First of all let me apologize for being absent from here..life you know...

I have searched the the threads and haven't found quite what I need so here goes.....

Intermittently when cranking over the engine it will try to turn but freeze in mid crank, I can hear the starter motor engaging and trying to turn the engine over but it's as if it's in a bind.

It won't do anything unless I spin the engine backwards about a full revolution, then it will crank over..start...shut off and restart easily.

It bound up on me Yesterday so I left it sit and planned on tearing into the starter today, but when I hit the starter it cranked fine and seems to be working.

Anyone experienced this issue?

 

Steve O - hell man no excuses needed.

I'm wondering if it's not a failing starter clutch !

 

Wouldn't that just slip if it were?

 

That sounds like a weak battery to me, my thumpers do that if I let the battery get low or its particularly cold out.

 

Or perhaps a slightly leaky fuel tap allowing one cylinder to fill with fuel while it's parked up?

Ask Seb, he seems to know a bit about this kind of symptom.

 

Hydrolock! Nasty, nasty outcomes if it is. It can bend con rods very easily.

Liquid (fuel) is incompressible, so something's gotta give.

Make sure your fuel tap - and needle and seats - don't leak whilst the bike is sitting.

Cheers, SB

 

1 Poor battery
2 Starter damper
would be where I'd be looking...........

 

Battery is good
charging system is good
Petcock is good
Floats are good

The condition is random... It has occurred after the bike has been running and shut off.... And has happened when the bike has been sitting.

As I stated... Spinning the engine backwards for a full revolution will free up the bind and then it cranks fine.
The last time it bound up I left it sit overnight and the next day it cranked over perfectly.

When it is cranking it does so at full speed.. No slipping or dragging.

If it were the starter clutch I would think it would slip... Not bind...
Same with the alt damper

Also Seb .... Taking the plugs out does not un-bind it ------
Only spinning the engine baxkwards does.

 

I'm picking that KiwiTK and SebastionBear might be the winners on this particular long distance diagnosis.

However, I will defer to the superior knowledge of my mate from the other side of the ditch.

 

Not entiely sure TK.

Did a bit of reading tonight on starter clutches and symptoms can include binding. I'd be tending toward pulling the alternator/starter assembly from the bike and investigating that.

Cheers, SB