Starter Motor Spinning but not "Gripping" Starting

[Guest]

Hi There,

I have a GS650GT, when I press the starter button I can hear it spins over as normal but sounds like it's not gripping what it it supposed to , to start the motor.

Any help will be appreciated.

Cheers

[GS(X)400]

So what basic maintenance have you done on the bike?

Did it ever run when you owned it? did it stop over the winter?. BikeCliff should be around to give you his mega welcome that has a crap tone of info in it.

But you probably want to make sure you have a healthy baseline given your bike is 30 years old.

start in the common issues section here and the 15point plan for health!
http://members.dslextreme.com/users/..._Greeting.html

[wiltshiregs]

Woked Fine

Hey Thanks for replying , yeah all worked fine. Did a lot of reading and when the bike stalls it "kick back" some air into the starter clutch area (apparently). I could actually hear a spinning sound when the bike stalls. I was busy tuning the carbs - everything worked fine and all of the sudden this happened. Still sounds like a healthy starter but just not "gripping"

Summer here in South Africa so all good..

[GS(X)400]

So is it now starting or is it stalling?

[tom203]

If starter motor is turning, but engine isn't, check starter clutch . Lean bike slightly to right (so no oil will fall out)-remove stator cover. You'll probably need an impact wrench to remove cover screws.So you were just carb tuning and this happenned ?

[wiltshiregs]

Hi, No the starter motor is just turning over and it is not engaging the engine to start it. Hope that makes sense. I can hear the starter turning over but the engine is not cranking.

Yes I was tuning carbs (That's it). Obvoiusly started a few times as the engine stalled and the next time I tried this happened.

Tom203 - I was also told must be the starter clutch. What will I do when I remove the stator cover. What must I look out for?

Just a quick note - On this model GS650GT the starter is on the middle - It's got the starter cover on the top - middle of motor.

I opened the starter cover and can even feel it spinning when I hit the starter button but that's it. It makes a Spinning sound so just turning over and over if I hold the starter button in.

Thanks for all your input

[tkent02]

The big thin gear behind the flywheel should turn freely one way, but not at all the other way. This is how it turns the engine, but disconnescts from the engine when it's turning faster. Remove the smaller idler gear so the starter motor isn't interfering. If the gear spins freely both ways, take the rotor off, take things apart until you find out why. There are screws that can come loose, some other stuff in there. It' a pretty simple system once you figure out how it works.

[wiltshiregs]

MMMM... Ok will look if it spins both ways. If so Will I have to replace the starter clutch?

Is there noting else that can be the problem. Electrical wise? Something coming loose because of the "backlash"...

Thanks all again

[tkent02]

MMMM... Ok will look if it spins both ways. If so Will I have to replace the starter clutch?

Is there noting else that can be the problem. Electrical wise? Something coming loose because of the "backlash"...

Thanks all again

No, if the starter motor is turning, everything electrical is working fine. Sorry.

Could be an easy fix, could be a starter clutch itself needs to be replaced.

Not a common problem except on the big bikes, so let us know what you find in there.

[tom203]

This guy had similar problem in his thread- some clues for you here

http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/showthread.php?p=2042554#post2042554