Starter

[MN K9]

I was 200+ miles from home a couple weekends ago at the Mercer Loons MC - LOON PARTY. Had a great time. Went to leave Sunday morning. Stuck my key into the ignition and turned it on. The starter instantly started flopping around without hitting the start button. A guy standing next to the bike saw that the starter was loose. It must have been shorting out because the motor was hanging loose.
I didn't feel like tearing the bike apart in the campground , so disconnected the starter wires and push started the bike. I finally got around to checking it out. The 2 screws that actually hold the starter together had backed out.

Instant 2 piece starter. There isn't enough room to get the screws back in place with it in the bike. I pulled it out tonight. I think I'll put my spare in. The bearing on the motor feels dry.

 

[Blackie]

Same thing happend to me last year...The shaft broke off and the gear and remaining shaft were laying in the primary.(26,500 miles on this, the original starter). When I took starter off I noticed one of the bolts you are describing was gone and the other was loose. Anyway, sent it to the original manufacturer, SPYKE and they rebuilt it and sent it back. So far no problems. Yours looks like a SPYKE also. Can you put bolts back in ?(use loctite) Will they screw in and seat? If so, should be no problem.

 

[MN K9]

I figured to just put the screws back in after I replace the bearing. And yup, I'll put loctite on the screws.

 

[pknowles]

I was 200+ miles from home a couple weekends ago at the Mercer Loons MC - LOON PARTY. Had a great time. Went to leave Sunday morning. Stuck my key into the ignition and turned it on. The starter instantly started flopping around without hitting the start button. A guy standing next to the bike saw that the starter was loose. It must have been shorting out because the motor was hanging loose.
I didn't feel like tearing the bike apart in the campground , so disconnected the starter wires and push started the bike. I finally got around to checking it out. The 2 screws that actually hold the starter together had backed out.

Instant 2 piece starter. There isn't enough room to get the screws back in place with it in the bike. I pulled it out tonight. I think I'll put my spare in. The bearing on the motor feels dry.

Looks like a dog chewed on the wiring.

 

[MN K9]

Looks like a dog chewed on the wiring.

I wrapped electrical tape around the cable so it didn't short while driving. Didn't worry about making it pretty. The insulation was dry rotted when the bike was almost brand new. I smeared some silicone on it to seal it up. Ugly, but it worked. The insulation on the cable on the spare starter I have is dry rotted also. I'll put shrink wrap on both of them.

 

[pknowles]

I wrapped electrical tape around the cable so it didn't short while driving. Didn't worry about making it pretty. The insulation was dry rotted when the bike was almost brand new. I smeared some silicone on it to seal it up. Ugly, but it worked. The insulation on the cable on the spare starter I have is dry rotted also. I'll put shrink wrap on both of them.[/QUOI



I checked the wires on my 07 Bulldog starter and it has to be repaired( dry rot seems to be a problem with these starter wires).

 

[spadesluck]

Thats crazy for those long screws to backout on you. Loctite will be your friend. lol

 

[Ram-Z]

Looking for help ....

I have a 2008 Pitbull and the starter just went.

My first starter broke a few years back. (My own fault .... I used the throttle when starting the bike and the shaft broke off the starter) :bang:

My second starter just went. Probably from years of use, and probably oil in the starter.

So I figured I would take the good internal parts from the 1st starter that I broke the shaft off, and combine them with the shaft from the second starter.

I borrowed this picture from Kurt (MN K9). I've gotten to this point in taking the starter apart the starter with the broken shaft, but I can't seem to separate the solenoid from the mount that connects the starter and the solenoid together. I removed all of the external screws that I can find, and the two pieces will wiggle, but they don't want to separate.

Does anyone have any input on how to take the rest apart??