Starter

[Craig54]

When I hit the starter all I get is this werring sound and the starter doesnt engaged. ......uggg

What are my options.... best place to start?


Craig54

[Dave8338]

Double check the voltage in your battery. If it is at full charge 12V+ then there is a good chance that your starter drive is either sticking or shot. Pull the starter and have a look.

[Craig54]

Starter

Pulled the starter out and conecyed to battery and its spinning ok.
Any directions on site regarding starter clutch I should look at before I pull the left side cover off.?

[80GS750]

i just popped my starter clutch too...

crap. im at a loss here too as to what to do about it....

gonna have to pull the left side cover and see if/what broke...

[80GS750]

whew!!! praise the lord!

i didnt tighten my generator bolt tight enough during assembly and it just slipped loose... no harm done. ill put the cover back on tomorrow and try again.

i did check and it turns over good now

[posplayr]

Hope you used Red Locktite

and let it sit overnite to bond.

(crank shaft and the rotor hub).

This is what a bad/slipping starter clutch sounds like

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGaJnlA2uIE&feature=related

Posplayr

[SqDancerLynn1]

additional note! NEVER try and start you engine cold when in gear The clutch drag puts lots of stress on the starter clutch

[Craig54]

Starter

[quote=posplayr;818424]and let it sit overnite to bond.

(crank shaft and the rotor hub).

This is what a bad/slipping starter clutch sounds like

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGaJnlA2uIE&feature=related

Wow thats the noise alright.

Whats hapening to cause that?

[TheCafeKid]

Well these starter clutches are actually pretty simple. They are a centrifugal (sp) clutch. There are lil steel cylindrical "slides" in the clutch (which resides behind the charging rotor inside the stator cover) They are spring loaded. If i understand it correctly, when you hit the starter button, the starter motor spins, spinning a set of gears, spinning the starter clutch. The spinning motion forces the cylindrical slides to lock down on the starter gear, which causes it to be driven by the starter motor, turning the crank and the motor over. Once you release the starter button, obviously, the starter stops. Im not exactly possitive what happens from here, how the starter gear releases. But I was told that if you have the stator cover off and stop the starter gear with something, it would stop just fine, and the motor would continue to run.

At any rate, one of the common problems is for the springs to wear out in the starter clutch, or the slides to stick. As i understand sometimes, if its just the slides sticking, you can grease them and get them to work again without taking the rotor off, but if they or the springs need replaced, the rotor must come off. And as i understand, THAT can be a royal PITA.

[TheCafeKid]

Also, that noise DOES suck. I have a motor, which is currently residing in a fellow GSRs bike, that makes that same noise. I just havent read up on, or attempted to take the rotor off. As i said i have read that its a pain in the butt. But i think the WORST sound, at least from a sound only standpoint, and one that will make you cringe every time you hear it, is the sound the starter gears make when the motor kicks back against it when you try to start it. Again, not exactly clear on what exactly causes that, but from my limited understanding, its caused by a stray cumbustion in one of the cylinders. Anyone have more info on this situation?

[Craig54]

Starter

Ok
pulled the left cover
All gears look ok
nothing apears to be loose
held gears in place with screwdriver and hit starter
everything spins but no engage
so I guess its off with the big round thingy (tec talk) to see whats inside.

[TheCafeKid]

Here is a bit of an idea of what those slide thingies (more tech talk) look like.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/80-83...em290230233829&

Im sure you can see them in a parts fiche too, but sometimes its better for me to see the ACTUAL parts. Hope it helps.

[TheCafeKid]

Ok
pulled the left cover
All gears look ok
nothing apears to be loose
held gears in place with screwdriver and hit starter
everything spins but no engage
so I guess its off with the big round thingy (tec talk) to see whats inside.

Also if you have an idea on how to get the 'big round thingy" off, lemme know. The manual i have suggests you must have a special tool, but i have heard tell of people doing it without. Never tried personally.

[omaharj]

As one of the lesser mechanics around here, when I say this isn't too difficult of a fix, it's true. It's simpler to get the puller (about $32) than any trick stuff. I had no help so I used an electric impact wrench also. If you have someone to hold the brake lever on the bike you may not need the impact wrench. Get a replacement gasket beforehand so you can button it up when you're done. If you can't find where to get stuff post again. Good Luck! RJ