I hate finding metal shavings in my starter clutch

It has been a sucky riding season so far, in that I've only rode twice. My arthritis was acting up real bad, I felt so tired I didn't trust myself on a bike. But, finally my meds started kicking in, and I was getting ready to ride.

I changed the oil, and when I went to start it, it caught, and then made an awful screech, and everything locked up. I couldn't kick start it, or electric start it. I was able to very slowly turn the engine over with a wrench on the end of the crankshaft.


So I took it the dynamo/starter clutch covers off. Do you like my pretty garden stool? I wanted a manly red and black Craftsman wheeled stool, but this was a lot cheaper.

In my starter clutch, I found metal shavings, ick. When I finally got it off (with hammers and screwdrivers, etc), I found out why.


It's a little hard to see, but one of the bolts got loose, and stuck between the starter clutch and gear, where it seemed to melt when I tried to start it. Dang, it was a mess.

I had to file the edges down, cut a slot with a rotary tool and slowly get it back into the hole ( I should buy a new one, but I don't want to wait a week or two for it to arrive). It turns over now, I just need to get it going again and start my riding season.


Post edited by: georgeha, at: 2006/08/11 14:54

Post edited by: georgeha, at: 2006/08/11 14:54

Improvise, adapt, overcome! Congrats!

I know what you mean about the arthritis. What meds are you taking for it? Advil helps, and Pepcid helps with the side effects of the Advil, plus my doc's got me on Prednisone and I'm part of an experimental drug study for Orencia (abatacept) www.orencia.com I'm getting around a lot better, but I'm not sure which medication to thank for it...

Can you make your pictures a lot bigger? It's hard to see anything in them...

guitargeek,

I made the pics bigger, but the detail is still pretty bad. I should repost them on my site.

I'm on plaquonil to turn down my immune system a few notches, and Mobic/Meloxicam, which is an antiflammatory cousin of ibuprofen, for my swollen toe joints.