This morning I went out to start the bike to go to work. I hit the start button and the starter turned, but not the motor. Hit it again and the motor turned a little, but then starter disengaged from motor and spun. It did this a few times, turning the motor over more with each time. After about 6 or 7 tries, it turned the motor over about 1.5 seconds and bike started up fine.
I have owned the bike about 2 months and have not had any trouble at all with the starter. Talked to the previous owner and he noted of no problems in the last 2 years of riding it (bike was not ridden for about 10 years before that).
The other factor for this morning was the temperature. It was just below freezing this morning, and the shed is not heated (have not convinced the wife it needs to stay in the house yet).
I just went outside and tried to crank the engine. motor did not turn over more than half a second and it fired right up. The bike has been sitting for about 4 hours after getting to work, and the temperature has warmed to about 45 F.
My main concern is if this is a starter concern or if these older bike starters can have issues in cold weather like some of my old truck starters.

It sounds like it may be your battery and not your starter motor but not 100%. When batteries become cold there ability to crank out the necessary power to start your bike becomes less. I keep my battery warm and ready to crank by keeping it hooked up to my Battery Tender Charger. My battery tender charger came with two sets of wires, one for quick hook up and the other for long term hook up. The long term hook up has to round connecters that go right over the batteries negative and positive. Right now I have the long term connecter connected to my bike with the wire that connects to the charger sticking out just a little out of the side cover. You may also want to look into Synthetic Oil for your bike if your going to do a lot of cold riding because of it greater ability to keep it’s viscosity at extreme temperatures.

I had this sort of behaviour with a Suzuki GS1150 that I was re-building. I replaced the starter motor, the starter clutch and the battery only to find that it was the first thing I should have looked at - the starter solenoid.

Try jumper leads from your car battery first - if it cranks OK then it could be your battery going out / not charging properly. If there's no change, try another solenoid as this is the easiest to change (you might be able to borrow one from your local wreckers / breakers if they let you). After that, starter motor, starter clutch...

Cold weather shouldn't affect the starter motor performance - but it can affect battery performance. Wet cell batteries don't like being cold.

Did it again this morning. When I hit the starter button, I can hear the starter motor turning, it is just not engaging the motor. This morning it did it twice, but on the second time it did engage the motor for about .5 sec. On the third time I hit the button it engaged just as it should, and spun the motor normally until cranking (about 1.5 sec).
I may try to put a heater in the shed this weekend to try and keep it up about 60 F, and see if I have any problem then.
I appreciate all of the information, will update with any information or conclusions I come up with.

I'd start by checking all battery connections. Check that they are clean and tight. Then I would suspect the battery of being weak and old.

Hey Gang,

When the starter grinds and disengages, the problem likely lies with the starter clutch. I have the same problem with my Seca. I have a heated underground parking garage and a new battery, but the first few times I hit the button, it turns and then grinds.

This is caused by a build-up of carbon and muck in the lower engine case which makes an old clutch behave badly. A cheap, but temporary, fix is to drain half the oil from the engine and fill with kerosene (best do this when cold!). Let the engine run for a few minutes, then drain. I've had great success with draining this mixture and then filling the case right up with kerosene to sit overnight. Either way, once the kerosene mixture is drained, one should pour in some cheap oil and run the engine for a few minutes again to wash the sludge and kerosene out. Drain again, replace the filter, and fill with your favourite oil.

Usually gets me thru the summer.

Happy trails,
GG

I don't doubt that your method works, but I'd be more comfortable draining out a liter of oil and put transmission fluid in there and running that. I think you are right, it is the starter clutch. The starter motor is obviously working fine, and the starter solenoid on a bike doesn't work the same as it does on a car, i.e. is doesn't "throw out" that starter pinion gear, is simply closes the heavy switch for the starter motor to run. The starter clutch itself is a mechanical arrangement within the engine cases. The only one I have seen apart operated like a set of centrifugal weights that engages the starter motor to the engine. One the engine is running, it is spinning faster than the starter motor, so it no longer supplies torque to the engine.

mine does that also when it's cold out or the first time in the new riding season, like after it sits for weeks or longer. Just cruded up contact points.

And my ten cents worth to confuse you even more. I had exactly the same problem with my XJ550 the other day. I thought it was a crook battery. Turns out it was a crook seal in the starter. stripped the starter and it was a congealed mess of oil and worn brush dust. Couldn't source new brushes so I just cleaned it all up with degreaser and blew it dry with compressed air. Also lightly sanded the stator where the brushes contact and it has run sweet ever since. I still need to replace the brushes some time in the future.

Only takes an hour to remove, strip,clean and reassemble in the bike so it can be time well spent for anybody.

If your starter brush contacts are worn and not connecting correctly then the starter will draw more power than normally required. This can leave the ignition with less power for a spark resulting in harder starting.

It can also mean the starter is not turning fast enough to engage the starter clutch.


In short, there seems no easy answer, so you need to check everything mentioned here to eliminate the possibilities.