Ironhead I need your Help Iron Head folks

[flathead45]

try checking the bushing in the primary cover that the starter shaft rides in.

if thats worn the shaft will pull away from the starter ring and grind

[Jtrapass]

Originally Posted by Moustro

now for the dumb question(s)

I just 'fine tuned' the clutch last fall and wouldn't want to mess with it by taking the primary cover off; but i am assuming there's no other way around troubleshooting the starter???

any tips / suggestions on how to do this?

It is easiest to look in at the starter from the primary before trying anything on the side -- plus you're likely to drop something in from the other side anyway.

But you can pull the entire starter assembly from the other side of the bike. Remove your rear exhaust, seat, battery, battery support bracings and then you'll see the starter and solenoid sitting there on a sort of shelf on your bike. Like this, only with a solenoid, too.



You can unbolt that whole assembly and pull it right off of the bike to play with/spin/etc on the bench.



There's a sticky somewhere on how to bench test these things. There's actually a button inside of the solenoid that gets pressed when it pulls in. So just wire the starter and the solenoid together, put a good solid ground ont he aluminum casing it's connected to, then toss 12 volts onto the solenoid, it'll pull in fast, pushing the starter out and the starter will spin. If this doesn't happen, you've got something to fix.

[Moustro]

outstanding! this is exactly what i was hoping existed! I'd rather pull the exhaust and batt than messing with the primary cover!

what are the typical parts that go bad on this system? i read about the bendix; and of course if i find any missing teeth on the starter i know i have bigger problems...

what does a good starter gear runs these days? is eBay the best source?

here's the pic i took yesterday:

[tat2d2dope]

sometimes it's good to pull the primary cover.
i had alot of starter problems and it was from my primary shoe coming out and putting to much slack in the chain.
this broke alot of starter parts.

[flathead45]

I'm confused.

how can "pulling the starter" be easier than just pulling the cover. the primary cover is one of the easiest things you can do on a sporty. way easier than pulling the oiltank, exhaust, battery, and other associated glitterati

and as a bonus, you can change the oil at the same time

[Panther]

Thank you all for your help. Mine is fixed now, and works great.

[Moustro]

hey panther, how about some more info on the oil pan repair kit you used to fix the cracked threaded hole in the case?

[Panther]

Originally Posted by Moustro

hey panther, how about some more info on the oil pan repair kit you used to fix the cracked threaded hole in the case?

Okay you just go to any local auto parts store, and buy the oil drain plug repair kit. Mine was $1.98 This is a self tapping kit What I did was put red lock tight around the threads, than used a socket and turned up in the hole. I did this with the primary cover off so I could clean out any threads that came up through. I than used JB weld around the outer parts of the tapped in piece. Now the neat thing about these kits is it has a 3/8" center plug that comes out so you can drain your oil.

Right around that black rubber washer is the location I put the JB Weld. The center hole is the new drain location. Be careful wipe any red lock tight out of this hole.

[Moustro]

thanks man. i will look for one that's 2-3 sizes over as i think my threads are cracked pretty much 3/4 of the way (from the inside to the outside of the case/primary)....Good added insurance with the JB weld...

[Panther]

Originally Posted by Moustro

thanks man. i will look for one that's 2-3 sizes over as i think my threads are cracked pretty much 3/4 of the way (from the inside to the outside of the case/primary)....Good added insurance with the JB weld...

If you need any thing else just ask, I'll help ya through this problem as a brother did for me.