Starter motor clutch repair - help!

Working on an '86 VFR700F2 non start issue.

Getting juice to the starter and starter has tested good via bench test.

Starter relay tested good and is working.

Starter just not engaging. Whirling sound but nothing else.

Battery is a few months old Motobatt and is charged.

Reading the manuals - troubleshooting says it might be the starter motor clutch.

It's located right next to the clutch on the right side of the bike.

I have never worked on this part - but there is a section in the Haynes manual.

Before I tear into this.......do you have any experience with this problem/repair?

I wonder if I can repair the part or will I need new parts/clutch?

I'm assuming I will know the answer once I get the part out and look at it.

Any input welcome.

Thanks,
Baz

 

The good news is, all the repair components you need seem to be available.............

https://www.partzilla.com/catalog/honda/motorcycle/1986/vfr700f2-a-interceptor/pulse-generator

 

Unless the housing is cracked and that is causing the problem, which is fairly common. Unique to that year only, been NLA for a long time. The housing perimeter has the raised sections to trigger the pulser coils. 1987 and on are different.

Get it apart and see what is going on.

 

Darn - because I have one of my '87's up on my lift right now with the right side facing out so would be an easy job to remove and see what I'm getting into.

Guess if the '87 won't work on the '86 there no sense doing that now. I will move forward on the '86 and share what I see.

I did confirm that whirling sound is coming from inside that housing and not at the starter like I originally thought, so seems like this is where my problem is.

 

It's funny how I'm not bummed out or anything right now (we'll see I feel tomorrow when I find out what's broken!) but stoked to be learning something new on these bikes I never knew about. Knowledge base expanded!

I thought I might be swapping out the carbs on the bike today but things sure did take a different turn!

 

Correct attitude that you must have when dealing with 40 year old Honda VFRs.

A friend of mine ground off the 87 timing triggers and created and welded replicas of the 86 triggers. Always a way!

 

Thanks - even when things don't go perfect - hey - I get to work on my motorcycle today....and hopefully can tomorrow as well!

Also doesn't hurt that I have two others right here that I can jump on anytime I want and go for a ride.

I wondered about welding repairs. We'll see how bad it is and go from there.

I have a mechanic who is great at stuff like this. I never learned how to weld.

 

Historically they can't be "repaired" with welding. People have tried. He creating one out of a still available new housing. I think 1987 - 1997 is the same part. I know 1987 - 1993 is.

 

Today seems like a learning day!! woohooo!

 

I thought my starter clutch was a bit dodgy on my '86; there were few instances of a screech and a clack when I pressed the starter button, but I think that was actually down to a battery that was running down and not delivering enough oomph to spin the starter properly. Here's what you will find inside the cover, pulling the starter clucth off is as easy as undoing one nut (removed in this pic) and slipping the clutch off the splined end of the crankshaft .

There are three roller weights and springs in the clutch, and I replaced mine whilst it was apart, but there were no obvious sign of distress. The clutch inner can develop cracks which are very obvious, maybe even visible through the inspection port without remving the clutch cover.

If your clutch is OK and the battery is fresh, I would not exclude the starter motor as a source e.g. worn or dirty brushes/commutator, or a bad power terminal connection.

 

Thanks Terry - will find out soon enough. Battery is only a few months old and was charged up. Starter I took out tested fine on a bench test.

Hoping that outer case isn't cracked!

 

On vfrdiscussion, in the thread "86 VFR700F Retool or therapy or both" user tsmitty shared his way through his starter clutch issue. Starts on page 5 or thereabout. Long story but he ended up modifying a more recent clutch. One reason that modifications are necessary if this route is chosen is that the timing/triggering system was modified.

One peculiarity is that - as far as I can imagine - the location of the typical failure on the clutch is not where I would expect tensile stresses from the pinch action to be highest. But every day is a learning day.

There are situations where a kickstarter would be nice.

 

Thank you. That is a huge thread but lot of good and useful information. I found (page 5) the part about the cracked starter clutch modification.

We'll see what I find today and go from there.