Starters

[mack]

So while I was getting the bikes ready to ride, I noticed the positive battery terminal on my SF was distorted. I couldn't figure out why at first. I contacted Tony to see if it was possible that his regulator may have a flaw and caused over charging. He told me to look for faults in my ignition and starting circuits. So I checked everything over and it all looked good. Last thing was the starter. While it worked fine,(the bike always starts on the first roll) I removed the starter and took it apart. Sure enough, the brushes had a hard serrated ridge on the forward edge that allowed only two small points to make contact with the armature. It looked like there had been multiple fires inside the stator with all the carbon deposits and old dried out grease. After cleaning it all up and doing the checks, the components all tested good, so I filed down the brush edges to ensure smooth, uniform contact with the armature and then cut new gaskets and put it all back together. I'll install it tomorrow with a new battery and then watch it to see if it's cured the issue. Either way, after 37 years, I will be pulling all the starters and doing some preventive maintenance on them as well!

[kboehringer]

Planned Maintenance Item!

Either way, after 37 years, I will be pulling all the starters and doing some preventive maintenance on them as well!

MACK,
Great Idea that EVERYONE should be following. I had a funny noise from the starter on my first XS11 and did the cleaning, & lube you mentioned. I used a commutator brush/stone to polish up the rotor (my technicians use these all the time on our big DC motors at work). Some carefully used superfine sandpaper is probably sufficient.

A little lube on the planetary gears and mine sounds SMOOTH AS SILK! I've done the same job on all three of my XS11's. FYI...The brushes for these starters are still available from PARTZILLA at about $6 +/- each (x2)

This is a PM item that should be very high on everyone's list! It's only a couple hours work (at the most) and gives me some peace-of-mind that the starter is not likely to leave me in a bad way.

KURT

[DAVINCI]

crocus cloth or scotchbrite pad is a better choice than sandpaper, don't want grains of sand embedded in your commutator