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Starter motor power drain.

frxnlab

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So, to start off I'm still a noob but very keen to learn.

I've been experiencing a very strange problem recently and quite suddenly. The bike starts after a full battery charge if it's done in the first three attempts but after that the power drops and it doesn't want to turn the starter motor anymore.

I've tested to see if it's the battery by using another good battery but exactly the same result. Testing the voltage shows that the battery is still at about 12.4v so it doesn't seem drained. Also, I bypassed the solenoid and applied power directly to the starter motor and still it only does a half turn or so before everything just comes to a standstill. Starter motor seems to be spinning fine when I disconnect it from the starter clutch.

Could the starter clutch be too stiff to turn over? Could the starter motor be failing slowly? Any direction would be appreciated, because with my limited knowledge I've run out of things to try, and would love to be able to avoid taking it to an expensive shop to have it checked out.

 
Could be starter motor needs a refresh. They get packed with graphite from the brushes, the grease gets old, the commutator gets corroded, nd of course the brushes wear out.
 
Could be starter motor needs a refresh. They get packed with graphite from the brushes, the grease gets old, the commutator gets corroded, nd of course the brushes wear out.
Thanks. Yeah, I sat last night again also thinking it must be the starter motor itself. Every little test I did seemed to have excluded all other potential issues. I'm going to remove it on the weekend and take a closer look. Hopefully that resolves it.

 
Check for tutorials/videos/tips on the web. I know that there are some for GL1000/1100, which should be fairly similar. I've serviced my GL1000 (just needed clean/lube/commutator polish) last year. It was a pretty dirty job (you'll want to wear nitrile gloves on this one, and do it over a disposable surface cover) It was simple if you read and heed any tips for that unit.
 
Check for tutorials/videos/tips on the web. I know that there are some for GL1000/1100, which should be fairly similar. I've serviced my GL1000 (just needed clean/lube/commutator polish) last year. It was a pretty dirty job (you'll want to wear nitrile gloves on this one, and do it over a disposable surface cover) It was simple if you read and heed any tips for that unit.
Thanks. I'll def check those out. I also found an instructional video from HackaweekTV where he takes apart a CB750 starter motor and shows how cleans it. I'm so grateful for Youtube to cure me of my noobness :)

 
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