Starter motor not starting engine.

[Athame57]

My starter motor is sounding ok in itself when I push the button and I know the battery is ok, but it isn't starting the engine. For that I'm relying on the kick start  which is working fine. Any ideas?

[McCabe-Thiele (Ted)]

Could it be the starter clutch unit adjacent to the primary drive hub?

[Bryanj]

Rollers, caps and springs in the starter clutch, remove the starter and you will see the teeth on a big gear which should only rotate freely one way, bet it goes both.

[Athame57]

Rollers, caps and springs in the starter clutch, remove the starter and you will see the teeth on a big gear which should only rotate freely one way, bet it goes both.

If so, will this be a case splitting job? If so I might settle for the kick start until I get a bigger reason to go that deep.

[McCabe-Thiele (Ted)]

Experts here will know but is there any danger from debris as a result of the clutch failure - might be worth checking the sump for metal?

[K2-K6]

What's it actually doing when it doesn't start  ?

Spinning fast and no engine turn.....see Bryan's note.

Going slowly and slipping while turning the engine a bit......can still be battery if it's not up to thumping out some juice, needed to get the sprag clutch biting well.

Any chance of using jump leads onto it  to assess the above  ?

[Oddjob]

You can remove the starter clutch from through the sump, without even removing the engine. It’s a little tricky but possible.

[Athame57]

You can remove the starter clutch from through the sump, without even removing the engine. It’s a little tricky but possible.

Good. But it still sounds a bit out of my league, I don't even have a garage. I may wait for it to be part of a wider job and pretend I'm back on an RS250 or RG500 again for now.

[Bryanj]

RG 500, youm gona be dissapointed with the little Honda!

[Athame57]

RG 500, youm gona be dissapointed with the little Honda!

Well, I'm 35 years older now, I don't need quite the same kick in the butt to induce adrenalin!

[Mikep328]

"Well, I'm 35 years older now, I don't need quite the same kick in the butt to induce adrenalin!"

I have a friend in his late 70's who rides his 2018 V4 Ducati Panigali like he stole it.  He's considering trading in his on a new one because his has "only" 207 HP as opposed to the current model's 215. 

OTOH, we are good friends with the parents of a former MotoGP world champion and he (the former champ) won't ride motorcycles on the street at all, says it's too dangerous. His 80+ year-old father still rides street and dirt, despite his son's efforts to have him quit.

Go figure...

[Athame57]

..won't ride motorcycles on the street at all, says it's too dangerous.

I think Barry Sheene said this also.  OK, point is really I came back to motorcycling for different things, I do like to wind it all on sometimes but the freedom that comes with a bike is what really did it. Plus a classic bike is an object of desire too.

[Matt_Harrington]

Experts here will know but is there any danger from debris as a result of the clutch failure - might be worth checking the sump for metal?

On the current bike I am doing up, a small piece of metal managed to get into the cage roller of the starter clutch. This buggered up the roller bearing and in turn cracked the collar it was in.
I would only have discovered this on a rebuild. So, yes, a good idea to check for any metal in the sump.

[Athame57]

On the current bike I am doing up, a small piece of metal managed to get into the cage roller of the starter clutch. This buggered up the roller bearing and in turn cracked the collar it was in.
I would only have discovered this on a rebuild. So, yes, a good idea to check for any metal in the sump.

Ouch. But honestly I havn't really found out what the starter clutch looks like yet!

[Athame57]

It turns out I needed a new starter motor full stop, the shop rang me back to say it was 'burnt out'.  Time to phone Steve at 400Fourbits and it arrived in the post this morning, went on today and I'm back in the saddle now.