How the starter clutch works??

[Pete Gierer]

I am new to motorcycles and motorcycle maintenance.....I purchased a 1982 GS1100G from my brother last year and have learned to ride, got my license to ride and performed all of the maintenance myself with the help of my brother.....
recently I tried to start my bike and got only spinning of the starter and ?...engine not engaged.....talked with Rob (my brother) and he suggested that the starter clutch might be the culpret.....pulled off the left case and took things apart....not much obviously wrong except that one of the springs and plungers in the starter clutch stuck in the "in" position......this might be the problem....obviously not supposed to be this way.....with some effort and proper pliers (actually wire cutters) pulled it out......
since I have things torn down I have ordered (very inexpensive parts) new rollers, springs, plungers, allen bolts and a washer I noticed was missing from my assembly when I looked at the exploded diagram......
should get parts soon....today or tomorrow in the mail....
have been reading as much as I can about the repair of starter clutch in this forum and the material is excellent and have copied several pieces that I will use to help me through the process of putting things back together.....
I would feel better about my effort to get the most out of this effort if I knew precisely how the starter clutch worked.....can someone go through the sequence of operation for me.......
what I understand now is that the starter motor spins turning the small gear at the end of the starter.....this small gear turns a pair of engaged gears that turn a larger gear that is on the crankshaft.....this large gear is isolated from the crankshaft with a couple of bearings (by the way should I pack these bearings before I put things back together, perhaps not as it is pretty much bathed in oil).....the starter clutch and huge magnet (looks like a cereal bowl) are attached to the crankshaft and kept from turning on the shaft by a tapered shaft and tightening a bolt (I understand that the bolt needs to be properly torqued and held in place with locktight, I will need to borrow or buy a torque wrench as I don't have one).....
all of this I understand.....what is it about the assembly that causes the starter gears to member up with the starter clutch and turn the engine??.....does the electromagnet power up and attach itself to the large gear or is there something more subtle going on......
thanks for any help on this matter.
Pete

[Eli69]

the magnet is part of the charging system (the rotor). it spins around the stator which is mounted in the cover.

when the starter turns the large gear (on the crank) it causes the three steel cylinders to tighten on the crankshaft and turn the motor over. they will only tighten in one direction, otherwise the crank spins freely.

this system is slightly problematic and makes a really loud bang when one of the bolts that hold it together breaks. that is why i know a little bit about it.

[Pete Gierer]

Thanks

the explanation makes me feel like I am indeed going to get this thing fixed....the fact that one of the rollers was not under proper tension would perhaps cause it not to "tighten up on the large gear sleeve and not turn the engine.
thanks
Pete

[SPARKSS]

Eli's description is pretty good......I'll just add that the clutch only "locks" when the starter is applying torque TO the crank but that when the engine starts and turns faster than the starter, this clutch releases or is "overrun"..........and thus this type of clutch (of which there's a few variations) is also known as an "overrunning clutch" (and has other uses besides engine starting systems).