I put in a new bendix off e-bay, one of those heavy Duty ones, but my problem is that it takes 3-4 tries before it engages. if it doesn't it just seems to spin. I remember hearing about stretching the spring or something of that sort but can't find it. I still have the stocker which seems just as functional as the new one?
Any ideas?
Thanks

 

maybe try to put some heavy oil in it and try to keep things moving freely.

 

even if your battery is just alittle low that bendix won't stay in the flywheel much.

 

I put my battery on the charger overnight and it made no difference. Everything seems to be free, and there is no corrosion on anything

 

might have high resistance in starter or wiring,if too much fuel is entering combustion chamber,too much cranking requirement,i would run out of gas,clean area around plug,pull plug,crank with plug out to see how well it does that.

 

I had that problem on my '91 Trailboss 250. The starter was spinning too slow. It was filthy inside so I cleaned the brushes and lubed everything and it worked fine.

 

actually i noticed when i spin the starter with the bendix out, when it revs up you can here a squeal. Maybe the bearings are dry. Do they come apart easy??

 

the bearing should be sealed.. there is only one bearing in it just behind the gear you see that engages with the bendix. the starters come apart really easy and are not hard to put back together. if you can get the bearing out i would just take it to a bearing house and replace it.

 

Ok, this is what i did tonight. I took the starter out and apart and cleaned it. The bearing wasn't dry, but i added a little more grease. Volt meter said 11.85 at the starter and 11.08 when i ran it without a load? Is this normal? Then i inspected the bendix which looks and operates like new (but its an aftermarket jobby). Then I tried it out and it still only engages every 3rd time. I tried 0,1,2 washers behind it and no difference. I took the spark plug out and it worked 4 out of 5 times. I'm out of ideas on what to do next. It all started when i had a bad primary and the bike was stuck in low. I started it in gear and it slipped, now it won't stop.

 

Mechanike. i have heard from other people as well that low voltage causes problems, but i had an almost dead battery last year, and it still engaged but turned over real slow. Maybe i should gring a bigger lead in on the teeth?