hard starting, need some input tonight

[azr]

No, no I put a new battery in thinking that was the issue when it first started to happen spiratically (post #13) and I always check the battery 1st with any electrical issues. Voltage at the battery is high 12's and is the same to the starter relay, it goes to 9.5 when you go to start the bike, that is normal. Again it looks like the issue is somewhere in the starter clutch, or at least that's the next step. I'll be getting to that tomorrow. I'll post as I go, thanks again for all the suggestions.

[Brendan W]

I would still try jumping first and at the case to bypass the earth return. That vid sounds like the motor is turning, just not fast enough. At the very least I would pull a plug, crank and see if the piston is going up and down.
If you haven't already I would check out the earth strap back to the battery.
I know I'm going on a bit about this but.................

[azr]

Well found the culprit



The stupid crankshaft bolt came loose again...When I originally put the engine together I forgot to use loctite on it so of course it came loose. I cleaned everything up and used the Red loctite and torqued it down with my air gun, since then I must have put almost 7000km's on the bike, weird. So again I've cleaned the inside thread with Simple Green, then a degreasing solvent. Did the same thing to the bolt and I'll let it dry over night. Maybe I'll see if there's a strong loctite?

[azr]

Well she's all back together and starting on a dime as usual. Very odd that the bolt came loose after 7000km of riding but I cleaned it out with degreaser and solvent, let it all dry overnight. Used red loctite and torqued it to spec then let it all dry for 24hrs, can't do anymore than that I don't think. The things I did different this time with than last was made sure the loctite was the full length down the thread inside the crank. Last time I put the loctite on the bolt only, hopefully this makes the difference. Best thing, I was able to save the OEM gasket for another use