Motorcycle Repair: Starter Engaged & Stuck, starter solenoid, demonic possession

Question
Hi Mike. I have a 1985 HD FXR. The temp was in the high 40's today & I decided to take it for a ride. Last I took it out was about 3 wks ago. So I opened the fuel shut off, waited a few mins, gave a couple of squirts, held the throttle open a bit and hit the start switch. It cranked in it's usual lethargic manner, but wasn't starting. Not an unheard of thing with this beast. So I let off the start switch to give it a breather but it kept cranking. The switch sprung back as it should have so it wasn't stuck. Guess the coil & battery was still giving the dam thing juice and it kept cranking by itself. I hit the switch again, turned the power on & off, turned the key on & off. It wouldn't stop cranking. Finally the wife said she saw a little smoke from the starter. I kicked the primary thinking the drive was stuck, nothing. In the end it cooked itself. I don't have to tell how hot that starter got. When I went to check the battery it was boiling. After it cooled, I checked it and it read 11 volts on the multimeter. I couldn't believe it. Outside of demonic possession, have you ever heard of this? If so, can you help me out? Thanks, Lou

Answer
Yes, I have seen this several times. What happened was the starter solenoid stuck and would not release. The spring in it is probably weak. You need to replae the starter solenoid and probably the battery as well, sine it boiled.
Happy holidays
Mike