Broken bendix or starter tension clip

JFAIR1

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I was changing the oil on the 82 xs650 and decided to try and fix the tension clip. Well I broke it. What are my options in replacing it? Here is what I’ve found so far.

https://www.mikesxs.net/yamaha-xs65...oem-447-15516-00-90468-29062-90501-15409.html

I hate using mikes XS. Everything I have bought from them has been crap.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/276324698671

A new clip. I feel like I will never get the tension that I need.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/231190070173?_skw=yamaha+xs650+starter+kit&epid=1029957012&itmmeta=01JA4KJ58GVENTS62JFMEDRMEQ&hash=item35d400839d:g:8HwAAMXQyY1TPy~X&itmprp=enc:AQAJAAAA8HoV3kP08IDx+KZ9MfhVJKkOBU1Glw6YBAIYq3SYElgFLj/v9R4S/LLuO4eaPj3+/FM0L6F3RFQiOeTV15+BHp9EAggew+tVqKOvEz09HWax+92RRfoWXZ8SxelQO4jnebzdWoZUs7Fy+7UuPR35TNAI16VBQOEvJZ6alkDROtCHANT6U0+WTuPrAZc/syyKXm6oKvLUdwtsIG60a4yHCctj7mkFoDmPNeLbWZ0K+mQNsskVhlH05IOrh/8iE0AAz0o5ybgEk2h6LeFT0nb0TSLOOGJjnbm6vg8EMgy+sXr90WFpMdkgPjSkFGDmn7W9HA==|tkp:BFBMqtTIk9Fk

A new gear and clip. It has good reviews. Most expensive options. But for 90 bucks. If it works I’ll take it.

Thanks for the feed back gentleman.
Justin.
 
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Shockingly my local Yamaha dealership had a replacement clip. It’s reading about 7 pounds of tension. Isn’t the sweet spot around 8-9? I tried the starter with the bike disassembled and it was 50/50 at getting the gear to engage. I hoping not to have to put the vice to this new part. I also have read the thread about using drill bits and taping them onto the vice along with keeping another bit wedged between the tension clip’s loop. Any suggestions? Any chance the 7 pounds is enough and I just need to put the bike back together? Thanks again.
 
I’m now looking for a starter gear clip too. There’s some in the US, but landed will be over $60 Cdn. I can buy an aftermarket gear, clip and spring for less. Should I go for the OEM clip? Or does someone have one for sale?
 
Do tell...privately or from a business? If so, which?
Here you go… maybe next door to you. Not real cheap but OEM out of the US seems to be at least 2X the cost with exchange and shipping.

https://www.ebay.ca/itm/326329503093

Well once again I jumped the gun. I went and ordered two clips, then went to my parts bin and found 3 spare (used) gears, all with Yamaha clips. I rebent them using @Jim ’s method and got two to remain stationary until approx 6.5 lbs and one at 7.4 lbs. One spring was weaker and only held about 5.2 lbs of pull. A fourth spring went flying and I couldn’t be bothered looking for it.

Once bent and installed for the first time, the best resistance values can be measured. Take the clip off and reinstall it and the numbers drop by about 2 lbs pull.

So… I have a gear and clip that are ready to reinstall on the bike and will soon have 2 extra, new, OEM clips to put in my parts stash along with the spares that I was reunited with tonight.😀
 
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Vic, if you're still tooled up, I have an experiment if you care to try it?

Take the loops and put a slight twist into them. Not much, just a degree or two. My reasoning is that way the spring won't just drag on the bottom of the gear's slot, but will also drag on the sides.
I'd be curious to see if your 5.2lb pull spring will get better. I'm thinkin' it will.

No twist
1737998782967.png


Twist.
1737998828090.png
 
Vic, if you're still tooled up, I have an experiment if you care to try it?

Take the loops and put a slight twist into them. Not much, just a degree or two. My reasoning is that way the spring won't just drag on the bottom of the gear's slot, but will also drag on the sides.
I'd be curious to see if your 5.2lb pull spring will get better. I'm thinkin' it will.

No twist
View attachment 343185

Twist.
View attachment 343186
Good thinking.

When I was doing this, I found it very difficult indeed to get a reliable drag reading on my scale. In fact, I don't recall ever getting a reading of the drag/slip point that was repeatable. Next time I have to do this I'm going to rig up away of testing the drag/slip point with weights. I think that would be a far better measure of the drag/slip point before and after tweaking the spring clip.
 
Vic, if you're still tooled up, I have an experiment if you care to try it?

Take the loops and put a slight twist into them. Not much, just a degree or two. My reasoning is that way the spring won't just drag on the bottom of the gear's slot, but will also drag on the sides.
I'd be curious to see if your 5.2lb pull spring will get better. I'm thinkin' it will.

No twist
View attachment 343185

Twist.
View attachment 343186
I have one that I can try that on Jim. Trouble is, you bend them and install and you get one drag reading. Remove and reinstall the same clip and you get a different reading, usually much lower. I will however try that tonight when I’m in my indoor lab. Another thing I noticed was the ends of the clips are not finished uniformly. Some are cut off leaving a square, sharp edge where others are more rounded. I think it would be best to round the clip ends so they don’t dig into the groove in the gear.

Stay tuned for my report!
 
Well the experiment is done. I tested the gear that had the min. 5.2 lb pull resistance. I worked my way around the gear and tested the pull at every 45 degrees because the tension isn’t the same all the way around the gear. My digital weigh scale doesn’t have a peak hold feature so I’m watching and estimating the peak load at each measurement point. Once again the minimum pull was about 5.2 lbs but in a couple of spots it was as high as 7.0 lbs.

I removed the clip and put a slight twist in it. I reinstalled it and tested again. Seems the minimum may have increased by close to .4 lbs but the max moved at one point to just over 8.0 lbs.

In conclusion I think Jim’s twist of the clip can help, but the biggest gains are from bending the clip with the drill bits. As I mentioned before, repeated installation and removal will result in lost tension. Later tonight I’ll try to rebend the clip to seek max tension, including the twist.

IMG_7568.jpegIMG_7569.jpeg
 
Are you doing as 5twins recommends...
just rolling the clip onto the gear and not pushing it on?
Yes but it’s quite a stretch from the originally bent form to getting it into the gear’s groove. When first bent, the tips of the clip are nearly touching each other. When installed, the tips are over 33mm apart. The metal has some spring to it but some is lost on installation.

464B2E77-F0EF-4AB0-A177-AC41DDE270A4.jpeg
 
Ok final tests done.
- removed clip and re-bent with 3/16 drill bit in center and two 1/4 bits applying pressure
- squeezed until tips touched each other
- reinstalled on gear with minimal stretching to fit
- tested at 8 points
- tested 2X - 720 degrees rotation
- positioned gear so applied load was at 90 degrees to the clip’s arm
- hooked the digital gauge and hooked the corner of the gauge body on the vise. Load was applied by applying force so the gauge “rotated” around the point of contact on the vise. This was much more controlled than just pulling on the gauge by hand
- a total of 18 measurements were taken
- average was 8.74 lbs (pretty good👍)
- note: multiple readings at the same point never yielded the same number - very inconsistent

Yes I know the marks on the gear aren’t perfectly spaced apart but for the price paid, this is the accuracy you get. lol

Test lab is now closed for the day.


IMG_7569.jpegIMG_7575.jpegIMG_7578.jpegIMG_7585.jpegIMG_7583.jpeg
 
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