Weather has been miserable of late. Wet and windy, I got a couple of bikes out and 3 more arrived for everything from a service to full restoration.
Had to find a starting fault with another one. Just clicking from the starter relay despite a fully charged battery and lights, horn etc working perfectly.
Started by swapping starter relay, nada. Replaced badly damaged power cable from battery to starter relay. Zip. Checked all wiring in headlamp shell. Zilch.
So, ran a bypass cable from battery direct to starter motor and switched on the ignition. Aha! Still nothing.
But it proved there was something amiss with the starter motor. Removed it and hooked it up to a battery with jump leads. Nothing, turn the shaft slightly by hand and next attempt and it span briefly but with no power.
Tried a good spare by the same method and it span strongly.
Root problem identified!
Only thing I can see is the shaft has a lot more movement fore and aft than the good one.
So, repainted the good one and will fit it tomorrow once the paint has cured.
Had to find a starting fault with another one. Just clicking from the starter relay despite a fully charged battery and lights, horn etc working perfectly.
Started by swapping starter relay, nada. Replaced badly damaged power cable from battery to starter relay. Zip. Checked all wiring in headlamp shell. Zilch.
So, ran a bypass cable from battery direct to starter motor and switched on the ignition. Aha! Still nothing.
But it proved there was something amiss with the starter motor. Removed it and hooked it up to a battery with jump leads. Nothing, turn the shaft slightly by hand and next attempt and it span briefly but with no power.
Tried a good spare by the same method and it span strongly.
Root problem identified!
Only thing I can see is the shaft has a lot more movement fore and aft than the good one.
So, repainted the good one and will fit it tomorrow once the paint has cured.
Here's a sneaky peek at the full resto job. Engine rebuild, paint bodywork, re-wire, re-cover seat still to come.