Which starter motor?

[jamestnewsonr65]

Recently when trying to start my bike (used rarely) it seems very difficult to start and the battery gives up after about 5 fairly long cranks of the starter.

I am thinking that maybe the starter is just a little tired and needs a rejuvenation, as this was one of the things I didn't look at when I refurbed the bike.

I want to get a new or reconditioned starter and have been looking at the Valeo versions that motorworks has versus the Original reconditioned bosch units.

Is there any real difference between these two except the weight? I assume as they will have the same number of teeth the cranking would be comparable between the two.

Also, is there a way of testing your starter to see if it is the culprit of slow starting?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

[jamestnewsonr65]

Forgot to say that the battery was fully charged and is a 12v 20Amp rated gel type battery. I've checked the voltage recently and all was good so I think this is ok.

[wilcom]

difficult to start and the battery gives up after about 5 fairly long cranks of the starter.

I would first tackle the hard starting issue. 5 long cranks and giving up doesn't sound bad. Battery gets hot after that and so does the starter and all slows down. I bet if you let it cool for 15 mins. it would give you another 2 attempts.

Hard starting would be my concern before the battery/starter

 

[jamestnewsonr65]

I think that as a starting point I will look at the advance and timing as recently I removed the bean can and may not have put it back correctly as I didn't do the timing when replacing this back on the bike.

[Barry]

The Valeo is a geared starter and will crank faster and more efficiently with lower current draw.

Starting should be all but instant when the engine is in good tune so as already said that needs fixing too. The only time mine doesn't start instantly is when I stuff up by not applying the correct amount of enrichment.

[jamestnewsonr65]

The bike was previously running perfectly so this is just frustrating.

I think I just need to systematically spend an afternoon going through the timing, carb setup again, valve clearances etc and see where I am after that.

I tried to crank the bike over again tonight and still no start. I now also suspect my starter switch to be on it's way out or at least need a clean as when I'm cranking it stops if I move my thumb whilst on the starter button.

I can follow mechanical instructions so I'm ok with fixing things myself, but diagnosing electrical problems has me stumped and I find this frustrating. I love owning the bike, but when it goes wrong I'm a bit stuck.

All help is appreciated.

[davidpdx]

There was a long thread a little while back about gas getting old in your carb bowl if it sits too long. Might try dumping them out and starting with fresh from the tank. I have found that I can push my enricher lever past the stop to get my bike to start on real cold mornings.

[Bob_Roller]

I agree, that with the engine in good tune it should fire off in 2-3 seconds of starter operation .
To get back to the starter, there is a test to see if the starter is using too much power .
Fully charge the battery remove the ignition leads from the spark plugs .
Put old plugs in the leads an place them on the cylinder .
Or, if you have run the carbs dry, so it doesn't start .
Put a voltmeter on the battery .
Operate the starter for 45 seconds to get the top charge off of the battery .
Then operate the starter and see what battery voltage you have, it shouldn't go below around 10.5 volts .
If it does, the starter is probably ' dry ' on lubrication .
With the electronic ignition, it doesn't work well if the starter is using too much power .
I've taken apart, cleaned and lubricated all the Bosch starters on my R65's and Guzzi, same starter on the Guzzi, just a different number of teeth on the gear that contacts the flywheel .
I had trouble starting my '81 R65 about 13 years ago, when the temp dropped below 55 F, 13 C .
I had multiple issues, dry starter (9.5 volts when doing the test above ) and a weak ignition coil,  second generation OEM dual output coil, the red and black version and they had just  introduced 10% ethanol in the fuel supply .

[jamestnewsonr65]

Thanks bob, I'll give that a go and test the starter first to see where we are at with it.