Help with Valeo starter:

[Major Softie]

When I met him a few years ago, Major Softie suggested that I lube something but what is it?Chuey

Well, he was wearing these leather pants, and he looked pretty good....

[Major Softie]

Chuey, I don't even remember the conversation, so I don't remember your description of the sound, but I probably was talking about lubing the bendix drive: the assembly on the front of the starter that shoves the starter gear out into the flywheel ring-gear. It would just be an attempt at quieting it down. If it doesn't work, you might just have worn parts in there and only new bushings/more-expensive-parts can make it quiet again.

[Garnet]

When I met him a few years ago, Major Softie suggested that I lube something but what is it?Chuey

Well, he was wearing these leather pants, and he looked pretty good....

OK I finaly got it.

[Dave Backmarker]

Chuey,
With all this talk of MS, I didn't see a response to the light glowing at night. That's likely the generator (that wants to say alternator) light that is glowing because either; you're running below the 3,500 rpm to where the alternator starts putting out amps, or, the alternator is starting to fail, or, the battery is dying and putting a big load on the system. Try running above 3,500 rpm and see if the light goes out.

BTW, I had starter problems and got fed up and replaced mine with a Nippon Denso from http://www.motoelekt.com/

Its a drop-in replacement and spins the R90S like a champ.

DaveM
1975 R90S, 2000 R1100RT

[Jeff in W.C.]

When I met him a few years ago, Major Softie suggested that I lube something but what is it?
Chuey

Not quite what he ment, but here's Chuey and MS about three years ago.

[Chuey]

Yes, we met at a bar. It was so hot I thought my windshield would melt. When I went in, I asked for a Perrier. The bar lady said "Is that hard liquor? Because if it is hard liquor; we don't serve hard liquor." I regrouped and asked if they had mineral water. We had a good time. Duane drove by in his Camry and didn't stop in to say hi. There was a guy from the Northern California BMW club, the club that arranged this warm gathering, who makes his own striped wires to match original BMW wire harnesses. A lot went on, but I never did figure out the problem with the starter.

Chuey

[Chuey]

And to Dave M, it is a pretty new Valeo. It sounded this way from the beginning. The charging system seems to charge well. The battery is a pretty new Odyssey. The diode board is from Motolektrik. Solid mounts. By all rights, it shouldn't have a gen light problem. It's never given any indication other than the light, that anything is wrong. I'm hoping that the grounding harness will make the difference.

Yesterday, I made and installed the harness and made a new ground cable that runs from the negative battery post to the transmission vent bolt. This is the second one I've made and they are superbe!

Chuey

PS (edit): My bikes like to be revved and I am an old man but don't treat my engines that way. The engine sees healthy amounts of RPMs as a matter of course.

[Chuey]

Update. Tonight, I put in the original starter. I'm not sure which bike it came from but it's a Bosch. The red wire than comes from the big spade terminal on the diode board was shorter than I would have made it. It came with the aftermarket diode board that I got from Euro Motolektrik. It has the word "eagle" in its name. Anyway, the ring terminal came off the wire. Boy is that bogus!

When the Bosch was all buttoned up I tried to start the bike. No go. The starter sounds like it is very tired. It got the juice but turned over very little and then stopped.

Tomorrow I'm going to call Rick at Motolektrik and see about getting a rebuild kit for the Bosch and maybe one of those Japanese starters.

Chuey

[ME 109]

Depends on what the problem is with the Bosch.......I think the windings would be a $ issue if they were tired.
The field coils are easy enough to get re-insulated. The bendix drive is easy to replace.
My ol Bosch is still going strong after a temporary field coil repair four years ago.
But I do like the reports on the Nippondenso!

[dwire]

Interesting accounts on alternative starters that are NOT OEM Bosch.

I'll take everyone's "junk" Bosch units. Yes, fields and armatures "do" go bad. With the starters, it's far more likely the rear and front (nosecone) armature bearings fail and the armature is dragging against the field windings. We'd commonly see failed bearings ten to one compared to field or armature windings - and I AM talking about units as old as these and from many more much older - like their larger and older 6-volt cousins for vehicles. The same cannot be said of DELCO designed and/or branded generators' windings, 6 and 12 volt. Those were problems up through the mid fifties for some reason. One day I hope to find the prints for all of these units as I have full sized originals somewhere in my packed up life - an interesting part of history, now all but forgotten.