Well, today confirmed what I've dreaded all along. I need a new starter. Was going to ride to work yesterday and-- click click click slow crank click click. I took the battery to work and charged it--30 minutes fully charged, on 2 amp trickle. Hmmmmm. Got home and took starter off--tried to spin it--crunch crunch. Took starter apart--oh my God! Large chunks of the magnet part are broken off. No wonder the dam thing has been hard starting since day 1. I guess I'm done riding for this year. Unless some kind soul has an extra one for an '87 laying around his or her garage. Cheapest rebuilt I can find is $187 dollars, plus shipping.  :'(

I betcha if you disable the clutch safety, you could push the starter button to activate the decompression solenoid and push start it pretty easy.

if you have a place around there you can have new brushs put in it  i did that once 25 years ago

Bill....it's not the brushes...they're fine. It's the huge magnets that are on the inside of the casing. 4 two-piece magnets, glued to inside of outer case. One is whole--the other 3 are in pieces, and one is no longer attached to casing. It's junk. Definately need a new or rebuilt one.
Salvage...yes indeed. There is one somewhere in Milwaukee. I'm 20 minutes south of there. I will try them.
It would be nice if they had one for $25.

Ya, it's the starter that's bad, not the current to it. Where is the kick start when you need it?

Cool. Let's do it. I sent you a message for addy. Money order can be in the mail today.  

I confirmed the starter gets really hot sitting there behind the cylinder after a long ride so this may become an issue on older models.  I guess the heat eventually softened the glue (?) holding the magnets to the casing.  Sorry to hear about your problem and glad you were helped out.