[awdyck]

imported post

So I bought an 83 Aspie knowing that the starter clutch would need work. The previous owner had just taken it for a tuneup and on the way home stopped for coffee and the bike wouldn't start. The mechanic came to take a look at the bike and said it was the starter clutch. I tried the Sea Foam in the oil without luck, so I pulled the engine and the stator and starter clutch. Everything looked clean. There were no flat spots on the rollers, the journal was smooth. I replaced the rollers, pins and springs and put the engine back in the bike enough to see whether the starter would turn the bike over. It doesn't. Anyone have any ideas on what to try next?

 

[choppas]

imported post

I guess you already checked inside the starter motor? The gearbox on the end could have stripped the little gears. That can make the motor spin internally but not drive the chain/clutch.

 

[awdyck]

imported post

Well, I took out the starter and swapped it with the starter from my other bike. It wasn't the starter clutch at all. It was the starter. What a lot of work for nothing!

 

[wda-83wing]

imported post

the one with the striped gears , were they of a nylon or metal gears . most of the chinese manf. ones use nylon stuff and have not lasted too long.

 

[awdyck]

imported post

It is the ring gear and it is probably nylon or some similar material. The interior of the gear is fine. However, the notch which locks the gear into the starter housing was worn away, which makes me think that the gear was just spinning instead of turning over the engine.

 

[Heffo]

imported post

awdyck wrote:

Well, I took out the starter and swapped it with the starter from my other bike. It wasn't the starter clutch at all. It was the starter. What a lot of work for nothing!

Look on the positive side. If Choppas post hadn't steered you in the right direction of the starter motor gears, you probably would have pulled the engine out again!

 

[awdyck]

imported post

There are lots of positives. It cost me less than $200 for everything and I now have a bike jack and another starter. I know how to take a GL1100 out, and put it back in. And hopefully this post will save someone else some grief by checking their starter before they pull the engine. I've also learned not to go back to the mechanic who wanted the $1000 for pulling the engine before he checked the starter.

 

[machinehead]

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awdyck ... lesson learned , but why they went from steel to nylon is a mystery that i will never understand.?

 

[sctrucker]

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machinehead, cmon now, you know why they changed to plastic, he had to get another one didnt he?!