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Loud "Clack" - no start

  • Thread starter Thread starter Anonymous
  • Start date Start date
A

Anonymous

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Hi:

I'm new to this forum after purchasing a bike I lusted after while in college but never purchased 'till now, an '81 GS 1100E. Now that I'm older and wiser, I finally trust myself with it.

Anyway, I purchased a beautiful one in great condition from ebay and it looks and performs better than expected.

Last week, I tried to start the bike after a long ride, and I heard nothing but a clack sound. It easily fired up with a little bump start. I tried to start again the traditional way 5 minutes later and had success.

About 20 cranks of no problem starting later, got nothing but a "clack". No problem bumping it. This time I had trouble restarting the traditional way - but got it to start again with the push of a button in about about 5 tries.

Today, it "clacked" and can't get it to start without the "bump". I never thought it would be easy to bump start a 22 y.o. 1100, but thankfully it is.

My old Yamaha had pretty bad electrical problems and I went through 3 starters in about 12 years, so this appears to be my "curse".

You all know these bikes better than me, is it likely that the starter motors fried, and if so, any recommendations on where to locate a new one? How much will I pay? Know any good mechanics in the West Suburbs of Chicago?
 
I'd look at the generator rotor first. Sometimes the nut holding it on would get loose, allowing the rotor & starter clutch to get loose. If the rotor isn't loose, could still be the starter clutch. The starter motor shouldn't cause a clank. Remember this is just my opinion
 
Try this

Try this

I have seen the planetary reduction gears on these starters come unglued. There is a little tiny pin in there that is pressed into a pot metal nose housing and it will sometimes rip out. You have three choices in that case...TIG weld it back up and drill it out, get a new housing, or get another complete starter. I have two bad RE5 starters and had a girlfriend with a GS450 that this happened to. The internals on all the starters looked identical.
 
I would take the starter out and check the brushes. If the brushes are ok. When it acts up try to jump the starter Solonid. If it doesn't try to start It would be time to check the starter clutch
 
Sheez, how about the second question?

Sheez, how about the second question?

Thanks for the replies.

Ok, I'm shamed. I thought I was fairly adept at working on my bike - you know, I can replace/work on my battery, change the oil, track down very minor electrical problems and have the confidence to work on parts that are easily accessible, have big parts and don't explode.

The three replies I got involved taking about the lower engine, removing the carbs - all supposedly "simple" procedures, but I lack the confidence to see my bike in little bits. Once I get started in a disassembly, I panic and put everything back together and drive it/or tow to a real "wrench". Then, he fixes all the stuff I ruined, and whatever was wrong in the first place.

I hold a good, trustworthy mechanic in more esteem than Mother Teresa, Ghandi and the Dali Lama. I try to get them to like me by showing up to pick up the bike with a 12 pack of good brew (I learned early on that you deliver the beer AFTER, not before, they fix the bike).

So, the next part of the question - I noticed a few folks from IL/Chicago area in the membership ranks. Any recommendations on good mechanics who enjoy working on GS bikes? The dealership near me reluctantly will work on a GS, but they didn't seem thrilled about it, and told me it would be worked on after-hours and when flow was down.

I find that people that don't enjoy the work do the work poorly.

Any good Chicago-area mechanics? Anyone ever take a remedial course on motorcycle maintenence at a community college? Was it helpful?

Thanks.

ANDY
 
It's hard to find ANY good mechanics willing to work on these 20+year old bikes without causing a serious cramp in your checkbook. :roll:
 
Hi, I don't have an answer to this one but I thought I'd mention that this sounds like something that has happened to me. A couple of times I've tried to start my bike and only got a loud "clack" sound. The first time it happened I just thought "oh sh**, something really bad has gone wrong this time" but I pushed the starter again and the bike started perfectly. Same thing happened a few weeks later. I don't think it's happened more than the twice in perhaps 3 months so, whatever it is, it's very occasional.
It's definitely a 'clack' not a 'clank' and seems to come from somewhere to the front left of the bike.

I'd be interested to know what it is.
Roger
 
Clack

Clack

Bike Started:

Yeah, that's the sound. It comes from the starting relay and the clack is supposedly a "healthy" sound according to my CLYMER book. The relay is on the left side of the bike. If the clack sound is heard, and the starter doesn't go, the CLYMER book said to have the electrical system checked out by a dealer. Since the CLYMER book rarely recommends taking the bike to the shop, I thought I was in deep . . .

An update on my work. I've either made progress, or I've regressed - don't know which.

The battery was purchased in June '03 and had water and "juice" according to an auto-parts store I took it to for a test last week - three (3) weeks after purchasing the bike. That is why I began this forum with the assumption I had a strong battery. I've traveled about 400 miles since I purchased the bike last month and had no indicators that the battery was anything less than charged and strong - except for the non-starts I mentioned in my first post.

Just for kicks, I placed a battery from my Yamaha into my Suzuki bike while I had the airfilter casing out (same basic battery, but different size/configuration).

My Suzuki fired right up. So I hooked the Suzuki battery into the charger, (it said it had 90% of its charge - which should suffice - right?) and charged it an additional 2 hrs.

Then I placed the what I think was a fully charged 'Suzuki" battery into my bike. It fired up again.

It worked. Now, since the battery was new and at least semi-charged, maybe the alternator is not working correctly? If all I had was a low battery, I feel pretty stupid. But, I drove the bike about 100 miles yesterday, so it should have received a charge, right?

Does the sound like the electrical problems I've been reading about.

See, I told you all I'm a lousy mechanic. Maybe it was happenstance as when I took the airfilter casing out, I reconnected all the visible wires and checked out /pushed together the visible connectors. Maybe I lucked into a solution, only I don't usually "luck" into anything mechanically.

Also, out of habit, I never turn the running switch on the right side to the "off" position - I just turn the key off - can this be a problem that would drain the battery?

Thanks. This is a great site!

ANDY
 
The 'kill' switch won't make any difference if the ignition is off. You may have some corroded connections that you made better by swapping the battery. Try cleaning all of the connections in the starter loop.
 
Leaving the kill switch on is not going to affect anything. You should read the "stator papers" which are on this site. I think they are in the Garage section. This is a step by step way of checking your charging system that almost anyone can do. It's a good way to familiarize you with the bike so should you have to make emergency repairs in the future, you'll be better prepared. I also highly recommend buying a Clymer manual on the bike.
Good luck!

Terry
 
Clack wont start

Clack wont start

If the clack sound is coming from the starting relay, you might just have a bad disk in the relay. When you push the starter button, 12 volts pulls in the magnetic coil. Probably the clack. Inside the relay is usually a disk of copper that connects the 2 large battery leads, one from the battery and one to the starter. If the disk in worn away, it will pull up but make no contact
so there is no power to the starter. If you think that is whats happening, it
is fairly easy to replace the relay as a first recourse.
 
If it is the starter relay, I've taken them apart, cleaned the contacts with sandpaper and reassembled them. It's very easy. To check if it is the relay, you can short across the two big terminals (bolts) with a screwdriver and if the starter turns, then it is probably the relay that is bad. Be careful, make sure the bike is in neutral. It may spark when you short across them so be forewarned. Also, try to make contact on the nuts that are on the terminal so that you won't burn the threads and ruin them.

Terry
 
The kill switch on my bike doesn't turn off the lights. Something else could be on as well?
 
Guys I don't think the Clack he is talking about is the relay. Sure the relay clicks but never clacks. I have had that clack on occasion when I tried to start it cold. It is definitely coming from the starter area of the engine. I have concluded from the times I have researched the sound that what has probably occured is from the piston position when the engine that for some reason momentarily the starter binds up cause the engine wants to rotate counter clockwise. The clack is the starter conflicting with the crankshaft. Doesn't happen often and doesn't happen when engine is warm but it is loud and angry when it does happen. So far I can find no damage being done from the event.
 
Yes, that sounds more like it. Without knowing what the various bits and pieces are, I've wondered whether the problem depends on the position that some rotating part comes to rest in when the bike stops. Perhaps a rotor or something is misshapen and only when the misshapen part comes to rest in a certain position does the problem occur next time the bike is started.
Not technical I know, but that's what the problem 'feels' like. The 'clack' noise is definitely not electrical. It's not metallic either. More a sort of arthritic sound!

Roger
 
Seems like the solenoid would make a "click".
If it's an "Oh shit what the fuck was that!" kind of CLACK. It's definitly the starter clutch. I know of what I speak :oops: . The starter clutch has three rollers that are pushed on by little spring loaded pistons. They keep the rollers in position inside the starter clutch. The rollers actually "grip" the nose of a large gear which is turned by the starter. So the starter turns the gear (via secondary gear), the nose on the gear wedges the rollers in the clutch housing, the clutch is bolted to the rotor/flywheel, the rotor is wedged on the crank.
When the engine fires, the crank speeds up, and the starter motor stops, the rollers in the starter clutch just go along for the ride.
The CLACK happens when the motor tries to turn backwards on startup. The rollers and the little spring loaded pistons that keep 'em snug are vilently dislodged and the little pistons try to "escape" through the side of the starter clutch housing. 8O You'll know this has happened if you see two or three pushed out dimples on the side/edge of your starter clutch. The dimples will appear right next to the three little holes on said edge.

Now the cause:
1 Weak battery.
2 High compression. Lots of carbon??
3 Ignition timing too far advanced.
4 Maybe "weak" starter motor.
5 all of the above at once?
If the problem is not addressed you could shear the bolts holding the starter clutch onto the rotor. :oops: :cry: You'll need the dreaded special tool to remove the rotor.

The service manager at a local shop actually let me borrow the tool. What a guy. But that's another long story.

Good luck but don't let it continue too long.
 
I recently had this problem with my GS1100efe, all three starter clutch bolts sheared allowing the clutch to spin. I assumed that the dimples were supposed to be there as I had not seen a new starter clutch. I replaced the bolts and refitted the clutch only for it to loosen off and shear the bolts a second time, this time the clutch obviously tipped slightly causing the three rollers to be jammed against the surface of the large starter gear, the rollers and the gear surface looked as though someone had taken an angle grinder to them! I have since replaced the complete starter clutch and gear assembly. One modification that should be made on assembly is to drip something like JB weld into the dowel hole in the starter clutch, you just need to take up about 2 - 3 mm so the dowel cannot end up flush with the surface of the starter clutch, allowing the clutch to twist and loosen of the three bolts.
 
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