starter just spins after wreck...

[batman0330]

I've been workin on my bike the last several weeks and have had minimal good luck...I laid it down back in November and gashed my starter clutch cover (Thanks to the members here for letting me know that's what it was called )

I can only occasionally get the bike to start, and I first thought that it was due to a siezed open starter clutch...When I push the starter button, I can hear the starter turn, and the starter idle gear spin, but the bike doesn't even try to turn over. I've also notieced that when this happens, my clutch is stuck (I put it in gear, and even w/the clutch pulled I can't roll the bike).

When I was able to get it running the first time, it stalled when I put it in gear (I'm guessing because of the stuck clutch). The last time I had it running, I let her idle for some time, and I was able to get her in gear and ride for a bit...until I turned it off and she would just spin the starter gears again...

I'm at a loss - any suggestions??? Thanks!

[Black_peter]

These may be the same cause. If the clutch is stuck then you may have stripped the key (I'm assuming here) connecting the starter to the engine. The starter would have locked up (because the engine can't freewheel).
Actually you might not have an issue with the clutch at all but might have a lunched gear box. This is freewheeling the starter and locking up the output shaft.

[batman0330]

How hard would it be to fix/replace the gear box?

[Black_peter]

No clues sorry.

[batman0330]

How hard would it be to fix/replace the gear box?

Anyone?

[JaredL]

i dunno either but I would assume with a repair manual with pics and directions shouldn't be impossible or hard but mostly time consuming and maybe costly. there is a downloadable manual and I know some of the guys here might have a spare set of gears to sell you!

[batman0330]

Yeah - actually I did get the manual from this site - super helpful!!

I had talked to a mechanic at the dealer and he said that it could be a bent shifter fork...but he was giving me a worst case scenario (close to $2k to have them fix it due to all the time).

I'm wondering if I should drop a 'new' engine in...should be pretty straight-forward and I think I've seen a few write-ups on this forum...

Still open to other ideas...maybe someone has a trick to get the starter clutch off? Mine will just keep turning and turning...(and, actually, that is how I tend to get the bike to turn over - i'll turn the starter clutch, but because it just turns (i'm guessing the crankshaft?) it'll eventually get to a point where I can start the bike).

Again, thanks for everyone's help!!

[batman0330]

quick follow up - i was finally able to get the starter clutch off and cleaned. Now the bike starts and runs beautifully! Thanks for everyone's help with this.

[Black_peter]

Thanks for the update!!!