This is my father's bike and I'm attempting to help him get this problem ironed out Bike is an 83 Shovel with the 5 spd transmission. The bike hasn't been ridden in almost 3 years. I was actually the one riding it when it quit. I took it for a spin to the gas station and on the way back to his place, the starter engaged while it was running. I pulled it over as quick as I could and pulled the battery as that was the only thing that would make it stop spinning.

Since then, we've replaced the starter and solenoid and that didn't fix it. So we pulled the primary cover off, pulled the starter back out and pulled the whole starter shaft, gears, etc. We did have to replace the seal from the primary cover to the starter as it was bent and out of shape.

The bearing and race seem tight and seem to fit well into the primary cover, so alignment doesn't seem to be the issue. There is no evidence of metal wearing on the new starter or on the large gear in the starter housing that turns the shaft. No evidence of any part of the assembly being worn out.

The collar does seem to spin with the shaft while in the bike. With the shaft pulled out, the bearing spins freely with no effort, so I'm not sure what the issue there may be.

With the cover off the primary case and trying to engage the starter, I can see that the shaft isn't turning. It is spinning loose at the starter and the gear in the housing. Could I be wrong and alignment of the shaft be the issue since that gear is free floating? Or do we need to just replace that gear? It seems to be in good shape and there was no evidence of any metal in the housing when we pulled everything so I don't know what to think.

Also, this may or may not be related but worth noting in case. My old man tried to install a kicker kit from JP Cycles on the bike while it was down. It has never worked. No compression just pushes down with minimal effort and doesn't return. Also, we we attempt to start the bike with the electric start, you can see the kicker bounce a bit. Not extreme, but it is being moved. Being that I don't have any experience with vintage bikes, I don't know if that is normal or not.

Sorry so long winded, just wanted to be thorough. Thanks in advance for the advice.

 

When the "starter engaged while it was running" probably took out the starter clutch.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-All-Ball...item259f94e93b

 

Starter clutch..........

 

Ah alright. That makes sense. I appreciate the link.