The battery won't absorb the extra amperage, it'll melt or explode.,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
The bike has a kickstarter, let the man get on about his business...
well,,that is not correct... a battery won't melt or explode in this sitution.. as with any boosting, or charging procedure,, you ALWAYS put a larger source to a dead battery..that is what makes the current flow out of the larger source into the dead circuit,, and don't forget the parallel circuit
ok,, all that stuff aside..... I got into this thread to find out a question........?
Is it possible that the factory did use undersized wire to the starter?... and that makes it so you can only use it as a re-starter?
undersized conductors are impedance protection.. [Z=IR] and is used a LOT in the electric engineering world..
one way to find out ......... put a voltmeter on the wiring harness.. somewhere close to the CDI box.. an analog meter works best.. so you can watch the needle drop... as a regular digital meter, numbers will most likely bounce all over the place.......some digital meters have a bar graph simulating the old needle on an analog meter.. or I use a recording meter....
once you have the meter in place... charged battery,,,try the starter as normal.. and watch the voltage at the meter ... if it goes from 13.8v down to 10.. not good...... most CDI i have measured don't work under 10.5v ymmv
put the booster cables on... repeat.. if the voltage has an increase.. that is a good trend.
now.. I would be tempted to put a temporary parallel cable of the same size from the starter relay to the starter motor ,, if this cures the problem,, leave that as the "fix".. or install a cable that is 3 electric gauge larger,, as that is double the wire diameter
years ago.. car OEM starter circuits became smaller conductor from B+ to starter motor... this was to ensure starter motor failure didn't cause a wire to smoke,, but more so to protect in an accident..if that previously HUGE conductor [from the '60's] from B+ to the starter motor became shorted to ground.. it would allow all the power in that battery to discharge into the "load" and start a plasma like DC fire ....
I have a '73 CB350 that had the same issue.. the charge circuit didn't seem to work,,only at high rpm.. and start circuit couldn't quite get the power to the starter motor unless circumstances were perfect.. but putting a temp booster cable from B+ to starter motor would cure the no start problem...
nothing wrong with falsely accused battery,, nothing wrong with falsely accused alternator... it was the wire on the B+ side...