starter problems

So, the other day I got my carbs back on and went to fire it up, and nothing, just the click of the starter relay. If I tap on the starter it makes this noise like an old car horn (OOOOOOOGGGAAAAAA) but it wont turn the bike over. So I took it apart, cleaned everything really good, and re-greased and lubed everything. put it back on bike, and nothing, still same noise. I took it back out, and hooked it right to the battery, and it spun, but very slow, and not at a consistant speed, also, I could stop it with my hand. it is not easy to turn by hand either, and seems to get stuck in one spot when turning it by hand. Now I read somewhere in here that the brushes should be no less than 8.5 mm thick, and mine are a little smaller than that, so i know i need new brushes, but what would make it be so hard to turn. Also the motor does turn over easy if i put it in 3rd gear and push it. Any suggestions, cause Ive seen new starters are about $150. Also, forgot to mention that like a few others here, when i took my starter apart, it was full of oil, dirt, you name it. you couldn't tell where the brushes were on that end of starter, there was so much crap in there.

 

Going back a couple of steps...

Is the battery fully charged. If not the starter would be affected considerably.
If the battery is OK, then it may be suffering from being gummed up inside however you have taken it apart...
I took my starter apart a few months ago and it was full of grease and dirt and grime. Cleaned it out completely and installed new brushes. The only mistake I made was putting the brush plate back in about 90degrees out of whack. Which made it misbehave. Once that was done it worked perfectly. Your starter shouldn't spontaneously die - they are fairly robust pieces of electrics. Obviously power is getting to the starter but not doing much when it gets there. Check battery. Check connections. Check brushes are contacting the commutator (I cleaned my commutator with some very fine wet&dry paper). reassember EXACTLY as per diagram in Haynes manual making sure the brush plate is seated EXACTLY as per diagram.
See how you go.

 

So do you think that the brushes are just too small and it's not getting enough power to the motor to turn it? I can get a new brush plate for $35 from a local dealer. The only thing that gets me about it is I read somewhere here that you should be able to move starter freely with hand and I can't barely move it at all, and like I said, it feels like it gets stuck in one spot every time.

 

You need new bushings more than new bearings, The howling is the shaft trying to spins in dry, worn bushings, which is also why it is so hard to turn. You might try taking the whole thing apart, purging it of all carbon brush residue, and re-greasing the bushings, and planetary gears. My starter motor used to make the same noise until I did that, now it's quiet. Your bushings may still be shot though, see how much side to side play there is in the motor shaft.

 

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