[Savere]

imported post

Hello Guys, I recently came into the possession of a 1983 Aspencade1100, The original owner had it running last week, he is mechanicaly gifted and assured me that the bike is in sound condition. Upon Delivery he went to turn it over but the engine didn't turn. The starter would spin but it doesn't seem to catch anything. I will admit I'm not a wrench head so there may be a very simple explanation that I am missing.



One thing I will add is that battery is new and charged, and in the process of delivery the bike was subjected to around 30* weather. As I've read these bikes, like most, are a beast to get going when cold, but I'm not sure if that would be the reason behind things.



Thanks in advance!

 

[Goldwings 4 ever]

imported post

The starter spins a sprague clutch which is a cetrifugal clutch. Not engaging the engine can be caused by several reasons. Very cold temperatures will cause this due to the oil being too thick. Using oil that is too thick will also do it. My 1200 used to do it in cold weather, especially if I used 20w50. Switching to a lighter weight oil such as 10w40 may help. Or it could be that you just need to get some fresh oil in the crankcase. Crud in the clutch could aslo be a cause. If you can get it running, put some seafoam in the crankcase and run it for a bit and then do an oil change. This will flush out the crap that may have built up in the starter clutch. You can do a search on seafoam and get the proper procedure for this.

 

[Paulie]

imported post

I had the same issue on my ride... I put 1/2 can of Sea Foam in the oil and ran it for a couple hours, then replaced the oil with 10/40. Worked great, no more issues... But then again, you may have a bad starter...