Help with Valeo starter:

[the quinner]

On my 1984 R100RS, The Captain, the starter is kind of thrashy sounding. One thing that I think may be happening is that it may not be releasing from the flywheel as soon as it should. Is there something I can lube to help that? When I met him a few years ago, Major Softie suggested that I lube something but what is it?

Chuey

Chuey,

I tried to stop and visit you, but you weren't open, yet...I bought some grips from the cycle shop down the street...

You can do a ghetto lube that helps some starters...remove it from the bike, lean it against something so that you can soak the bushing in the end (the nose end) in a small puddle of oil. That is, put about a 2cm of oil in a peanut butter lid and prop the starter so the nose bushing is submerged in that oil. Let it sit for a day or two, then wipe off the excess. This won't fix a truly knackered bushing, but can quiet down a dirty bushing. Regular use helps, too...maybe swap it into a bike that gets ridden more?

[Jean]

Poor/dirty/corroded connections might cause this. You DID say the bike is not ridden very much. On the other hand, there are some little-bitty diodes on the back of the "normal" diode board that go bad...and the light WILL stay lit if this happens. They CAN be replaced and all will be well.
Does your diode board have a wired ground wire, or does it just depend on the screws in each corner for grounding? If it does not have an independent wire-ground, put one on.

[dwire]

Has this issue/issues been resolved yet?

If you've done any detective work to provide the kind folks here with, I am sure plenty will chime in if it does not become obvious to you what the problem is/was during your inspection/diagnosis/removal process.

Let us know.

[Chuey]

Poor/dirty/corroded connections might cause this. You DID say the bike is not ridden very much. On the other hand, there are some little-bitty diodes on the back of the "normal" diode board that go bad...and the light WILL stay lit if this happens. They CAN be replaced and all will be well.
Does your diode board have a wired ground wire, or does it just depend on the screws in each corner for grounding? If it does not have an independent wire-ground, put one on.

Hi Jean, thanks for the ideas. I ran the bike the other day and it seems that I have cured all the problems. The new Nippon Denso starter is great! Also, I made a very stout grounding harness ala Rob Frankham. That seems to have cured the glowing light. I also made a new ground wire for the normal position. When I have the camera out, I'll take a picture of it. It looks pretty cool and is tailored to fit perfectly with the Odyssey 925L battery I'm using. Oh, solid diode board mounts, recent brushes, all things tidied up according to everything I've read.

Chuey