starter noise

my starter works fine but when i let go of the button it makes this pretty loud chirpy rubbing sound. does something need to be lubed up in there?

You don't lube a starter and as for the noise, if its in the engine itself, its already in oil

yeah im not sure what is going on in there. it does it when it disengauges i think. almost like it doesnt disengauge right away. thats why i thought there might be something to lube, like its not resleasing fast enough or something.

You might want to pull it and give it a good cleaning.Check the brushes,and bushings while You have it apart.

Sounds like the starter motor to me!

I would just pull it and inspect it.

The commutator(where the brushes make contact)gets full of carbon powder(in the grooves),and it can create a short...they NEED to be cleaned.
I JUST had Mine out,and it was full of deposits from the brushes.Never had a problem with it,but I'm pretty sure that it wouldn't have been much longer,and I would have had to pull it anyway.

I had the alternator cover off,so I thought I would pull the starter while I was in there...peace of mind.

It could also be the solenoid...or even the switch on the handlebars...but I'm guessing it's right at the starter.

I would pull the starter and check it out, like others have sugested, but the sound you are hearing is most likely the starter clutch, which is deep inside the bowels of the engine on the 650/750 four cylinder engines. It may eventually fail, but my bike has been making this noise (sounds like an old car "aaooga" horn) for about 15,000 miles now, with no sign if it getting worse. If it does fail, there are a fair number of posts on this forum that talk about how to go about fixing it.

yeah its the aaoogga sound. my girl friends honda cl350 does the same thing. i wonder what it is. im fine with it as long as it doesnt fail on me. (my kick starter doesnt work)

Did you pull in the clutch when using the kick starter, cos that could be why your kick starter doesn't work either that or the teeth don't engage

More than likely it's the rear bushing in the starter. I have 3 starters and they all made that sound even if I was bench testing them. I haven't found a source yet for a new bushing or rear plate so I make it part of my annual winter clean up to pull the starter clean it good and put some never seize on the shafts as I put it together. Haven't had the noise since and the starter turns easier too.
Ride Safe,
Les

The old Chrysler gear reduction starter had this same problem. I used to really tic my boss off by just replacing the end plate on starters, it could be done without removing the starter, instead of the whole starter. Customers appreciated it but he was pissed everytime I did it,,,, :lol: :lol: :lol:

Post edited by: The Milkman, at: 2007/04/20 09:50

I read an article in a "Classic Motorcycle Mechanic" magazine several months ago that talked about this problem. I was interested 'cause my bike will "uuagh" if I hold the starter button down too long.

The starter clutch they were describing had three sets of rollers and springs. The "uuagh" sound comes from the rollers wearing flat spots after a while and begin sliding instead of rolling and the springs wear and don't hold the rollers in piece hard enough when they engage the rotor (causing the flat spots).

On some of the on-line parts sites I've even seen replacement kits for the roller and springs....can't remember where but I could try and find it if you're interested.

Another possibility. Milkman's explanation seems logical too.