Starting issues

I just purchased my first motorcycle, a 1980 650 Maxim. I basically taught myself to ride yesterday morning, and rode around for a couple hours. The bike hasn't been run much in the past year until the past couple weeks. The bike obviously needed a bit of a tune up listening to it run, but it had no problems with starting, running, and going down the road. When I went back out yesterday afternoon however, I started the bike and it was warming up, when I cut the choke back too much and killed it. No big deal, but when I hit the start button to start it back up all I heard was a click. I've managed to get it started only twice since then. When I press the start button I get the starter relay click, but nothing from the starter. I know a little bit about auto mechanics, but nothing about motorcycles yet. Any help you could give me would be greatly appreciated!

 

probably need to charge the battery or replace it.

Oh and do yourself a favor and take a beginner's motorcycle course. They are relatively inexpensive (free in PA) and they teach you a lot of very valuable safety and riding information.

 

I forgot to mention, bike has a brand new battery, but I put it on the charger today just in case, but still got the same result. I also tried bypassing the relay and used the + cable from the charger to get the starter going, but still no luck. Also, I used a test light to check for power to the starter when the start button is pressed, and it is getting power, so I'm leaning towards a starter problem, but I'm not sure. Also, is it normal for the check oil light to illuminate while the start button is depressed similar to a cars warning lights illuminating for a few seconds when you start the car, or does this indicate a problem?

 

Remove the starter and open it up. Check the brushes and replace if necessary. Also give it a good cleaning.

Oh, and yes, the oil light will always blink while you press the starter button as a check of the system.

 

Could you provide me with some instructions on starter removal and disassembly? Anything in particular I should look out for or need to know?

 

1) Remove left side footrest (17mm)
2) Remove shift lever (10mm)
3) Remove aluminum side cover (3 allen bolts)
4) Remove wire from top of starter (10mm)
5) Remove 10mm bolts from starter
6) Pull starter straight towards you

Installation is reverse of assembly, but be very careful not to bind up the o-ring at the end of the starter. I've done that once and had to replace it.

Disassembling the starter is easy.
1) Remove two long bolts with phillips head screwdriver
2) carefully remove the end caps. One has gears in it, so be careful. Also be careful to make sure you lay the parts out as you remove them. There are little shim washers in there that have to be put back where they came from.
3) Check the brushes. There are 4 of them. If you can snap a picture of them and post them here I can tell you if they are toast or not.
4) Clean everything with electrical contact cleaner or equivalent.
5) carefully re-assemble and test off the bike before re-installing. To test, just clip the ground to the case of the starter and connect 12V to the post where you removed the wire. It should spin freely. If all is well, re-install on bike and crank it up.

 

Before you go through all that trouble, check the contacts in your fuse panel - it's under the seat, in a black box marked (of all the stupid ideas,) "FUSE". It doesn't take much to mess up your connections in there, and that will cause MUCHO gremlins.

 

So here's what I did today. I decided to remove and clean around all the fuses, and after doing so the bike was totally dead. When I turned the key to on, nothing happened. I took a trip to autozone, picked up a blade style fuse box and fuses, and replaced the old box and fuses. Everything worked again when I turned the key to on, and even the neutral light seemed brighter, but still no start. I removed the starter, which on my bike consisted only of removing the two 10mm starter bolts and the wire. I cleaned the exterior of the starter, and decided to try jumping it one more time before tearing it apart. It worked. Reinstalled on bike, and it still worked, so problem fixed I guess. Must not have been getting good electrical contact. Also, after fuse box replacement, she seemed to start and idle much better than before. Now I need to fix tach and tach light, and my brake light doesn't work when front brake is applied, only the rear.

 

When you pulled that Starter ... you were another inch away from relly doing a nice bit of maintenance for the bike.

You could have popped-off the business-end of the starter and done a nice cleaning and fresh lubing of the Planet Gears and Shaft.

Quiets the Starter right-down and eliminates over-spin during starts!

 

I still may pull it back off and do that, I just didn't want to tear into and end up messing something up. Never torn a starter down before, and I'm not the luckiest person when it comes to working on things without breaking something.

 

If it's working fine now, I'd look around for another used starter, order up a rebuild kit and take you time while rebuilding it on the bench.
I got my spare starter & a rebuild kit from eBay. Starter was $10 and was in pretty decent shape, rebuild kit with bushings, O rings, brushes was $28. Took an hour to clean & install the new parts. Now I've got no problems spinning the engine over.

Dan

 

Dan, where did you get your starter rebuild kit from?

 

Right Here:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Yamaha-S ... enameZWD1V

Dan

 

So I apparently should have gone ahead and torn into the starter the first time I had it out. With the luck I have working on cars, and now apparently motorcycles you'd think I'd have given up on it a long time ago. I've had the same problem with no starter turn over again. I narrowed it down to a problem with the post the positive wire connects to and it's connection inside the starter somehow..I've been riding around with a ratchet and 10 mm socket in my pocket to play with connection if I have trouble getting it started..but apparently it's been played with too much, and now even after removing the starter from the bike and jumping it it's not getting the connection and turning. Did I mention I have a 10:30 appointment to get the bike inspected so I can get it tagged tomorrow? And I have to work from 11-7 tonight. So, I try to pull the 2 screws out to tear into the starter and hopefully get it working at least temporarily, but the screws are stuck solid, and I'm close to stripping them. Any ideas?

 

I bought the same kit from the same seller. No problems at all from that seller. I also bought an entire remanufactured starter from him because my armature was shot. The new reman starter works beautifully.

 

Anyone have any ideas at all?? It's about time to leave for work..

 

Probably gonna need to reschedule the inspection.

Some penetrating oil on the gear end where those long bolts screw in. Let soak.

Helper holds starter firmly against bench. Wrench on bolt head. Put firm torque on. Rap wrench with a block of wood.

If that doesn't work a bit of heat where the bolts thread into the gearcase (the end with the gear on it). Pull the o-ring first so you don't damage it.

 

OOOOO. 1 idea for a maybe quick temporary fix.

That nut you screw the lead from the solenoid under. Inside the starter that bolt has a head, under the head is another wire that goes to the brush. Maybe you have some corrosion in there.

Pull outside wire off. Put nut back on bolt but not tight down to starter. Spray some electronics cleaner on the bolt, let it run in real good. Tighten everything back up. Hope that gets you a connection.

You did clean up the nut and the eye on the cable, right?

 

Yes, I cleaned up all the connections..right now I'm thinking more along the lines of I've broken the wire on the inside, or somehow I can't get that post to tighten down now, like something's stripped, or I think I read something in another post about that inside wire shorting out or something..even if I fix that now though, I'm afraid I may have burnt something up..I don't really know. I have to figure out a way to get those two screws out so I can tear it apart..and hopefully I can figure out what to do once I get inside.

 

Oh, and one more question..I'm not sure exactly what type of grease/lubricant I need to use when I'm putting this back together..I think I've got motor oil, white lithium grease, silicone lube, and wheel bearing grease in the garage...will any of these work? If not, what exactly am I looking for?

 

use the wheel bearing grease for the gears in the starter.

 

Thanks!

 

Okay, so I hate to keep posting about this same issue, but after repeatedly spraying the two screws (yes, phillips head screws, not bolts) that hold the starter case together with WD40 over the past day and a half, I still can't break them loose, and I've just about stripped the heads of the screws. I don't know what to do! And the lack of sleep I've gotten this week hasn't helped. Should I just cut them or what? Can I find new ones at the hardware store or what?

 

Do you have a HAND-HELD Impact Driver?
Yes.
Use that to undo the two long screws.

No.
You are going to have to scrounge-up a couple of log, starter case screws.

Grab onto the screw head with ViceGrips.
Smack the ViceGrips with a hammer handle to break loose the screws.

I'd use a synthetic waterproof grease on the Planet Drive and Bearings.

In the mean time ... you can look for a spare starter on eBay.
This job, sounds to me, like we are going to be needing that spare.

 

A trip to the store for a pair of small vice grips and the starter screws came out no problem. Gear end looked good. Electric end...not so good. I attached some pics showing the starter after I cleaned it, and why the positive post wasn't getting a good connection. Also, in one of the pics you'll notice a bunch of black plastic bits that were broken up at the electric end. Not sure if those were part of the plastic insulator that the positive post went through that I apparently broke or what. I guess my bike isn't running again until I get that starter rebuild kit sent to me, and hopefully it contains everything I'll need to fix my problem here. And thanks for all the help everyone!

 

did you order the kit from Ebay? If so, then yes it includes everything other than the armature, gears and case. It has the bottom electrical components and plate, o-rings, and bearings.

I didn't replace the bearings in mine because I wasn't sure how to get them out, but they were in the kit.

 

Yes, I ordered the kit from Ebay. Thanks for the recommendations on that! It's supposed to be here on the 18th. I don't know if I can wait that long to get her going again though! Seems like eternity! ..and I've only had a bike for a little more than a week now!

 

Ebay kit? Which shop/seller is that through?

 

cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotor...enameZWD1V That's the link to the site I ordered the rebuild kit from.

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Yamaha-S ... enameZWD1V

Or he sells reman starters here: http://stores.ebay.com/A-1-Starterman_Y ... idZ2QQtZkm

 

Killer, I saved the link. Thanks guys!

 

Rebuild kit finally came today. Didn't take any time at all to get her put back together, and she worked perfect the first time! Got her back on bike, and she started right up! Thanks to everyone for all the help!