Topic: Starter Motor Help - Spins out of engine but not in engine???

[blackhog02]

So I finally decided to try and fix my starter motor.  When you hit the start button it just makes a loud click.  So I pulled the motor out of the engine hook the wire back up to the startor solenoid run a jumper wire from the case to the frame hit the startor button and it spins.  Put it back in the engine hit the button/click.  I also took a starter out of my parts motor and it does the same thing?  What am I missing here the only diffrence seems to be the amount of resistance on the moter and the way it is grounded.  Figuring the ground was easier to test than pulling the cover and checking the rest of the starter gears I pulled one of the bolts out of the starter motor and hooked the same jumper wire up the same way as when it was out of the bike but it just clicked. 

Do I have two bad starter motors?  I have not pulled the cover to check the brushes, or is something bound up in the startor gears, or am I missing something else???

[bucky katt]

is the motor spinning freely when kicked over? or could it be locked up? thats the sound my k4 made when the motor locked up.

[blackhog02]

Motor runs fine - I have been riding it for a few months using the kick starter.  It was a basket case so I don't know if/when the starter motor worked last.

 http://www.mptrackclub.com/photos/cb750_k1/cb750_k1.htm

[750goes]

check your ground connnection - it may not be good... also service the starter motor - clean up the brushes and commutator......and can you use the kick starter to rotate the motor ??

maybe your starter clutch is jammed up somehow??

[Spanner 1]

May be the solenoid....did you try jumping the terminals with a heavy piece of wire ?

[mystic_1]

May be the solenoid....did you try jumping the terminals with a heavy piece of wire ?

+1, this is the only other component involved.  Jump across the terminals with a screwdriver or very heavy wire, just be careful not to weld the tool to the solenoid terminals 

mystic_1

[Gordon]

May be the solenoid....did you try jumping the terminals with a heavy piece of wire ?

+1, this is the only other component involved.  Jump across the terminals with a screwdriver or very heavy wire, just be careful not to weld the tool to the solenoid terminals 

mystic_1

That was my first thought, too, but then he said he hooked the starter to the solenoid (outside of the engine), pushed the starter button, and it worked fine, so it doesn't sound like the solenoid to me.   

[Spanner 1]

A crappy solenoid may pass enough current to spin the motor with no load on it...but in the bike a small turn will engage the clutch and connect it to the motor right away......