Posted by Rick Davis on July 16, 2000 at 18:30:28:
I have been on an '86 Savage for 3 or 4 weeks now, and last Thursday I walked out of work to ride home, and my starter would not turn over. Thinking that I must have left the key in "Park" position when I came back form lunch, I tried to jump the battery to no avail. Wouldn't turn over. So, suspecting a bad starter I had two very good buddy's push me through the parking lot, pop started the bike and rode home. I took the starter off and apart, and sure enough it was a wreck inside. There are four "arc shaped" magnet segments glued to the inside of the starter housing and they were all broken up, and had the starter locked up. The next day during lunch break I drove (my car- YUCK!!) over to the cycle shop and had them order an new starter for me ($330 YIKES!!!). The really bad news (even much worse than the price) was that it was going to take 5 to 7 days for them to get it. So, on Saturday night the withdrawls were bad enough that I found myself ripping back into the old starter. I removed all the old broken up magnet material and generally cleaned it up inside. What was left was roughly two of the four magnet segments that are 180 degrees apart from each other. Having an electrical background, I knew that this was potentially a good thing and decided to put it back together and give it a try. Lo and behold, it worked! As a matter of fact, it seems to turn it over as well as it did before. Anyway, I'm back on the road again and waiting with fingers crossed for it to hold out until I get the new starter. Here is my question for anyone out there who may have some electrical background and experience with this bike. The heavy cable that goes from the Starter Solenoid to the Starter also has a smaller wire attached that goes to what is described in the manual as the "Ignitor" box. At this point, I am seeing 6 to 7 Volts DC any time that the key is turned to the "On" position. When trying to start the bike, of course, I'm seening the full 12 volt battery potential. I'm just wondering if this 6 to 7 Vdc is normal, or if it had anything to do with the starter failure. I would hate to fry another $330 starter, so any comments anyone might have would be appreciated. Thanks!