cmoore whats it NOT doing? Remeber I had starter motor trouble a year or two back. Not anymore. Laurie Henley of Panmure Motorcycles knows how to fix em.Gasket paper and a small ball pen hammer makes most of the gaskets you need.
Starter motors are easy to diagnose. All you need is a decent set of jumper cables. . Remove the lead attached to the starter motor. Put the nut back on the stud a turn or two. Ignition on, press starter switch keep holding it, and flash the exposed end of the lead across the nut on the stud. No spark? connect one jumper cable to battery +ve, flash the other on stud. No spark? Starter motors dud. Big spark - wiring solenoid or switch. Big spark on first test ? Problems probably in starter motor or drive. Take off starter motor. Connect one jumper cable to battery +ve terminal, other end to stud. Other jumper cable, one end to battery earth, and flash the other end on the starter casing. Be ready for a big spark, and a kick from the starter motor, it should revolve. No action, either brushes or a rooted starter - easiest to drop it off at an auto sparky. If there's a spark when you connect the jumper cable from battery to stud, but not when you flick the starter cable to stud, then check solenoid wiring and switch. Easy way here, leave that starter cable off, and press the starter switch with your ear next to the solenoid. You should hear it click. If it does, either your cables are bad, or the solenoid's bad. Remove solenoid, connect diretc across battery and listen for click. No click, replace solenoid with truck solenoid from Supercheap. Bikes ones are all crap. If the solenoid clicks direct across battery, then it's wiring or switch. Both best checked by careful inspection.
thanks Ixion I appreciate the comments/advice, the starter problem is well known with this model....there seems to be three mains problems....the starter has a fixed ring inside, this comes loose and slips, causeing the starter to turn but not the engine, then the brushes suffer from bad wear and need cleaning often and finally...the motor sucks.....can be upgraded to a four pole....the good news is there seems to plenty available and also that the later models used the same mounting etc...
Oh, fuck me. It's an XV750/1000 ! I got one of them (well, technically). Yup, that is about the suckiest starter ever. I replaced mine with one from the States , 4 pole, made a BIG difference. I got the original somewhere, and I think another OEM that worked (as much as they ever do), if you need spares. As well as the actual starter the stupid Bendix pinion drives on the starter gear train wears out and the imbecile designer actually put the drive gear integral with the mag rotor! Though if yours is the TR1 thing then that used a pre engaged starter and I think they were better. The gear wear shows up as horrible rattling and crunching for a good while before it totally fails. Sudden failure to turn at all is probably bushes. Or, the field straps are horribly designed and when teh starter gets hot (cos of constant tries to start the bike!), the solder melts and then the starter won't turn. The spare one I have had that problem (the previous owner replaced it), I silver soldered it, and I THINK it is OK now. BTW , brushes, instead of paying megabucks for OEM, I went into Repco and asked them ti find the closest size, then filed them to fit (they're copper, file easy). $4 for 3 , I think (only need two, the box had three) BTWW , the solenoids are prone to crapping out , too. I think Yamaha must have hired an Italian to design the electrics.
If an Italian designed the electrics on the XV, how come I never get company on the side of the road?
hah!!, thanks Ixion, you have hit it on the head...i haven't had the chance to look at it yet but will do all the tests on the weekend to isolate the problem...mine won't turn, i.e starter won't start.....there was signs of melted joints, all i did was tidy them up a bit...there was also a bit of rust on the stators!!......but the whole thing was very very dirty....so i was hopeful a good clean would get it working properly again.....i see some models had a magnet at the end of the gear shaft to collect the filings from the gears as they wore!!! just to correct, when i first put it back in it started fine....then slowly nothing until just the relay clicks....
just to correct, when i first put it back in it started fine....then slowly nothing until just the relay clicks.... Brushes, or field windings. The XV , I think, is the same starter but relies on a Bendix pinion reather than the pre-engagement solenoid. One more mechanical thing to wear out, one less electrical thing for the magic smoke to come out of.
Ixion, mine is the short shaft version.....is that the same as your spares??...my armature is knackered....
I cannot find the short shaft starter motor anywhere…so took the starter to west Auckland armature rewinders….they said I was lucky and it had just melted the solder and one segment was damaged…the used a resin mix to rebuild the commutator…looks beautiful…. put it back together….mounted in the bike….click..click….took it out…made a plate for the front to replicate the mounting and then connected it direct to the battery….after a few false starters…..it was humming away like a Russian bride….back in the bike…clean the plugs…..one blip and away!!.....the learning’s are….the starter for this bike is “ok”…as long as everything else is in good order….well tuned, fully charged battery etc…..it is not capable of long starts without getting “stressed”…..took the bike for a good long ride on Saturday to test it….ready to take away on Sunday…then SWMBO mentioned I didn’t have a rego…..she hadn’t bothered renewing whilst I was working on it…..……drove car to Hampton…..
