Checking starter motor

[Geoffrey Straet]

Hi all,
The starter motor on my bike is not connected to the system and there is no starter relay. The positive is not connected to anything right now. I would like to know if the motor turns. Can I just connect the positive and the starter wire to check if it turns? Would this be ´safe' , no risk to blow a fuse or something?
Thanks,

 

[5twins]

Yes, you could just put power to it momentarily to test it. It would probably be best to run it through an on-off toggle switch so you could quickly turn it on and off.

 

[Jim]

If memory serves.... that motor pulls about 40-50- amps. Make sure you use a wire big enough to carry that much current.

 

[Geoffrey Straet]

Thanks, with key off I guess?
Is it better to use a jump battery and cables?

 

[5twins]

Key on or off will make no difference, you're connecting directly to the battery. I would leave it off though. Yes, a separate battery (not the one in the bike) would be a good idea. I would use the original heavy battery cable to run power to it.

 

[Geoffrey Straet]

Ok thanks, no idea for how long the bike has been like this, seems like a weird idea to just take out the relay....

 

[5twins]

Maybe it went bad, shorted out or something. Should be easy enough to find a good used replacement. They used the same one for nearly 10 years on this bike.

 

[XSLeo]

I often use a separate battery and a set of jumper cables for starter testing. Make sure bike is in neutral first, don't want the bike to lurch and tip over.
Hook the cables to the battery, even your car battery. Hook the ground to a good frame ground, one of the foot peg mounting nuts work well.
Put a large screwdriver in to the positive clamp. Wrapping the shaft of the screwdriver with some black tape won't hurt.
Use the screwdriver as a probe. Start at the stud on the starter itself, touch it with the screwdriver. You may get a few sparks until you get good contact with the stud. This is where taping the shaft comes in handy.
This should spin the starter, if the parts connecting the starter to the engine are in good shape then the engine will crank over as well.
If it cranks move the screwdriver to the cable. If the cable connection is good it should spin the starter.
There may have been several reasons the relay was removed, most likely a bad relay. If the gears that engage the engine when the starter spins are not engaging properly they make a lot of noise. Your PO may have just removed the relay to prevent the starter from being used to prevent the noise instead of fixing the problem.
If your starter works and you want to use it, it's not hard to get the parts and wire up the relay and a stat button.
Leo

 

[Geoffrey Straet]

Thank you for the tips, very handy! I'll try this and let you know if I have a starter motor or not.
Have a nice Christmas holidays everyone and best wishes for the new year!
Geoffrey

 

[Jim]

Have a nice Christmas holidays everyone and best wishes for the new year!
Geoffrey

You too Geoffrey!!

 

[Geoffrey Straet]

Ok, did the test on the motor, seems like it has not turned in along time and looks in bad condition, not dead but not far from it...
when you remove it, it is just one gasket to look after?

 

[Jim]

Ok, did the test on the motor, seems like it has not turned in along time and looks in bad condition, not dead but not far from it...
when you remove it, it is just one gasket to look after?

Geoffrey,
the starter sits at the bottom of the sump. So drain the oil first. Otherwise it's gonna go everywhere when you pull the starter. If I remember correctly, there's two seals. One where the starter mates to the case, and a shaft seal inside the starter. Check the Tech section. I recall there's an article there about starters.

 

[Jim]

Have a look here...

 

[Geoffrey Straet]

Geoffrey,
the starter sits at the bottom of the sump. So drain the oil first. Otherwise it's gonna go everywhere when you pull the starter. If I remember correctly, there's two seals. One where the starter mates to the case, and a shaft seal inside the starter. Check the Tech section. I recall an article there about starters.

Thanks!

 

[gggGary]

As mentioned it's a big current draw it takes a serious connection to provide the amps. Scratching it with a wire isn't a valid test. I'll use a big ole screw drive to short the solenoid terminals but even with two rigid points to connect it may take a couple of pokes to get a good solid connection. with jumpers connect the grounds, and hot to the motor terminal then you can mash the other hot into the battery terminal for a good circuit. 'course a real solenoid would be an even better test.... I hear of bad XS starters now and then but not real often.

 

[xjwmx]

There's no reason to remove it unless you're going to rebuild it and I think a too strong starter motor might be a dangerous thing... I think mine caught funny and messed up my crank. I've read of that happening to others once or twice too. I also read the reason they eliminated the compression release had to do with that. Plus I think that seal between the starter and case would be easier to put in with the cases apart -- don't remember the details but I remember thinking I'm glad I'm doing it with the cases apart... The seating depth or squareness or both was the issue I think; easier to judge it from inside.

 

[Geoffrey Straet]

To be honest, I think I'm going to leave this one to a pro, the bike needs some finetuning like valve adjustment, timing and carburator tuning that require some knowledge that I don't have right now.
The problem with the starter motor might as well be the elswehere like the gear. One thing I am starting to understand is that it is never as straightforward as it looks.
I learned quite a few cool stuff about motorcycles these past few days

 

[5twins]

And the XS650 is a great teacher, lol. They pretty much all need some work, but they're pretty simple and easy to work on. I had been riding for many years and had a pretty good motorcycle knowledge base by the time I got my 650, but it's taught me so much more since I've owned it.

 

[Mailman]

It sure has been an education for me!

 

[gggGary]

If I only had a brain......