Author eddiethetech Date Wed Jun 23, 2010 12:48 pm Type KB Fix
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Category Fix It / Mods
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To diagnose: Drain oil, disconnect fuel lines, remove shifter lever, left foot peg & left side cover. Make sure you locate all bolts, including one under clutch cover behind cable anchor.
With spark plugs in (to maintain compression resistance) and plug wires suitably grounded, hold the #2 gear pin in place and bump starter switch. If starter spins but gears do not, or if the gears stop and go while the starter is spinning, then the problem is inside the starter motor nose.
To repair: Disconnect battery, remove snap ring from shaft in small gear, remove the starter (cable & 2 mounting bolts).
Use a marker to mark or scribe mating marks on both cones and the starter body. This will make putting it back together easier. On a workbench or other clean area, remove 2 long screws & nose cone. Disassemble; 2 small planetary gears, ring gear and lower ring should fall out, along with a small key. Remove snap ring from shaft. Support nose on suitable surface and drive shaft out with a plastic mallet or using some manner of protection for the end of the shaft. Pay attention to the order of the various parts. Remove, clean and grease bearing.
Clean the entire inside diameter of the nose cone, lower ring and ring gear with brake cleaner to remove any trace of grease. Reassemble shaft and related spacers, bearing and snap ring. Drop in lower ring (the one with 4 tabs).
Mix up JB Weld Kwik, and apply to four spots, evenly spaced, on inside diameter of nose cone. Do not get JB Weld in the vertical slots, only on the surface that will contact the ring gear. Each spot will use about the diameter of a pencil eraser, but not too thick. Also run a thin bead in the groove where the ring gear mates with the lower 4 eared ring. Slide ring gear into nose cone. To make sure the gear is fully seated, reassemble the cone and tighten the screws to pull it all the way down. Remove nose cone and apply suitable grease to teeth & install planetary gears. Spin shaft to distribute grease and check for binding.
While the starter is out it makes sense to pull the opposite end and clean the commutator with Scotch Brite or fine emery cloth. Verify that brushes are not worn excessively. Replace as needed. Spray with electrical contact cleaner and reassemble. The mounting plate has tabs that must fit around the OD of the body, so make sure the plate is flat. Replace the cone, paying attention that the raised tab on the plate goes between the double bumps in the cone.
Do not reassemble starter at this point. JB Weld needs exposure to air in order to properly cure. In my haste to get the bike back together I put it all together and mounted it. Although it worked for a couple days I had to redo the repair and discovered the JB Weld was still pasty inside.
Allow at least 12 hours for the JB Weld to cure.
After curing, complete reassembly of starter. The fat end of the small key will align with a single slot in the starter body and one of the 4 slots in the nose cone. There is a slight offset for the long bolts holes, so make sure you orient the nose with the other end. Use your scribe marks for alignment.
Install on bike in reverse order.
Note on #2 gear (the one that rides up & down the helix). If the face of the gear is beveled/ worn, flip it around to give you a fresh gear face. It may appear to not fit because the clip will be further back, nut there is plenty of room for it and is a common fix.
Actual wrench time is about an hour.