Ok, got the bike stripped nearly to the frame, just need to remove the wheels and triple tree.
The engine looks ok on the outside, but found a broken fin. I then popped the engine covers. Oil had already been drained, but I could smell gas.
The right side of the block inside looks good, someone modified the cam chain adjuster though.
Under the left side cover... not so good! Grinding noise was not the starter, but, as y’all suspected, the starter gear. I noticed that the washer was missing from the starter gear, and that the mounting point for the gear was broken off, along with a few teeth of the gear it turns.
Here is the starter gear.
So, looks like I will be buying a new left side crankcase at the very least, will probably buy both sides. Prices on them are not too bad. Going to upgrade the starter gear when I reassemble the engine. May buy a new jug as well. But hey! This will make the engine easier to paint, and I will get to learn how to rebuild the transmission and engine!
Still having fun on this build! My fiancée and I had a great time working on it today.
Verslagen, the lay the bike over on a blanket trick worked great, thank you for sharing it in another post!