startor clutch gear loose ..... normal ?????

I just got my cases back together and put in the secondary shaft. when i went to stake the bearing stopper plate screws i noticed a high pitched ping noise (like a tuning fork).... I noticed that the starter clutch gear (the one that the starter motor makes contact with) is loose. Is this normal and i just didnt notice it when i took her apart? any help would be great.
thank you guys.
-patrick-

On my 750, the larger starter gear (on the crankshaft) is bolted to the flywheel which is bolted tight to the crankshaft. The smaller gear on the starter shaft is sort of loose, it is just on splines and can move side to side a little.

hmmmm... this is a 650 the starter gear is on the secondary shaft.

My bad. I checked the manual: the starter clutch assembly on mine is bolted to the flywheel (which is attached to the crankshaft) the big starter gear inner hub is what the starter clutch rollers "bite" into when the starter cranks so it must be free spinning with respect to the crankshaft.

pburnhamb wrote:

I noticed that the starter clutch gear (the one that the starter motor makes contact with) is loose. Is this normal and i just didnt notice it when i took her apart? any help would be great.
thank you guys.
-patrick-

If you mean loose as it can rotate, no it's not supposed to, unless you didn't mount the starter yet. If the starter is not mounted the starter clutch gear should be able to rotate one way but not the other (not spin freely but rotate).

The starter motor gear doesn't contact the starter clutch gear directly, there's an idler gear inbetween (sitting in the top of the upper case) - if you can rotate the starter clutch gear with the starter mounted chances are the starter clutch gear is not in mesh with the idler gear.

Here's a pic of the idler gear - it has a long and a short lip and it should be mounted like this.

OK, sorry for the vague words (loose) ..... I meant side to side movement. it moves side to side. it is inline with the gear in your picture, but when i put my finger through the hole where the starter motor gos i can wiggle the gear side to side. this normal?

A small amount (small like a couple of mm's) of sideways play is normal - anyway the starter clutch gear only rotates during start-up, once the engine is running and the rollers are slung out the starter clutch gear, idler gear and starter motor are standing still, if the electric start works I wouldn't worry about it.