Hey all, new guy here. Happy to be part of the savage club. Just purchased an awesome 87 bobber and two weeks later - no start. I was engaged in a conversation while trying to start it and, given my unfamiliarity with the decomp lever, I held it down the whole time while trying to start it. After a few failed attempts at starting, all I got was a buzzing starter relay and no start.

    Have 2 batteries, both tested fine. Stripped the guts out of the fake oil can under the seat to expose the horrible rats nest of wires...found the buzzing starter. Disconnected and cleaned all connections - no joy. Jumped the relay - nothing. Hit the ignition - still buzzing.

    Now, if I give the starter a good whack, I can get it to turn by both jumping the relay and/or direct power to the starter....but it turns real slow and only a couple times before it quits.

    Why/how would whacking the starter effect the ability to jump the relay? Placing the screwdriver across both connections does nothing until I whack the starter. Could my holding down the decomp lever have damaged something? I did notice through my caveman testing tactics that the resistance from the lever has fluctuated from nonexistent to correct resistance, which is weird because the best i can tell it is just a spring.

    I have yet to disconnect the starter and test it.

    So given all this, does it sound like the starter needs to be replaced?

    By the way, there is no kick stand safety and the bike has been in neutral when starting. Thanks in advance for the help!


   

Thanks Steve, that's what I feared. Wanted to double check before I drop a hundred bucks on a new starter. Having replaced them before, I know getting the starter to turn after hitting it is indicative of a failed/failing starter. Stinks because she's garaged now weeks after purchase. The conspiracy theorist in me things the prior owner might have known about it. Won't answer his phone

As far as rebuild...I don't have the proper tools or know anyone to do it. Gonna check the forums before I spring for a new unit.

Any recommended reputable (and economic) retailers?

justin_o_guy2 wrote on 11/07/16 at 17:14:50:


Yup....good call. Great youtube videos out there. I'll get some beer this weekend and crack her open - see what's going on. Thanks.

Steve H wrote on 11/07/16 at 20:16:28:


Yeah, I saw that one. It is possible that a thorough cleaning might do the trick, no?

It is possible that the armature is just gunked up with carbon or something and a cleaning will fix it.  Like JOG said, you really should figure out what's going on inside it before ordering parts.

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Crap! Lookey here. Magnet's cracked. This mean I gotta replace it?

Well, got her back together and she spins like a top. brushes were real tight and had to pry them back together to slide the armature in. Cleaned out tons of carbon between the communicators.

One big problem though, I can get everything seated right. If I tighten her up, no spin. Loosen the bolts and she spins fine....but they are loose to an uncomfortable level where I can see definite movement on the ends when I press. Ugh....I will reattack tomorrow.