Bonneville America Forums Forums Technical Forums General Tech HELP! Not Starting!

Ok, so as the subject says, I need some help. I'm hoping someone is watching the Forums on a Friday and can help me out.

I was sitting a stop light with some jerkoff cager pulling closer and closer to my rear tire...I was anxious to go, so I was sitting on with the clutch on the friction point waiting for the light to turn. When I went to go, I let the clutch out and it popped as if I were giving it no throttle and the bike jerked HARD. After that, when I tried to hit the start button, it didn't turn over, just whirred. I made sure I was in neutral, turned the key off and back on and tried it again.

It's making a sound like an electric motor spinning freely, not even trying to turn the engine over.

Anyone have any idea what I did or how to fix it?

Hmmm, I have had a starter do something like that on a car, the bushing on the starter gear failed, or a broken tooth on the gear. Can you pop the clutch and start it?

I'll have to try that later. It's a couple miles away and it's dark already, so I'm not sure ho much I'll be doing tonight.

The problem sounds internal and serious. Probably not the starter directly but the gear train the starter drives. There is an idler gear and driven gear with a sprag clutch linking the starter to the crank. The idler gear shaft bushings have been known to fail. If you push start the engine, listen for any weird sounds. Is the bike still under warranty? If you are over on your warranty and the idler bushings are broken, Triumph has been known to still cover on warranty.
Good luck.

Gah! I hope it's not that, but I wouldn't be surprised. It was a pretty jarring jerk. I'm going to run out in the morning and see if I can find any loose wirings between the relay and the starter, but I'm not terribly hopeful after reading that.

I would NOT PUSH START the bike before pulling the primary cover for a look. If the starter idler gear broke and you push start the bike you may cause more damage. This is a known problem on earlier bikes and so far Triumph has been footing the bill for the fix.

Eeeeeks... may be the sprag clutch on the starter drive. Or the starter drive.. doesn't sound good either way.

Really good argument for that kick start I wish our bikes had. If the castings broke for the idler gear and Triumph wouldn't pay for the fix then the fix would be pull the primary cover toss that gear in the spare parts box put it back together and have a kick only bike.

I was just back out there and the whirr is definitely coming from the starter motor spinning freely. No grinding or crunching or anything. Makes a good case for the Sprag clutch I think, but I am the worlds worst mechanic, so I'm not a good judge.

Looks like I'm getting a tow in the morning.

This is an '07 America. Obviously not in the "earlier bikes" category, but I should still be under warranty.

Ugh...This sucks, it's supposed to be 80 and sunny tomorrow.

I meant to post an update, but I have been trying to keep my mind off motorcycling, as they said it would be 2 weeks, but it's been 2 weeks tomorrow and the parts aren't even here yet.

Supposedly, a structural piece inside the case snapped. It held a pin that held a gear that engaged the starter to the motor. Not the technical terms, but that's the way the shop explained it. I'd like to see that part that broke.

So...Anyone in the Chicago are have a spare bike to lend a lonely rider?

This is why a man should have 2 bikes....

Yep, that's what we were concerned about. That structural piece holds the idler gear shaft. If it breaks the engine case has to be replaced. There have been numerous posts on the issue.

Everyone hopes theirs doesn't break because unlike most other issues, you cannot fix it without half an engine case and possibly the clutch cover.