TOPIC:

Seems I'm having a real problem with the starter reduction gears and starter motor gears not matching up. Horrible sounding! When I press start button, engages for only millisecond before teeth just let go ..then starter gear is spinning and grinding the reduction gear. My starter has 10 teeth and not sure if reduction gear is correct. Anyone else having similar issues?

It's not the reduction gear.
It's the starter clutch slipping .
You need new clutch rollers and springs at the least and possibly a replacement clutch gear as the surface at its center that the rollers wedge on to that is attached to it also wears irregularly .

No sir, replaced the starter clutch and roller pins. It's been viewed with the stator cover off, the reduction gear teeth seem ground down a bit. Gonna try to replace the reduction gear and see if that works.

Don't spin the engine on the starter with the cover off.
Without the reduction gear shaft being supported by the outer case you risk the boss on the crank case being snapped off as the torque tries to force the gears apart.

zed1015 wrote: Don't spin the engine on the starter with the cover off.
Without the reduction gear shaft being supported by the outer case you risk the boss on the crank case being snapped off as the torque tries to force the gears apart.

Thanks zed1015! I had a buddy help out with this, basically I used a socket to hold the reduction gear in place the entire time while he engaged the starter a few times to see what was happening. I have three different starter motors, does it with all of 'em. Tried good used reduction gear and get same thing. I'm scratching my head wondering if there was supposed to be a shim somewhere or something?

This has been a struggle since owning the bike. Just tired of push/starting it down the street all the time.

Do the starter motors spin nicely when you spin them without attaching the gear? You can either use a vice to hold it in place and connect a car battery to it, or install it in the bike without attaching the drive gear/chain. It may be the planetary gearbox in the front of the starter unit is bad.

Disregard, it's certainly NOT what I'd thought was causing this problem all along. After checking further into the starter clutch, I'm now thinking that it's likely the rubber damper that is quite worn. The thrust bearing is also fairly worn.

The rubber damper has markings indicating what looks like "B5" which could be an "85". FSM shows it should be either 6.3 mm, 7.3 mm, or 8.3 mm, 7.3 being standard. The only other markings were 2 very faded dots leading me to believe I'll need to replace the 7.3 mm damper. Gonna get a new thrust bearing too.