Yesterday went to start the bike and power went out...no electric of any kind.
Blew the main fuse.
Bought a 5 pack of fuses today, waiting for the problem to reappear.
Didn't have to wait long.
After fueling up, turned on the key, hit the button, and nothing, not even a click, but full electric! I noticed that the starter button didn't seem to spring back. Started messing with the switch and it started firing the starter. Bike started up, but the starter was still engaged! Turned it off and disassembled the switch. Sure enough, the spring was mashed closed and almost fried together, enough so that the spring has no spring anymore. That must have been what blew the fuse yesterday.
Anywho, managed to get it back together and started w/o the starter staying engaged.
Time for some warranty work and that kick starter kit (Is that a Kawasaki kit that I order, or is it aftermarket? Got to try searching again, apparently I suck at searches).
Anyone else break the button?
FWIW, bike is 5 months old with almost 6K miles on it, she's been ridden hard, crashed off-road a bunch and put away wet, but otherwise well maintained. And the only electrical work I've done on the bike so far is disabling the kick stand switch (because the bike was cutting out sporadically on the road) and replacing the rear taillight with an LED.
Think I'm ready for the Krieger too, have a whirring sound when running at a steady throttle. Although a valve check is coming up, maybe I need something adjusted.

 

Me too, last week. In my case the button was broken and I could start it by contacting inside with a screw driver.

I fitted a temporary switch in its place, but intend to replace the whole assembly this winter ($75 at Gnarly Parts). If you find a better option, let me know!

 

this is why bikes should come with a kicker

 

Yeah, I feel a little naked without a kickstart.

 

Does that mean that cars should come with a hand crank too?

 

i don't own anything a can't bump start so yeah

 

(You were saying, Drag.....?)
Guys, I did a starter button fix with a zip tie. Nothing brilliant, but gets the job done. See the post. Hope it helps.

 

Search is broke, I can't get it to work for anything, I reported it.

 

...actually, they used to. (Some even as late as the 50's-60's still did.) Not sure if you've ever tried to hand crank a car with the old Z-shaped handle, but one problem was that the crank handle would come back around and break your arm. Car company legal teams usually either force a recall, redesign, or elimination of liability-inducing items. Now they worry about things like floor mats....(Mercedes recently did a recall because the "shape of the driver floor mat could get wedged under the accelerator." Good grief.) I'm almost surprised kick-starters have survived on bikes.

 

My Valkyrie had this failure early on in its life. Most Honda standards and Cruisers have the same switch and tend to fry the contacts, especially if aux lights installed thru the switch. Easy maintenance to prevent, just dis-assemble, clean and a dab of die-electric once every couple of years. Didn't expect my KLX to have the same issue but guess I shouldn't be suprised...