83 Aspy Help needed

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roughrider6

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Hey guys. Well, My Father died in 2009 and I have come into possession of his 1983 Gl1100 Aspencade in red. :BigGrin: I will be honest. I am in love with this bike.

It might be easier if I just list problems with the bike:
1. Doesn't start
It quit running while my father was riding it in 2009. They got it to the shop (family garage) and he died before they could fix it. Only clues here are that my uncle (a fantastic motorcycle mechanic) said that he thinks the fuel pump went out.
2. Hooked up an auxillary tank and tried to turn it over, no dice
The starter would do naught but click. I did a search and tried to turn the motor after removing the spark plugs tried to turn the motor by the "rotor bolt", which led to:
3. motor won't turn over by the rotor bolt
I removed the starter, still can't get it to rotate.

I'm stuck. Can you guys please help me figure out how to turn this motor over by hand before I have to pull the heads off? I figure that if I can turn it by hand then (the starter turns with a little bit of effort by hand) I might be able to get this sexy girl running.


edit to add: Ok well I am a fool. I did not remove the rotor bolt cover before trying to turn the engine clockwise..... :oops: Engine turns over just fine. So tomorrow I will bench test my starter and go from there. I will follow Roadys tutorial to take the starter apart and look it over. thanks guys.
 
If all you hear is a click, the starter relay is energizing. Several possibilities:
Weak battery.
Bad relay.
Loose or bad starter cable.
Bad ground.
Bad starter.

The starter is not easy to turn by hand due to the reduction gear. The bench test will tell you its condition.

Once you get the engine to crank, turn it enough for the oil pressure light to go out. Then you can spray some starting fluid into the air filter opening and see if it will run. If it'll crank, but not fire with starting fluid, you probably have an ignition issue. Also, check the fuel tank and filter for debris. You can take the top off the fuel pump easily to check the valves and diaphragm.
 
I noticed you posted this in the Restoration forum which seems right to me. Restoring your dads bike, that's great bro!

2 of the biggest pains bringing a oldwing back.....hopefully it was stored with empty carbs so they didn't gum up with gas, and the gas tank isn't rusted.
Would be wise to hook up a gas feed from a separate container at first to get it running. Junk from the gas tank could clog the carbs.

Most importantly at the moment.....we need pics!
 
Welcome, It all depends if it quit while actually running or did it not start after turning the key off, after shutting off leads to starter/solenoid but just up and quitting while running down the highway would be ignition or fuel starvation.
Good luck with your project..I`m sure it will run again, Its a nice bike.
 
Pull all 4 plugs, put in 5th gear & turn rear wheel by hand. Should turn easily if motor is free.
 
Thanks for all the replys! Well I pulled the starter and it looked brand new when I opened it up. Seriously. No carbo on the bell end at all. So I reinstalled it. Also it turned happily when I bench tested it. Now I hook up a jumper to a battery and it only turns 1/2 turn. I've turned the motor by hand, it turns well. I have to wait for the funds to get a battery. I jumped the old school metal fuse with a fuse holder with a 30 amp fuse. It just seems like it's not getting quite enough juice. Even when I go straight to the starter bolt. Any ideas?
 
Did you clean and grease the drive gears in the starter head? Are the starter mounting bolts clean and tight?
 
No Sir. I did not even open the geared end. I swear it looked brand new. I will pull it back off and follow the tutorial. It does make sense. Wow, great first impression I'm making!
 
I have not tried it with the plugs removed and the starter on. I think I will pull the starter and tune it up then try it without the plugs on. One thing I have found is that I have to remove the exhaust to get the to the forward starter bolt. Can't get to it otherwise.
 
gee be carful on the gearhead its a bugger to get back together .. i wouldnt go there unless it feels lock up ... and it might be ...the gear head goes together wrong easier than it dose right .. but its all bound up and wont turn well or non at all
 
Allright folks. I pulled the starter and refurbed it, bench test good, installed on the bike, plugs in no dice. It tries to turn over but does not complete the cycle. So I pulled the spark plugs and it turned over happily. Put the plugs back in and it turns over 3 times very slowly. No more. Lots of hesitation. When I had the starter apart there was what looked like a gouge in the armature winding stack that went about 1/3 of the way around and 1/2" wide. I wonder if this is keeping it from having the torque that it needs. Methinks that there is a new starter in my future. What say the gurus?
 
Did you check to see that the field magnets were undamaged and complete? Many people tap the starter and fracture the magnets reducing field strength. If it is a gouged armature ( not a balance grind mark) then more than likely you are missing magnet parts. If no problems with starter fields etc then you probably just need a battery as a lot of jumper cables don't provide enough current without a battery to help them.
 
hmmmmm ..sounds like a problem ... that souldnt be there ...well the new starters out there are very low quality too ...so if complete starter is toast like and rebuild wont fix ...new all you have or used on ebay ... battery voltage has to be up for starter to good anyway ... ive been dealing in issues of this myself battery should read almost 13 volts to run starter good ... anyway good fixing to ya :headscratch: :builder:
 
Welcome to the forum, look forward to a fun bike, I have two of those, and new brushes and cleaning the computator segments fixed mine along with new grease in the gear head. It was my first starter rebuild. Yes be careful how the gears go back together. You might also clean the ground cable to the frame. Mine will crank happily when cold but struggles with a hot restart, fortunately it starts on the first 1/2 turn.

We still want PICS!
 

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