My bike only has about 15k miles on it. How long does it take for gunk to buildup inside the starter motor?

Don't really know but it is not hard to pull it and clean it. Do you suspect any problems?

not since i cleaned the starter button contacts. I have seen some of the pics of other riders alternators and starters and i wanted to do preventive maintenance.

I did mine just to be safe. You can measure your brushes and know for sure where you stand.

Takes no time at all. Just disconnect the battery lead. Undo two 10mm bolts. Pull the starter towards you to remove it and unscrew the two long screws that hold it together.

I'd do it each winter as preventive maintenance.

Are these bolts a PIA to get out like some can be? I'd be interested in having a look at mine for preventive measures but not if it involves drilling out bolts when they break. Well until I have to anyway.

Some folks have had problems with them. Mine has been off 3 times so far and no issues.
Problem is you won;t know till you try. You can lessen the chance by spraying some PB blaster on the bolts for a few days.

coachholland wrote:

Takes no time at all. Just disconnect the battery lead. Undo two 10mm bolts. Pull the starter towards you to remove it and unscrew the two long screws that hold it together. I'd do it each winter as preventive maintenance.

There are three bolts that hold the starter on to the bike... can you clean the starter out without pulling it off the bike?

do we have to be careful when pulling the starter so the drive or clutch assy doesn't fall down? I would love to clean mine out but don't want to mess up anything in the process.

85MaximXX wrote:

do we have to be careful when pulling the starter so the drive or clutch assy doesn't fall down? I would love to clean mine out but don't want to mess up anything in the process.

Nope clutch gear is on the alternator shaft - starter pulls with no worries about alignment etc.

charlie3 wrote:

coachholland wrote: Takes no time at all. Just disconnect the battery lead. Undo two 10mm bolts. Pull the starter towards you to remove it and unscrew the two long screws that hold it together. I'd do it each winter as preventive maintenance. There are three bolts that hold the starter on to the bike... can you clean the starter out without pulling it off the bike?

Should only be 2 bolts and you have to remove the starer cable on the side.

You have to take it apart to clean it so no way to do it on the bike.

This may help...

There's just a Shaft on the inside of the Starter. The Shaft engages a Reduction Gear. The O-Ring at the business end Seals it.

The Electric end has it's Power Post to disconnect. Be careful not to harm the Power Post Mount. Keep the parts in order if you remove it. The Mount shields the Post from ground.

The two long fasteners hold 3-Sections together.
The Planet Gears - Motor Body - Electric end.
There are Alignment Tabs and Receiving Slots on the sections for fit.

Don't rely on just the Tabs to help you reassemble the starter. To avoid a lot of confusion; mark the way they line-up with a Crayon. The Crayon comes-off easily.

There are already some Threads on Cleaning the Starter, Replacing Brushes and Removing Carbon Dust that are complete.

Don't lose any of the wafer-thin Thrust Washers. They can be hard to spot.

What should my OHM reading be across the brush area and the armature itself? I am getting infinity. Does this mean I have a short.

A short would be 0 ohms, infinitive ohms is an open circuit. From our venerable old Haynes:
Ahem..."To check the armatue, set the meter on the ohms x 1 scale, and measure the resistance between each pair of commutator segments. The correct figure is 0.014 ohms at 68F."
If you are reading infinity, you've got burned out coils in your armature. $400 for a new one. Used starters run about $30 on Flea-Bay.