starter not disengaging

[kb0nly]

Another thought on this- the starter is one of the grounds for this system. If the ground on the battery is loose could the whole system be shorted? Could a bad battery cause this? Could the starter not really be powered but the spring that throws the shaft out be "stuck" causing the reduction gears to stay engaged with the starter shaft? Then it would "sound" like the starter is running. I'm just brainstorming here

These starters don't kick out like an auto type starter, they run through a set of gears and the one way starter clutch behind the flywheel. The starter is always engaged with the gears.

[djm0242]

Come to think of it I know you are right. Because I put a set of brushes in my starter. Well I guess I'm unclear as to why or how the starter would ever stop spinning?

[gladiator mice]

i have never taken apart the bottom end of a trike (never really needed to). i looked up to see what this part looks like and the diagrams are not clear enough for me. can anyone tell me or show me what exactly i need to replace (the one way clutch, is it the outer or inner?) i can get ahold of a flywheel, magneto, and one way clutch cheap/used. any help would be great.

[RubberSalt]

I agree with Howdy, this is an issue with the starter solenoid.

Power goes from batter to solenoid to starter. The solenoid is an electronic switch. Lower power moves a chunk of metal and shorts out 2 large contacts. It allows current directly from the battery to the starter. If the solenoid is dirty internal, it can stick. Sometimes they weld themselves together from being held open to long and dirty.

My 77 gold wings had a similar issue; it wouldn’t release the starter immediately. I pulled the solenoid apart, cleaned up all the contacts, works great now.

[kb0nly]

Come to think of it I know you are right. Because I put a set of brushes in my starter. Well I guess I'm unclear as to why or how the starter would ever stop spinning?

The starter turns a set of gears that turns the gear behind the flywheel, that gear is engaged to the flywheel by centrifugal force. When the starter spins the gear there is a set of rollers, think like recoil starter dogs, that wedge out and catch the inside of the back of the flywheel and pulls the motor over, when the motor fires and starts to spin that pushes those rollers back so they are not engaged and the flywheel can now spin independently of the starter gear.

If you hit the start button while the engine is running it won't do anything because the flywheel is already spinning faster than the starter gear and so the rollers won't engage to the flywheel. Its a really simple yet ingenious setup. I know the first time i took one apart years ago i was like how the heck does this work? LOL

If the starter is always spinning, even when the engine is NOT running then its an electrical issue, starter button or starter solenoid. If its spinning all the time the engine is running but still works to spin over the engine to start it, and it stops with the engine being shut off, then its mechanical and is either the starter clutch behind the flywheel or the one-way clutch on the other side.