted on the front of the rear fender, like behind the airbox.
Hope your bike didn't suffer too much damage, crashing to the ground and all.....