There is not a clutch on the generator. You might want to pull the generator and make sure the drive gear nut is tight. But I do not see when you push on the kicker this stops the noise if it has anything to do with the generator.

 

I don't know what the connection is to the kickstart, maybe it's just coincidental.
There is a clutch on the fan cooled generator but not the standard generator. I took the air intake cover off of the generator and saw the armature spinning after the ignition switch was turned off. I'm almost certain that the noise is the clutch spinning but I can't see that.
The question is what is causing the armature to spin? A bad regulator, ignition switch or generator? I had the generator rewound and replaced the regulator around 2.5 years ago.

 

I'm 90% sure it's the regulator that is the problem. I put on an old regulator that I new was n/g. THe lower relay in the regulator wouldn't suck in the contact and consequently didn't charge the battery. I could push it in manually and the light would go out and it would stay in. When I shut off the ignition the contact dropped out and no grinding noise. The regulator that was on the bike was just the opposite. It would suck in the contact and charge the battery but when the ignition was shut off ,it wouldn't drop out, maintained contact, and the generator ground away.

 

Sounds to me that you isolated your problem.
I know my pan goes thru regulators on a regular basis, and apparently it something that's gonna be a continuing problem.

Your fan cooled gen sounds cool? Ive never seen 1 is this something after market.
All I have is the 48 manual
Ride on.

 

The fan cooled generator isn't aftermarket. It's just larger and has a higher current generating capacity. It also has a fan to help dissipate heat.
My bike is an old Police Special so my guess is that they put the fan cooled generator on those models to deal with the extra load on the electrical system to run radios etc. Just a guess on my part.

 

I've gone through a few regulators but they've always failed by not charging the battery and the light wouldn't go out. This is the first one to fail this way. I hope that's the problem. I ordered a new regulator and hopefully will be here by the end of the week.

 

Be nice if you have the time for a few shots and add it to your albums for this old school stuff. Does it have the foot/tank shifter also. Thanks.

 

Rodger that GRF000. Thanks for your help.

 

I stand corrected I over looked the part about being a fan cooled generator sorry. Very sweet looking old pan!

 

Thanks 46u. I should get my regulator today and will post the results of replacing the old one. Hopefully, that is the problem.