Hi guys, I was wondering what may cause the starter to engage whilst riding?

I was riding for approximately 1/2 hr on my way home from cricket training tonight, when I hear a grating noise coming from the front of the primary. I was cruising along the beach front, so was only doing about 40 or so km/h, the noise was easily heard. I first thought maybe it was the clutch not properly adjusted, then I switched the bike off and rolled to a stop. As soon as I turned the ignition on, the bike started on its own accord, and you could still hear the starter engaging.  This happened numerous times in a few minutes with me pulled over on the side of the road. Eventually I got going again, with intermittent engaging, each time I pulled the clutch in and switched the ignition off whilst free wheeling along, then restarting whilst freewheeling. I was able to travel the rest of the way home 10 minutes away. This is the very first time it has happened. 

My first instinct is to check out the connections for the run and start buttons, possibly spraying some crc while I'm at it. Maybe a bit of water has got in and caused a short somewhere. 

Another strange thing happened on the weekend too, where after giving the throttle a quick blip during a down shift, it gave a splutter and stalled. Fortunately I pulled the clutch in and restarted the bike again. I seem to have been experiencing a few gremlin, especially the  occasoinal intake splutter whilst down shifting & blipping the throttle, since the Thundermax tuner was installed late November last year. 

Many thanks for your Ideas.

Check your starter relay.. Also have a look at the switch it may be sticking... Especially as you cleaned your bike from the weekend... You could have got a bit of crap in there that is causing the problem..

I probably should know this being a sparky, but motorcycles are a bit different. Anyway, I think the circuits are energised by the switch (in this case) completing the circuit by connecting to earth.

The point is, apart from the obvious faulty switch, I think it could be a wire shorting out to the metal frame, so think of any pinch points where the wiring may become trapped or worn through. I'd doubt if it's water causing it, at 12 volts water doesn't generally conduct enough power to cause problems, although I don't know what electronics are involved in an '06, so it is possible, but I think unlikely.

Good hunting.