Starter Clutch Help!

DianneB · Post by **DianneB** » Thu Sep 15, 2016 4:40 am

cknight wrote:... the Honda service manual says to put a light coat of extreme pressure lube on the rollers....

I used a dab of axle grease in each to hold everything in place during re-assembly and it works fine.

Tim Allman · Post by **Tim Allman** » Thu Sep 15, 2016 1:06 pm

I think it's worth disassembling the rotor assembly to have a good look at the clutch casting. I had one crack once upon a time, leading to failure of the clutch to work.

redblk63 · Post by **redblk63** » Thu Nov 03, 2016 6:01 pm

By the way, I want to second the "check the screws are tight" advice. These are the 3 allen screws. Mine came loose after a few thousand miles. They make a hell of a noise when they grind against the engine case!

You might even use loctite, as I did the second time.

Enjoy,
Larry

marzini · Post by **marzini** » Mon Jul 31, 2017 6:38 pm

My '62 cb77 hasn't had a starter clutch for the 40 years it's been in my family, so I have no idea how easy it could be to rebuild, such as it is. I just got the bike working for the first time since my grampa had me replace the rings in 1977— and it has never had a starter motor until recently.

I just got a starter clutch on ebay from a '62 ca77 which seems to be complete (including the dowel that locks the clutch to the rotor. But the 3 springs, 3 spring caps and the 3 solid cylinders weren't included— so, again~ I didn't take it apart to begin with…

The 9 rebuild parts came today. Could someone please endeavor to describe the procedure in some detail (in spite of how easy it is to accomplish on the bench if you've had the good fortune to have just taken it apart)?

I know that technical writing isn't ever easy (cuz that's what I do)— especially when describing easy things~ almost not worth the trouble… Even so, that's why I'd really appreciate any tips— especially on how to get it back in!!

For example: does the stator need to be removed in order to install the rotor/starter clutch~ that kind of super obvious insight is really important.

For example: I read somewhere that it is advisable to rotate the rotor in a certain direction while pushing it onto the crank, then somehow aligning it with the key~ another tip that I would really appreciate hearing about from those who know.

pemdoc65 · Post by **pemdoc65** » Mon Jul 31, 2017 9:15 pm

I think that it would be difficult to replace the starter clutch with the stator on, since the starter chain runs behind the stator. The stator is easy to remove anyway. You will need to pull the Woodruff key from the keyway after you pull the rotor off, clean out the slot in the crank, place the key back in. When you go to replace the rotor, rotate it until you feel the key go into the keyway. If it doesn't then go on easily when you tighten the rotor bolt, stop. Sometimes the rollers in the starter clutch can catch and gall the surface of the starter sprocket. I ruined a good starter sprocket that way. I used a light coat of motor oil on the surfaces of the crank and the starter sprocket to ease assembly. I did not use any grease on the rollers in the starter clutch.

marzini · Post by **marzini** » Mon Jul 31, 2017 10:45 pm

OK and yay!! Thank you for the warning about those parts galling the starter sprocket on assembly from personal experience, pemdoc!!

It looks like that might have happened to one of the two starter clutch sprockets that 305racer sent me almost ten years ago along with the starter-motor, solenoid, HT cable, boot and chain (gas tank, petcock, side panels and rh side-case too).

I've had the stator off enough times in the past. I just wanted to make sure that I am supposed to remove it for this operation …but you mentioned that bit about the chain. I don't think I need to deal with the chain at this point…

The starter motor, chain and sprocket were installed by me in years past (with critical bits supplied by LM) and I have only very recently been riding the bike (up and down side-streets) just as it had been set up before we got it so many years ago— with the rotor in (minus the starter clutch).

So, nothing I need to know in particular about installing the parts in the starter clutch housing? Spring, then cap, then roller~ and they are more-or-less held in position by their own tension, I guess…

Maybe I'll do it tomorrow!!

marzini · Post by **marzini** » Tue Aug 01, 2017 9:31 pm

Dangs— that WAS easy! haha!! I didn't use any lube anywhere and rotated the rotor clock-wise as I eased the starter-clutch over the starter-sprocket. The starter-clutch rollers are already over the body of the starter sprocket before the Woodruff key is aligned with the slot on the rotor.

At that point, I slid the rotor straight into the crankshaft taper and tightened the rotor's bolt a little bit with a hammer, an impact-driver and a 6-point 14mm socket.

It probably is possible to do that with the stator in place, but it is easy to remove the stator anyway and without any magnetic influences, the installation was void of issues.

I did have one challenge I needed to address that I should mention though. The used starter clutch housing I got was dented over two of the recesses where the rollers live, so the rollers wouldn't slide in.

The clearance between the roller and the un-dented recess under the housing's steel cover was .010".

I flexed the bent areas of the housing cover out with a small adjustable-wrench. With a roller in place, I inserted the .010" feeler gauge between the roller and the steel housing-cover and tapped the area over the roller with a small hammer to flatten the cover. That worked to straighten out both damaged areas.

Fitting the springs, caps and rollers was very easy and all the parts stayed in place during installation over the starter-sprocket without lube.

I was fortunate to have acquired a serviceable part from the ebay-seller in the end. My bike started up instantly!! That's a pretty cool button~ and now I know what it does!!