Topic: '73 CB350F - Starter motor orientation?

[KegKiller]

I'm the proud new owner of rusty '73 CB530F... with a starter problem:)

I apologize if this is a repeat post (searched for an hour) but I'm hoping one of you Honda Jedi Knights can help a newbie out.  This is my first "help!" post so I hope I'm doing this right... in the right location.

Original Problem:
Bike kick starts fine.  When I attempt to use the electric start, lights work... starter turns (whirl sound) but doesn't turn the motor over.  I believe I have a strong battery and working solenoid.  I pulled the starter to take a look at the reduction gear/starter clutch play.  The starter reduction gear rotates freely in the forward direction (towards front tire) and binds (gradual increase in resistance) when rotated backwards.  I decided to disassemble/inspect/clean the starter motor.  When pulling apart the case, I let the armature get away from me and spilled all the spacer/washers/insulator rings onto my bench.  Sucko... now I don't know the correct orientation for reassembly.

Questions
- Does anyone know how this should go back together... picture below?
- If not, does anyone know where I can find an expanded view of the motor, with washers/spacers/insulator rings?  (searched but can't find images including washers)
- Is there a continuity/resistance test that would tell me if it's assembled correctly?
- Should I just start looking for a new motor? 


The orientation below is my best guess.  Metal washers/spacers 2-4 are the smaller diameter, matching the communicator/brushes side of the armature.  Items 7-10 are where I'm completely unsure.  7 is metal, 8 is a thicker insulator, 9 is thicker metal washer/spacer with upturned tabs and 10 is a thin metal washer. 

Sorry for the long post.  This forum is an amazing resource.  I hope to be able to contribute some day but for now... thanks for any help you can offer!  

[pjed]

I have a 73 CB350F that does exactly the same thing.  Though it was a starter so I got another one off of eBay.  Turns out it's probably the starter clutch which would entail breaking the cases to get to.  I'm hoping once I have my bike running well, the springs in the clutch that may be frozen due to non-use, will free up. If not, I'm just going to use the kick starter.

Good luck

[schwebel]

Question, does the kickstarter work with the power on, or is hard to kick with the power on, and easy with the power off? I just had a similar problem and it was my stator, totally thought it was my starter as it just seemed to not have enough juice to start it. And it would kick over with increased effort. I replaced the stator and generator and worked fine....just a thought. Also if you can't get your starter back together, I have one I'd sell ya, just PM me.

[KegKiller]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts schwebel and pjed!

I assembled the motor as shown in the picutre... bench tested it and it seems to work fine... spins up strong with no odd sounds.  I reinstalled it, but have the same results as before.  I'm left thinking it must be gummed up starter clutch... and I'm going to have to live with just kick starting it for now.

Thanks for the tip regarding the kick start resistance with power on vs. power off.  I'm always ears for different troubleshooting ideas.  In my case, it seemed to be consistant resistance either way so I'm guessing I don't have your same problem.  Just curious, how did you test your stator/generator to know it was faulty... visual/meter/other?  I may do a few more tests just to completely rule it out.

Thanks again.  Love this site!