Starter Brushes

When I got my bike last year I put a rebuild kit on my starter motor. Four brand new brushes. Today I went to fire it up and all I hear is the solenoid clicking. I pulled the starter out and took it apart. A ton of dust came out and all the brushes are basically worn down to nothing. I've only got 3,000 miles on the bike since then and no excessive cranking. How long are these brushes supposed to last? 3,000 miles seems ridiculous. I think my starter is chewing them up.

My bike's starter has the original brushes that came in it 54,000 miles ago. They do not wear out in 3,000 miles unless something is wrong. Ed

I'd look at the spring pressure on the brushes, they should certainly not be worn to nothing in such a short time.

Yeah, I knew that couldn't be right. When I rebuilt the starter they were worn to nothing. The kit came with new springs and the brushes are basically already gone. The bike only has 9,000 miles on it. Something is definitely wrong.

Does anyone know if the Mitsuba SM-220 will bolt up to the KZ750? It's from a CB900.

Go with genuine Kawasaki replacement parts, regardless if they cost twice as much.
NO Chinese crap!

I had the same thing happen with my original starter motor. I also did the rebuild kit. I recently tried to post an audio clip I was denied due to technical stuff I can't figure out about this site. I have a chirp noise when I let off the starter button. I want to ask if a starter clutch malfunction is causing my starter motor to spin as I'm driving down the road which will lead to another $40 rebuild kit.

I went ahead and ordered a used SM-8208 to try out. I found it cheaper than a rebuild kit. I'll give this one a shot and see what happens.

I ordered the SM-8208 and ended up getting a Mitsuba SM-224. The starter looks identical, but the sprocket from my stock starter doesn't fit. The sprocket is barely to tight to slip on. Back to the drawing board.

When I bought my kz, the owner said that the starter quit working and that they would have to split the block to fix it. ( I now know this isn't true as to splitting the block. Since I have my engine out I figured I would take a look at the starter. When I hot wire it with a battery charger (not on jump mode) it turned slowly and then stopped turning all together. There is plenty of juice to turn the starter; is this a classic starter rebuild situation? (I.E. rebuild kit / brushes etc...) When I turn the starter by hand it is fairly tough to turn... Thanks!

Possibly the bushings(where the motor rotates) are worn, the commutator(where the brushes touch)has shorts, or carbon build ups. Any of these can prevent rotation on the motor.

THANKS MFOLKS!