Starter Clutch

If this is already been posted I appologize, but when I did a search all I could find was that it was a big job. I believe that mine has tobe fixed/replaced. When I hit the starter button the starter whirls over and occasionally it will grab. I have removed the starter and hooked it up directly to the battery and it spins no problem. Am I headed in the right direction and how BIG of a job is it? I am removing the motor this winter and completely restoring the bike so I figured if the motor is out this may be a goog opportunity to do this as well. Ant help in this area is greatly appreciated (I do have the shop manual).

I fixed my starter clutch a while back, here´s a link to a thread about it:

kzrider.com/forum/viewthread.php?tid=9285

I did a small write-up about it too, but it´s on a hd that´s not currently in my comp - however, in a day or two I can dig it out and mail it to you (or post it here), let me know.

Thanks, that's great info! Did you require any special tools to perform this, other than the impact driver?

I am looking at doing the samething to my bike this winter, restore it that is.

Apart from the impact driver you´ll need a 30mm socket wrench with a breaker bar to remove the clutch hub nut and a pair of snap ring pliers to get the secondary shaft gear off, that´s about it.

The clutch hub nut can be a real pita to remove, it´s torqued to 80-118 ft.lbs/108-160Nm. The easiest thing to do is pull the engine, remove the kickstarter, clutch cover and clutch springs and plates, throw the engine in the back of your car and take it to a shop that has air tools and have them do it for you - if you´re nice they´ll help you out for a few bucks or a sixpack (at least around here they will).

The second easiest thing is to remove the nut with the engine still in the frame and the drive chain still on. Remove the parts mentioned above, set the front wheel against a wall, shift into 1st, put your weight on the bike and apply the 30mm socket to the nut, ccw to loosen. (When the engine is running the clutch/countershaft spins backwards, so attempting to loosen the nut will make the bike move forward when in gear, which is why you set the front wheel against the wall).

You might want to try the second approach first, it might just come off - if the nut won´t budge you can then take it to a shop. The first time I did it the nut came off relatively easy, the second time I had to chisel it off, even a shop impact gun couldn´t take it. Once the hub nut is off the rest is a walk in the park. Just be careful around the clutch basket, you don´t want to break any of the "fingers" on it.