Starter Issue

[95spfldmax]

So.............
I bought a brand new battery for Max. Installed it.....test fired it up to make sure everything was good. Bike hasn't been started all winter. Turned over a couple times and it fired up. Great. Shut off immediately. Couple hours later......and a few beers....this is Friday night......go to hit the button again just goofing around and the starter spins but sounds like the gear interface is not indexing out to engage the motor. Figuring it was a fluke, I tried again....and again.....again....nothing. Will not engage. I hit the front left magneto cover with a rubber mallet.....no luck.
I'm thinking maybe I pop-start it and see if bringing the motor temp up/vibration might do the trick.
Another point of note is that I figured the dreaded starter job was in my near future with the "bag-o-rocks" thing happening more and more often. Prob happened 20 or so times all of last season.

What do you guys think? Maybe this will fix itself with some internal heat/vibration? Or should I go in the magneto cover and have a look? Any advice would be welcome.

Thanks, guys.

 

[Fastatv]

So.............
I bought a brand new battery for Max. Installed it.....test fired it up to make sure everything was good. Bike hasn't been started all winter. Turned over a couple times and it fired up. Great. Shut off immediately. Couple hours later......and a few beers....this is Friday night......go to hit the button again just goofing around and the starter spins but sounds like the gear interface is not indexing out to engage the motor. Figuring it was a fluke, I tried again....and again.....again....nothing. Will not engage. I hit the front left magneto cover with a rubber mallet.....no luck.
I'm thinking maybe I pop-start it and see if bringing the motor temp up/vibration might do the trick.
Another point of note is that I figured the dreaded starter job was in my near future with the "bag-o-rocks" thing happening more and more often. Prob happened 20 or so times all of last season.

What do you guys think? Maybe this will fix itself with some internal heat/vibration? Or should I go in the magneto cover and have a look? Any advice would be welcome.

Thanks, guys.

Pretty much had the exact same thing happen to me....really, a Friday night, a few beers, just thought I would let it warm up a while because it had sat all winter. Started right up, warmed up, shut it off and then tried to start it again. Starter just spun, would not engage. Anyway, like you, I kept trying to start it, many times and I'm like WTF! Ha, ha. Anyway, what I had found was that the starter clutch bolts had backed out and the starter clutch was never engaging. I re-used the gaskets as they were new from last summer, and replaced the four Allen bolts, put back together...starts better than ever. I think my bolts had been loosening up for a while and just got to a point the clutch no longer engaged. There is a very good write up in the tech section on how to do the work.

 

[sdt354]

So.............
I bought a brand new battery for Max. Installed it.....test fired it up to make sure everything was good. Bike hasn't been started all winter. Turned over a couple times and it fired up. Great. Shut off immediately. Couple hours later......and a few beers....this is Friday night......go to hit the button again just goofing around and the starter spins but sounds like the gear interface is not indexing out to engage the motor. Figuring it was a fluke, I tried again....and again.....again....nothing. Will not engage. I hit the front left magneto cover with a rubber mallet.....no luck.
I'm thinking maybe I pop-start it and see if bringing the motor temp up/vibration might do the trick.
Another point of note is that I figured the dreaded starter job was in my near future with the "bag-o-rocks" thing happening more and more often. Prob happened 20 or so times all of last season.

What do you guys think? Maybe this will fix itself with some internal heat/vibration? Or should I go in the magneto cover and have a look? Any advice would be welcome.

Thanks, guys.

Starter clutch time Mike. How's the one on your other motor? By now it's probable that the
housing is damaged. Dam bolts start to back out, and if not fixed right away...
Let me know if I can help ya out.

 

[gamorg02]

i agree, clutch.

i remember ryan used to say if he opened his throttle ever so slightly it would grab. i have no idea why but i've done it once or twice too and its worked.

 

[jfeagins]

i agree, clutch.

i remember ryan used to say if he opened his throttle ever so slightly it would grab. i have no idea why but i've done it once or twice too and its worked.

Less resistance in the air tract, slightly faster spin while cranking???????:confused2:

 

[alorio1]

I would tackle the problem head on and not attemt to start her up again until the problem is fixed. More than likely the bolts have loosened up or the cage that houses the springs and rollers may have a small crack, which is hard to see. If you have another motor, 90 and up, you can install that fly wheel. But it may be as simple as retightning the bolts on your fly wheel. Sean Morley has a loaner puller if you don't have access to one. He has a how to video on Youtube also if you are not familiar with pulling a Vmax fly wheel...good luck with the fix, hope all goes well........Joe

 

[PATMAX]

+1 on Sean's video. Mine came off exactly as he did it in the video, no muss, no fuss and that was with the crank/flywheel out of the motor on the bench!