starter question

So, the old girl has been acting up. (still) She's been acting like the battery was going bad. She left me stranded a few times and started up with a jump. I checked/charged the battery and it was good. All I get is a click from the solenoid now. I have 12v at the battery. 12v at the solenoid. Very little drop in V when the start button is pressed. I pulled the starter and the starter gear will not spin by hand. Is this normal?

 

No it is not normal. You should be able to spin the starter by hand, though there will be some resistance, and it may not feel smooth.

The planetary gears have bushings in them that can wear out. Once that happens the nose gear (the one you can see) won't spin because the gears end up locked against each other. Ther are other causes to the starter locking up, but bushing wear seems to be the most common.
This link shows how to replace the brushes, but it also shows all of the internal parts, and how to get into the starter as well as how to put it back together.
http://xjbikes.com/Forums/viewtopic/t=45727/postdays=0/postorder=asc/start=0.html

All of the replaceable internal parts are available. Just PM Chacal.

 

I appreciate the feedback! This is my daily driver so I need her going. I was debating on getting a rebuild kit or trying to find a new one. Planetary bushings make since. When I opened it up I noticed white crust on the magnets inside. It came off easy with scotchbrite and I polished up the coil part and where the brushes touch, and it was still stuck.

 

This is the exact same problem I recently went through, click and fed light on button press. A rebuild of my starter following the link k-moe posted was the remedy. The rebuild kit from chacal had everything needed.

 

I got the kit and installed the new parts. Starts great now!