GL1500 Starter Motor Repair

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Thank you, thank you, thank you...

...this was perfect timing. My starter motor has been sluggish for a long time & won't pull well in reverse. The dealer wanted $165 just to remove it and aroun d $500 for a new motor! I got the feeling he just wasn't interested.

My dad is a retired auto wrench and he said he would do the job if I found a manual or how-to, otherwise he would be feared of breaking things looking for the motor. I been here lurking in the past and when I looked yesterday, lo and behold what do I see staring me in the face but an animation of starter removal and repair. My dad don't use computers (heck he don't even like television) so I printed it all off on 10 pages and dad read it, grunted a few times and tore into the Wing. The starter was on the floor in about an hour.
We had a beer and dad put the white sheet on his workmate and stripped the motor. FULL OF BLACK POWDER/DUST and one brush has crumbled to nothing, but it looks good and it seems like we will get away with new brushes and a good cleaning. Dad cracked open the part with the gears and cleane and greased it all before putting it back together. He will clean the copper parts today and one of his buddies will match up the brushes with some from a car and solder them in for us for a few beers in exchange.

I wanted to share this with you because I think what you guys do here is a good service. For the price of a few beers instead of nearly $700, my Goldwing will be back to normal.

You guys are the greatest.

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[align=center]I've copied the article into this post for quick reference.

Click the thumbnails for a bigger image, they will open in a new window.









Disconnect the wire at the starter terminal. 1988-89 models have two terminals, all other model years have one.












When pulling the starter motor out, it will probably be a bit stiff and will need to be wiggled from side to side.








A rare view of where the starter motor engages.

















Here are the old starter motor brushes and plate, note the layout and text tips in the picture for reassembly time. The plate pulls away easily.










Now for the gears...










When reassembling the gears make sure to put some grease in there and remember to put the large o-ring back between the two gear case halves.






The cleaned up armature and new brushes back in place. Remember to grease the bearings at each end of the armature before putting the end cap and gear case back in place, and don't forget to put the large o-ring on each end as well.






The starter motor mounting bolts. The longest one goes to the bottom Cleaning them with a wire brush makes them easier to refit.







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