TaDa Starter Story...

[twistedwankel]

Okay. I read all the hundreds of posts and still never really got the solution to the starter works super when cold but drags when hot other than the replace brushes/been discussed a hundred times.

Okay. For the last two years this has been an "issue" only from the stand point that it bothers me - not because the bike doesn't start when hot.

SO. That said. I finally figured out how to get the starter off my 81 GS750 with 26k miles and a 3 month old battery with the cleanest wire connections possible and perfect stator and RR. And a spare used starter off ebay guaranteed to work...ahhahaha...just in case I really mess the original up.

So I got it off and took it apart and the only thing remotely wrong with it is about a 1/8th teaspoon of the carbon worn off the brushes is piled up in the end cap and all over inside the thing a dusting. So I found a new use for the box of alcohol pads in the first aide kit and cleaned everything off. Then 600 grit sanded the rotor surfaces bright. The brushes have over an 1/8" of wear left so no need to change them.

Put it all back together and it spins with no resistance at all by hand. When putting it back in the only hitch was trying to get the back #10mm bolts to start threading in...used the phillips end of my 4 in 1 screwdriver to align one hole on right and bingo problem solved.

Okay. Hit starter button and it spins the engine over like a whirling dirvish on a tuesday. Fantastic. Again and again. Never worked that well before.

Litmus test go for 93F ride for an hour and get the motor blazing hot and stop at a gas station like I always do. Put in 3 gallons of gas and restart bike with headlight on and in first gear to make life difficult on the starter. It dragged significantly at first then spun over and started right up. Turned lights off and put in neutral and tried again and fired off on first touch of the button.

So....as far as I'm concerned this is the end of the starter adventure. When the engine (including the starter itself) is hot as blazes the compression/friction must be higher (just like my old race car used to be) when hot due to aluminum vs steel cooling rates? There is nothing to be concerned about as long as it starts and the longer I wait the easier time the starter has in spinning the engine over because things fit better.

Besides now I won't hesitate to pull the starter again if need be and alzheimer's can't take that info away from me so long as I don't change bikes.

End of another story.

Doug

[fgh]

Glad you got it going again and hope you never have to touch the starter again. If you do don't sand the commutators. The series of copper bars that the brushes contact. They need to stay smooth. Brushes and brush springs can be bad and look good. I don't find them to be expensive and always replace them so I don't have to do the job a second time.

[nabrams]

You make it sound like you've never found this in a search.
This can't be the first time you've heard about dirty starter insides being the main culprit of this problem. I, personally, have posted this info many times and so have others.

[jimcor]

Don't sand a commutator. Use crocus cloth.

[Calvin Blackmore]

the debris from the brushes would also be electrically conductive and introduce a possible low level short path. The starter could have been stopping in a bad spot on the commutator or on a um "leaky " spot

This occured in my jeep starter and was made worse by water ( sometimes salty in winter ) migrating inside via the woven copper ground strap. A conductive slurry paste would ensue if the machine was driven in water. It got to a point where damness would cause iffy starting.

Tap the starter with a hammer and it would free up.
Dismantled and cleaned without replacing the marginal brush pack and it has never recurred in any condition dry or post-sumberged.

I use 2000 grit silicon carbide wet\dry paper to polish commutators makes em clean leaves no scratches.

[twistedwankel]

Searching the word Starter

You make it sound like you've never found this in a search.
This can't be the first time you've heard about dirty starter insides being the main culprit of this problem. I, personally, have posted this info many times and so have others.

I searched the word "starter" and got 20 pages of all encompassing dialog which included the word "starter" somewhere in all the discussion threads but never simply outlined the cleaning procedure. Most had no mention of any kind of repair procedure.

Most troubled people appear to simply "toss" the old and get a new one. I suppose that's not a big deal for some people but others like to know how to maintain things to avoid issues.

I do appreciate that sometimes it appears items get rehashed but I don't think anyone is running out of bandwidth nowadays.

[twistedwankel]

Poor choice of words.

Don't sand a commutator. Use crocus cloth.

Okay I didn't use "sandpaper". I used a high quality abrasive 600 grit wet/dry that I had in the garage. Lightly buffed to remove deposits using the proper directional rotating motion. Let's face it this motor doesn't rotate very often or for very long like a fan does and the brushes will wear in again quickly.

Obviously the carbon is abrasive or it wouldn't have scoured the copper in the first place.

Besides I was fully prepared to toss this unit as had another used one so it really didn't matter if not "perfect".

I will definately get the parts and rebuild the spare one I got cheap now that I know how simple it all is once it's off the bike.

Appreciate your correction tho'. Some people do take things quite literally.