this happened earlier this morning:
I press the starter button while the bike is in neutral. the starter just clicks like mad as if something blocking the engine's rotation.
I kick start the bike, starts up immediately.
I press the starter button again, it just repeatedly clicks again.
I pull the clutch while in neutral, pressed the starter button. I starts right up.
What the heck just happened? Is it a sign of an impending failure of my clutch or transmission?
Something is not happy, but more info is really needed.
Pulling the clutch in and it starting perfectly may (and I stress MAY) be a sing of something truly horrid happening that is allowing the flywheel or the ring gear (depending on year) to move in and out.
Equally it could be a sign of no more than a poor terminal somewhere that is bypassed when the neutral inhibit is locked out by the clutch switch.
I'd do two things - firstly remove tank and engine top cover and do a make/break on every terminal blick or cable connector that looks like it might go to the RHS handlebar switchblock or the starter motor.
While i was there I'd disconnect the starter solenoid trigger wire and see what voltage is there when the bike is in neutral and when the clutch is pulled in - if it varies in favour of the clutch scenario, do a make/break on all the connectors from the neutral switch heading north.
if your voltages look OK, then take out the timing bung and shine a torch in there and see if you can see any movement fore and aft. Actually seeing as by now you have the top cover off - look there.
If that all looks OK, then start removing the starter motor. Pull it to pieces, check brishes and shout it a new solenoid (they are cheap, VW ones fit, amongst many, many others. Sometimes the solenoids contacts go bad. Once upon a time you could pull them apart, dress the contacts and reassemble - but not for a very long time. A clean and re-grease of the bendis gear and motor bushes will be appreciated by the starter even though they were probably not the cause.
You will notice maybe that I skipped over something - what to do if you can see fore/aft movement of the flywheel. It is possible, although usually not unless very high miles have been covered, for the thrust bearing/bushes to fail, but this is usually first noticed by the honking geese noise the engine makes while idling as it suck air past the front and rear crank seals.
The firther alterniative if your bike has a clucth carrier is that you may have a beginning failure there. l
