Starter clutch issue?

Had the starter not engage it's clutch when trying to start. It was cold - around 0C/32F, and the bike had been sitting for ~2 weeks due to my jaunt with the plague.

Basically, I tried starting the bike, and the starter engaged, but just free spun for a second, at which point I let go of the start button in surprise. It engaged fine after that, but the engine seemed to miss firing twice when it first started, that air pumping wump-wump.

It was just a "clean" spinning sound, no horrible noises.

Just wanted to swing by and get confirmation:

The starter engaged it's clutch via rotational speed, correct? So this could simply be a case of battery out in freezing temps for a couple weeks and a little low, so not initially spinning the starter fast enough to engage the clutch?

I'm thinking this is the case, particularly as other than that start the bike has always fired instantly, but plague-ridden me didn't plug in my battery tender which is normal procedure for very cold weather.

But yeah, wanted to confirm how the starter clutch worked, just to be sure there's nothing to worry about.

 

My Seca starter clutch does not always engage when bike is hot, when it stops working completely , I will pull the engine and split the case. Personally I would not be too worried about it . The clutch did not fully engage and the springs did not push the rollers into place , if your battery is low and temp low then yes this can cause problems with starter not spinning over fast enough . Cheers, glad you got over the Plague.

 

when i had my starter clutch out, i had to play with it a bit just because i could.
now this is on the bench with just some lps2 sprayed on all new parts. it engaged every time with zero slip no matter if i tried to turn it very slowly or snuck up on it and tried to spin it fast. hand pressure couldn't make it slip. i thought it was strange that it didn't slip even a little but after many tries, it doesn't slip at all.
originally tore it apart because it slipped cold and rarely when hot. found the holder for the spring, pin, roller things cracked in three places, actually it was broken into three pieces

 

Well, that isn't good news at all.

 

when i got the bike the PO said something was wrong with the starter. i rode it that way for about two months, no telling how long he rode like that. now if the slipping made it crack or it cracked then slipped, i have no way to tell. there was no sludge in the springs and it looked clean, just cracked.
i've only seen 1 or 2 other posts about this so it must be rare and i'm just lucky.
sooner or later you'll fix it. the only difference it might cost a little more. i wouldn't stop riding it, if it's broke, it won't break any worse

 

Welp. That's that, then. Starter clutch flat out failed today. What a terrible sound.

Sadness.

 

That's not good, mine actually did the same thing the other day... It has not failed though, and it was cranking extremely slow (sitting in a cold parking lot for hours while I was at work). Thinking my problem may just be a bad battery

 

Before giving up ...try changing oil , try heavier spec oil I switched to 20/50 and this helped... Just DO NOT use synthetic oil.

 

Don't really want to go heavier than the 15w40 now, as it's below freezing most days from here on out. It'll start if stone cold, but any warmth at all and it slips (and makes that horrible sound).

I've got a spare motor, so I'll swap it in while I work on the current one. Good way to ensure the spare works nicely

 

Why not synthetic oil ??

 

Forgot about this.
I cleaned it up, changed to heavier oil after all, and it's been fine since. It'll still be an issue that needs resolving eventually, but it's starting fine now so that'll do.

 

Most have antifriction additives. Easy to end up with clutch slipping with synthetics.