Starter Gears Stuck?

[Naturchine]

Voltage readings:

I fully charged the battery and when I put VOM probes on + & - : 12.99 V
When I bridged solenoid, and probes on battery, read: 10.6 V
When I bridged solenoid, + probe on starter motor bolt (where cable from solenoid connects) & - probe on battery negative, read: 0 V
And when I unbridged the solenoid (when it gives 0 V), the gears would spin backward & suddenly a reading is given: 5.3 V
After all the testing etc, + & - probes on battery, read: 12.6 V

[Naturchine]

Thank you Chuck Hahn.
I will turn the bolt (left engine casing / stator cover, correct?).

What did you exactly mean with this:

"Take a hammer and tap on the end of the starters gear while the cover is off also to see if it jiggles the armerature loose and will spin the motor again." ?

The starter motor's gear?

[Big T]

From those readings, your battery is dead and your starter is all gummed up

Pull out your starter and carefully take it apart and see what's inside

The battery should be over 13V and deliver at least 12 V to the starter

[Naturchine]

Big T: Thank you for the reply.
The battery is new and the figures tell me that the battery is fine.
The starter motor was opened, cleaned (including armature), new brushes, and undercut length is correct. Afterwards the starter motor gear ate through a piece of wood, when the auto-electrician tested it in this manner.
To me the question still remains: why the 0 Volt reading when starter motor engages?
This rather seems to me something like a bad earth connection, bad wire or something else.
Would the starter motor give a 0 volt reading upon engaging if the starter motor gear is physically stopped / forced to not spin?

[Naturchine]

Please do correct me if I'm wrong, concerning battery being fine.

[Naturchine]

I used a car battery (in everyday use) to start bike. Starter motor engages but cannot turn starter gears for some or other reason.

[Naturchine]

Maybe this is connected:
I turned the 19mm nut that's situated on the right side cover CW.
I don't know if it is actually turning engine.
Nut started getting stiffer the more I rotated nut (even whining). Eventually it tightened. I did not try to rotate CCW.
Afterwards I put bike in first gear and could push it forward (it has compression) & a bit hard to push.
(When I put it in neutral, bike rolls freely, without engine being engaged & easy to push).

Is this GS special?

[Naturchine]

Friends and fellow GS Ambassadors.

I sincerely apologize for asking if my GS is special.

All GS' are special.

Does my GS think she's still in hibernation?

Or is she just a little shy?

How long before we can exhilarate each other?

Any expert advice or general opinions are welcome.

[Big T]

Maybe this is connected:
I turned the 19mm nut that's situated on the right side cover CW.
I don't know if it is actually turning engine.
Nut started getting stiffer the more I rotated nut (even whining). Eventually it tightened. I did not try to rotate CCW.
Afterwards I put bike in first gear and could push it forward (it has compression) & a bit hard to push.
(When I put it in neutral, bike rolls freely, without engine being engaged & easy to push).

Is this GS special?

Maybe

The symptoms you describe here are odd.

The stiffer and whining stuff points to some other problem.

Did you turn the crankshaft with the sparkplugs installed, or out?

Where was the whining coming from? The starter?

[Naturchine]

Big T:

Spark plugs still installed.

Whining actually came from nut: (like friction because of no lube) to whatever it tightened.

[Naturchine]

A few strange things happened a week ago

As I was working on the bike, I forgot to put the starter motor back into the bike. With no starter motor in the bike, I pressed the starter button.
The solenoid cable that connects to starter motor was pressing against the carburettor casing (the connector ring that mounts to the starter motor). I heard exactly the same sound (gears wanting to move
forward and spinning the opposite way when starter button is released), when I pressed the starter button.

Yet the starter motor was not even in the bike, nevermind connected.
It sounded like it was coming from the engine.
It wasn't the solenoid's clicking that I heard.

Like I stated in a previous post, I've opened left cover casing and witnessed how starter motor's gear tries to rotate starter gears, but fails, and spins in the opposite direction (of what it's supposed to) when starter button is released (or when solenoid is bridged and unbridged).
So the sound that I generally hear from trying to start the bike is from the starter motor.

So what possibly happened when solenoid's cable (going to starter motor) was grounded against the carburettor?

Was the engine trying to crank?

[chef1366]

Uh no
You had a direct short to the carbs.
Lucky you didn't blow yourself up.

[Naturchine]

Uh...no
A GS is a tank.

Do you mean the battery could've exploded?

Anyway, it must have been a miracle or something.
Some or other gears or something was trying to get going (rotate / crank).

Uh no
You had a direct short to the carbs.
Lucky you didn't blow yourself up.

[tkent02]

Magic sucks if you are not the magician.

[Naturchine]

Friends and fellow GS Ambassadors:

Thank you for the help, and for your efforts.

A fellow South African GS rider and member of GSR, has contacted me, offering his assistance and help: even as far as coming along to wrench on this baby.

I will report back with the finale of this saga.