Well, I was going to ride to work the other day and after I started the old girl up and backed out into the driveway I killed it about halfway to the street and when I tried the restart all I got was a whirring noise from the starter. So I pushed her up the drive and drove the car, I knew it was the starter chain but, I had hoped I was wrong. Tonight I took out the alternator and you can see in the pics what I found. I have the engine ready to come out(I think) any pointers on this repair would be appreciated. Thought I would post these pictures for the guys who said they had never seen a broken starter chain.

 

How many miles on the bike and what year?

 

Don't know much about this , but you may be right....engine out and split the cases?

BTW , the front sprocket and chain look to be drier than a Nuns Chuff mate , she might need a bit of lube or motion lotion!!

 

I ask the year, because on the 93+up, to split the cases, you need to remove the cylinder head and the cylinder to get access to 3 bolts that help hold the cases together (need new head gasket and base gasket, ****, might as well replace the cam chain and the oil pump chain while your in there, and replace the rubber dampers on the balaner shaft [I could go on and on])

 

it is an 88 with 24 k miles. I know there are a ton of things that could be done while it is apart.

 

Ok. I don't know how much experience you have but it sounds like you have at least some.
Changing the chain is not hard but it must be treated seriously. Get your hands on a manual (can be downloaded from this site if need be) & follow the directions on how to split the cases. Tip: get a piece of cardboard & draw an outline of your case on it. Mark where each bolt goes & put a hole & place each bolt in it's correct spot as you remove it. There are a couple bolts that come out from the top of the motor so don't forget those. Don't use a tool between the case faces to prise them apart or you will damage them & it will leak oil. Use a brass brush (suede brush from the boot maker) to remove sealant from the case joint. Don't scrape the face. Take photos if you can to help jog your memory if that helps. While you're there change the oil pump chain, Alternator tensioner & cam chain. Unfortunately the bearing caps must be removed to replace the alternator & oil chain so it's just easier to change them all at the same time. Keep it clean too & lube well on reassembly. Also make sure that the alternator tensioner is set only to it's own tension ie. Release the tension before you assemble the oils pipes as they obstruct access just in case you have accidentally pressed the tensioner. Torque the bolts up in stages & when all back in the bike make sure you allow extra oil to fill the galleries. If it's your first time allow two days just to be safe.
Hope this helps

 

Hi sorry to jump in on this thread, but I am having some starting issues with my new 1000F-L and was wondering if it could be the same issue?

I have checked that the cam timing and valve clearances are correct, I can turn the engine over via hand no problem too. But with the plugs in the starter will turn the engine over once and then just seems to make a wirring noise and doesn't spin the engine. If I take out the plugs the starter will spin the engine no problem. As I said above I can turn the engine by hand so I know that nothing is stopping it from spinning over. I have taken the starter apart to check everything and that is all fine, I have notice from the service history that 12 months ago the garage used by previous owner had removed the crank case and cleaned something out due to the starter not being able to spin the engine fast enough.

Could this be the same thing? Any advice?

 

Thanks guys I will take pics of the repair and post them

 

jinglezdj, it almost sounds like the starter clutch is toast and needs to be rebuilt