Well, my starter hasn't worked for a while. I pulled it to see if it worked fine, and when it did I knew it was something inside the case. I figured it was the starter clutch, so I ordered one up on eBay. I just got a chance to work on the bike today, and after I pulled the flywheel I found I had actually broken the bosses that hold the idler gear axle on the on the engine case and the alternator cover. The boss fragments that came off on the engine side are gone, and the boss on the alternator cover side is intact. The idler gear is chipped. I dropped the oil pan and got most of the chips i could. Fortunately I know someone who's a wiz at welding aluminum. Here's a pic of the busted case. If you look just to the right of the screwdriver, you can see where the idler gear has chewed up the case.

This sucks but at least I know what's up and that it's fixable. Also, my bike idles and performs at low load and throttle a hell of a lot better now. I bet that the idler gear and the busted boss was rubbing up starter clutch gear.

 

congratulations.... U and I are the 2 in 1,000,000 that this happens to lol... search on my screen name for my started threads section... I have been bump starting my bike since it happened and like you said the bike works like a CHARM other than not being able to start with the button... pm me when u read this

 

I just fixed this issue also, I'm waiting on aerator cover to come in so i can start riding again!

 

I ended up doing the ghetto fix and wrapping the broken off piece and another one I machined around the axle, JB welded it in place and reinforced the JB weld with safety wire. The piece was located in a hard to weld place, and I have a line on an engine anyways. I located the axle with the stator cover It's a metal reinforced composite! I'm surprised the repair has lased nearly 4 months. Sorry I don't have a pic, I didn't want to JB weld the phone to my hand!

 

I have a '92 F2 currently found out it has this issue. Wasn't told about this by previous owner. So glad to hear it's repairable. I've been stressing all day thinking I'd have to go on a hunt to find a new engine. I bought it not running but was told it only needed a carb rebuild. Only to find this patch work inside