Has My Honda VTX1800 Starter Gone Bad?

If you hear the starter solenoid on your Honda motorcycle engage but the starter motor doesn’t spin, does that mean the starter itself has gone bad?

Partzilla’s Honda motorcycle expert John Talley hosts live Q&A sessions on our YouTube channel every Friday at 3pm Eastern. In this session, John was asked if he thinks the starter has gone bad on a 2003 Honda VTX1800.

Honda VTX1800 starter gone bad

Honda VTX1800 Bad Starter Q&A

I have a 2003 Honda VTX1800 that has a brand new battery, and when the system is on, all the other subsystems power on. I hear the solenoid engage but the starter doesn’t spin. I feel confident it’s a bad starter. What do you think?

John Talley: You can get an idea if it’s the starter or the starter solenoid by one, it’s not going to make any sound when it should be clicking over. And two, you need a test light. I’m pretty sure I did this on a video with one on top of the starter solenoid where you’ve got your battery connections. Then you’ve got the two wires that activate the solenoid on the inside, and then connect the battery wires together, making that clicking sound. Well you need to make sure with the test light that the trigger wire is actually sending voltage up to it. If it is but then it’s not engaging, it’s going to be the starter solenoid. So if you sense power and it doesn’t click or engage that contactor to send the voltage across those two points, the light’s going to tell you that as well because it’s only going to have power on one side and not pass it through. A test light should point you in the right direction before you go order a starter for one of those machines.