Starter ring problems?

hops

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Have any of you chaps or chapesses had issues with the starter motor ring on the 1150? Mine has been a bit sluggish and rattly to turn over for some time and I always put it down to infrequent use and the recent cold weather sapping the battery. After a run the other day it would not start and the symptoms were like a flat battery which I'd only replaced a couple of weeks ago. On checking the battery terminals it appeared the earth was a bit loose so I nipped it up and tried again with no joy and the earth wire got very hot.

Jump leads made no difference and on closer examination I could see the terminal was breaking up, so I assumed in my usual ham-fisted manner I'd maybe over-tightened it. I replaced the battery and the starter motor as the teeth on the bendix/pinion gear looked quite worn. All was good for a couple of days until today when it wouldn't start but turned over okay initially but then sounded like a bag of spanners and almost like the starter motor was not seated properly (it was however and the bolts were tight).

Before I decide if it's worth spending any more money on do these symptoms sound familiar and is the starter/flywheel something anyone's had similar issues with please?
 
Diagnose it first no point in surmising or asking bikermates on a forum !!

Pull the starter and look and see if anything is odd take out the plugs and put it in top gear on the centre stand and bump the top of the rear wheel forward to spin the motor in the direction of normal rotation !!!

N.B. they can fall off the centre stand very easily!! So probably wise to tie it forward to the front wheel!

Have a look and see if there is anything blaringly obvious

Did whoever fitted the starter motor remember about the wee stainless pin at lower outer
 

Thanks very much

Diagnose it first no point in surmising or asking bikermates on a forum !!

Pull the starter and look and see if anything is odd take out the plugs and put it in top gear on the centre stand and bump the top of the rear wheel forward to spin the motor in the direction of normal rotation !!!

N.B. they can fall off the centre stand very easily!! So probably wise to tie it forward to the front wheel!

Have a look and see if there is anything blaringly obvious

Did whoever fitted the starter motor remember about the wee stainless pin at lower outer

All good advice but isn't the very reason for the forum to ask those possibly more informed than myself?
 
All good advice but isn't the very reason for the forum to ask those possibly more informed than myself?

If I may What you are asking is "How long is a bit of string?"

Was there any other work carried out on the bike between starter running fine and then not running fine

For example was the battery fitted after the starter ??

Could you have hooked up a Throttle cable out of its holder

Only you can see the bike and only you know the exact sequence of events

All I can tell you is that its One nut on the Negative terminal Its one x 4 mm Allen on the starter cover (or a Torx 25) two allen bolts (Or two Torx 40s) on the starter mount and a 13mm nut to remove the live feed to the starter

15 mins maximum to get yourself a look in there and assess

Post photos and then we can advise you

But those bikes will run forever with a decent maintenance routine!

The only time that I would say you have an issue is if there are teeth missing from the flywheel ring gear
 
Is the very small starter motor locating dowel still in place ? It’s usually stuck in place on the old starter motor. If it’s missing the new starter motor is usually ok for a couple of starts but then floats/moves and you get the rattle noise as the teeth between starter motor and starter ring gear barely mesh.
 
Is the very small starter motor locating dowel still in place ? It’s usually stuck in place on the old starter motor. If it’s missing the new starter motor is usually ok for a couple of starts but then floats/moves and you get the rattle noise as the teeth between starter motor and starter ring gear barely mesh.

I'll check tomorrow Neil, and try and get a photo of the flywheel at the same time. Thanks
 
I'll check tomorrow Neil, and try and get a photo of the flywheel at the same time. Thanks

Here’s a picture of where the small locating dowel fits (pic courtesy of MikeP starter motor overhaul thread) ..
 

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Here’s a picture of where the small locating dowel fits (pic courtesy of MikeP starter motor overhaul thread) ..
Thanks again Neil.

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I'll check tomorrow Neil, and try and get a photo of the flywheel at the same time. Thanks

Cough Cough I did ask up above LOL Last line post 3

Good luck with the job, they are a forgiving old bus to work on!

A wee tip if you do not have a torque wrench and have tendency to be over zealous tightening stuff :rob

for a Steel bolt into Alloy, Spin it in until you need to apply any force to the spanner or the ratchet

Then 60degrees 1/6th of a turn (or one corner to corner on the nut or allen bolt) is about right to a maximum of 90 degrees 1/4 turn

Same would go for the positive nut on the solenoid

That will get you in the ball park for torque without ripping out threads :thumb2
 
Bit of an update, went to the garage today to check the ‘wee stainless pin at the lower outer’ was in place and true to form ended up buggering things up further. Checked the old starter first, no pin stuck in it so went to remove the new one to check it was still in place and whilst using an allen key to remove the lower bolt holding the starter in place snapped off the end of the allen key inside the bolt head. (It’s one of those allen keys with the end machined into what resembles a little ball). Promptly shut the tool box and will leave it for a day or two until I’m less likely to attack it with a sledgehammer.

As it was under torque the broken bit doesn’t seem to want to easily come out and due to restricted access not easy to get a pair off grips on the bolt head. Will reassess when I’m in a better mood.
 
Holy Shit the mech who fitted it must have Rammed the bolt home

Its only an M8 bolt and 25 NM torque

Sorry for your hassle! Tapping the allen head with a small hammer might jiggle the ball end free and a screw driver with a Dob of grease on the end to lift it out

Or if you are feeling tactical? a WEE dob of superglue on a barbeque skewer and stick it to the ball bit (AFTER you have jiggled it loose) and let it set a bit and jiggle the ball out
 
It seems my fuckwittery knows no bounds. After a bit judicious hammering and a magnet I got the broken end of the Allen key out and removed the offending bolt.

Then realised it was the wrong bloody bolt anyway and had removed the bolt next to lower starter bolt!

Decided I'd best put my glasses on and removed the starter to see the teeth on the flywheel looking decidedly secondhand.

The locator pin was in place but seems to have a threaded end so appears to have been a makeshift job sometime in the past and someone sticking an old bolt having lost the original pin, probably me in all honesty. New starter ring it is then, bugger.


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