Starter turns the engine a few times – and cuts

[Anonymous]

Hi GS fans.

My goodlooking and wellbehaving GS1000G from -82 starts pulling my leg!! It's not so easy to fire her up when she is cold, cus the starter won't turn her around for more than one or two times over the top. Then he starts spinning for himself only.
When engine already is warm - then an easy starter, one spark and it's done!
But when cold and starter stops involving the engine in the turning after a second or two, every time, it's a long process to get out on the road.

In this difficult period of starting I use jumpstart from the car, so current should be ok.
There are no new bad noises to hear when running.

Anyone that has an idea what?s up or where to start look.

[Billy Ricks]

Hopefully it's not the starter clutch. Pull the starter and polish up the commutator, the portion the brushes make contact with. After that clean the residue out of the grooves of the commutator with something that won't scratchup the metal. If you have the brush specs make sure they haven't worn past their service limit. The spec for my bike's brushes are 6mm minimum. The commutator for my bike has a 2mm limit between its mica insulator and the outer surface of the commutator. Anything less and its worn beyond spec.

[DarkDevil]

Re: Starter turns the engine a few times ? and cuts

In this difficult period of starting I use jumpstart from the car, so current should be ok.

Is this alright to do? My battery might be dead.. but before I go out and fork out 60 dollars for a new battery I want to be sure it's not my bike. Can I hook up my bike to my car and start it? I've never jump started anything.. what exactly is the steps involved?

[SqDancerLynn1]

If the starter is turning without turning the engine You need to check the starter clutch

[DarkDevil]

Hmm.. Where is the starter clutch located, and what am I, and others having the same problem, looking for when we check it?

[SqDancerLynn1]

The starter clutch is on the back side of the rotor--on the left end of the crank IT REQUIRES a special tool to remove it. You can get the individual parts to repair it from your Suzuki dealer. Clean/examine it very good. make sure to replace the springs even if everthing looks ok.
Look for wear in the clutch hoiusing If the housing is worn or damaged
just but a new clutch assembly

[DarkDevil]

Thing is.. June of last summer I had a new Clutch Put in.. 355 dollars I think was the total. I'm sure nothing could be terribly wrong with it, they would've noticed something back then. Anything wrong would've been gradual.. I'll take a look though, if a jump from my car doesn't get the thing going.

as i said.. i'm pretty sure my battery is dead, was sitting all winter and I didn't have any pre-storage prep work done on it.. and i'm to stupid to know how to use a multimeter properly...

[SqDancerLynn1]

The engine clutch and the starter clutch are two different parts

[DarkDevil]

Hmm.. Fair enough. Thanks for clearing that up. I just thought.. while they were in there they might've seen it.

[Planecrazy]

News flash! I just temporarily rebuilt a starter with bad brushes (turned the brushes around backwards and resurfaced them), and when I did this I realized a design flaw in the springs that press the brushes against the commutator contacts.

The ends of the springs are NOT rolled back enough to prevent them from catching on the brush guides, and in some cases perfectly good brushes are not making contact anymore because the springs jammed and are no longer pressing against them.

I solved the problem by taking a needle nose pliers and very carefully "rolling" the ends of the springs more completely around ... the result is that the sharp edges no longer contact the brush guides, even when the brushes are completely removed.

The "rebuilt" starter is working flawlessly for now, but I WILL have to order new brush assemblies because the old ones were in very sad shape. I will definitely continue to use my redesigned springs though...

Regards All,
Steve 8)

[Anonymous]

Steve-Couple of questions--I've been noticing a half second pause when I hit the start button & then she fires up. Just once in awhile. Dead spot? Battery is new last year & staying fully charged. Is it pretty self explanatory taking the starter apart once you pull it outa there? One more(ok, 3 questions), do you know what mfg. an '82 would be. Dennis Kirk has brushes but you need to know what mfg. Nippon-Denso (me thinks) or Mitsuba?? Thanks!

ED

[Planecrazy]

Steve-Couple of questions--I've been noticing a half second pause when I hit the start button & then she fires up. Just once in awhile. Dead spot? Battery is new last year & staying fully charged. Is it pretty self explanatory taking the starter apart once you pull it outa there? One more(ok, 3 questions), do you know what mfg. an '82 would be. Dennis Kirk has brushes but you need to know what mfg. Nippon-Denso (me thinks) or Mitsuba?? Thanks!

ED

Could be a dead spot, but usually with a dead spot you have to "whack" the starter to very slightly vibrate or shift the contacts till they spark and get the motor spinning. I'm thinking maybe you have something close to a dead spot ... the brushes are contacting, but not very well ... eventually enough juice starts to flow and it turns over.

The starter isn't too complicated, but you have to be careful pulling the rear cover off (the only end you need to pull to check the brushes, by the way), because the brush assemblies willl "pop" if you pull them out with the rear cover ... then it's a trick to get them seated again. Chances are you'll have to do it anyway, because I suspect you're going to find problems with the brushes or contacts on the commutator. When I popped mine open all sorts of graphite dust and bits poured out form the munched contacts.

Regarding mfg. I wasn't aware that there were several choices -- I'll have to double check that when I order my replacement brushes. Finding out which one you have is fairly easy ... if you remove the starter motor cover (2 small bolts .. 8mm I think) there's a good chance the mfg. label will be visible without removing the starter. Even if you do have to pull the motor it's not a big job ... ten to fifteen minutes to do ... two 10mm bolts hold it down in the rear and then it slides out of the gear case. On my 1100G I was able to angle the rear of the starter up while pulling back ... once the front of the starter motor was clear I was able to pull it out without removing the carbs. I hope it's that easy for you.

Good Luck!
Steve 8)

[Anonymous]

Steve-Thanks a bunch for your reply. Appreciate it! I'm not gonna pull the starter yet, it really has been a very infrequent thing so far. Just thought I'd order the brushes & have 'em when/if i needed 'em. Thanks for the tips. I was dreading pulling the carbs the most, hate dealing with getting the air box back in there. Been there, done that! MAYBE I'll be lucky and not have to, not much room there tho. What year is your 1100? It's a G right? Standard model, not an "L"? When you get the brushes let me know if it's a Nippon-Denso or ? Thanks!
ED

[Planecrazy]

Mitsuba, Ed, at least in my bike ('83 1100G, not GL)... Oh, one more thing -- when you remove the starter cover you'll need one of those dentist-style telescoping mirrors, because the name is not printed on a stick on label ... it's cast onto the back cover of the starter (at least in the case of the Mitsuba). Hope this helps!

Regards,
Steve 8)

[Anonymous]

Thanks Steve, bet mine is Mitsuba then. Got one of those mirrors already, great way to check yer oil level!
ED