Total Motorcycle Community Forums

Hey everyone,
I recently purchased a 1980 Yamaha xj650 j Maxim that is in great condition and has been running wonderfully. However last night i went to start the bike and I just got a click click sound and the engine would not turn over. I was able to run with it and pop the clutch and it started fine this way. The battery is less than a week old and reads fully charged when I check the voltage. My neighbor is a car mechanic and he came by and taped lightly on the starter casing while I pushed the start button and it turned over a little. He told me that its the starter and suggested I take the starter in to a shop he knows of that can repair it. How do I know if this is the best route to go? And how can I be sure its the starter? He said the shop won't charge me a lot and should run me around $40-$60 for a repair if it needs to be rebuilt.
What do you vets suggest I am a new rider and very interested in expanding my knowledge so I can keep my bike healthy and running.
Thanks,
Ben

Sounds like the brushes in the starter are worn out and not making a good contact. Tapping the starter jars the brushes back forcing it to make contact.

This is a trick that is normally used on cars to get a few more starts out of a dying starter by tapping it with a hammer. Normally not used for a bike as one can easily bump start a bike.

Pezent wrote:And how can I be sure its the starter?

Well you said your neighbor is a car mechanic so I'm assuming he knows how to troubleshoot a non starting bike.

If you don't fully trust him you can apply battery voltage directly to the starter to see if it spins.

I took the starter apart and cleaned it up and put it back in and now it wont even turn over when i tap it. Def need take it in and have it checked out. The bike has been running great and still runs great when I pop the clutch and push start it. the brushes didn't appear to be run down. How much is a typical starter repair? I just want to make sure I don't get ripped. Gola is to learn this bike inside out so that I can make my own repairs.
Thanks ,
Ben

This bike mechanic says your neighbor the car mechanic is right.
Starters aren't hard to repair, but unless you feel like wrapping copper wire 10 thousand times around some magnets all in a very tight and ordered manner (and yes that's literally 10 thousand times) then I suggest you take it to them.

Pezent wrote: How much is a typical starter repair? I just want to make sure I don't get ripped.

Didn't he quote you $40-$60 already? Sounds very reasonable to me.