Starter Gear won't hold

[flathead1957]

I have had my starter gear replaced by a reputable local mechanic and my starter is starting to click as I Kick start the bike. In other words, The tranny won't allow the motor to turn over to start the bike. Does anyone have any ideas ????

[koanes]

More info needed. What are you riding?

[flathead1957]

I have a 46 WL. i originally had the starter gear replaced immediately after the bike was purchased. As I was restoring the bike, I took the engine and tranny back to this guy and he replaced the cluster gear. Now, two months after the bike is back together, and after only 12 miles, the starter gear seems to be slipping again!!! I can't even ride the bike. Needless to say I am very upset. I have been waiting a year and a half to ride this thing and now it's in the shed again until I get this resolved. I live in Warren, MI if anyone know a more capable mechanic or has any ideas at all.

[Erdos]

I had a similar problem with my 47wl. When I opened the tranny I discovered The kicker gear that was used was for an earler tranny it fit and looked perfect the diffence is the early gear is smaller in diameter and doesn't fully engage. That is one possible problem.

[flathead1957]

I would like to think this "mechanic" would know to use the right parts. He has been doing work in the Detroit area since the 40's when his Father was a Harley dealer and then an Indian Dealer as well. I guess stranger things have happened though. Who did your repair? Did you do it yourself? I am scared to "F" any thing up, if you know what I mean.

[Erdos]

I do not claim to be an expert. I just wanted to let you know one of the possible causes. I did the work myself but if you are not comfortable with tranny work I would send this to someone else to check. You have to disassemble the whole tranny to get to this gear and there are alot of needle bearings, spacers, and other things to mess up. I would hope that the mechanic that did the work would repair any mistake he might have made for free. If not find someone else to do the work.

[Buster]

Kicker slipping

I am not an expert either, but I did rebuild my transmission and will take a guess. It sounds to me like the heads on the two tripper bolts have worn off. Ask your mechanic if he replaced these. They only cost about $15 total and should be replaced in any transmission rebuild. If this is the answer, unfortunately all parts in the transmission have to be removed to get to them. They fit into the transmission case on the clutch basket side. Good luck.

[Paps]

I agree with Buster's conclusion on your tranny problem. Your symtoms certainly coincide with worn tripper bolt heads. Paps

[flathead1957]

OK ya'll I went back to mechanic "X" today and told him I had some very reliable sources that point towards the tripper bolts. He is going to take the bike back and check this out. I really appreciate all the responses.

[Jack_Hester]

These tripper bolts are made to be rotated, if you don't want to replace. Even if they look good, I will rotate them to expose a new surface to the starter gear. It is rare that I've ever seen one rotated. Some worn so bad that I don't know how the starter gear ever caught it. 'Back in the day', the philosophy of rebuilds dictated that you retain as much of the original, even if it was only to cut expenses. So, replacement was not the first thing that a wrench would look to do. And, you can get at least 4 good turns per bolt, before going to new ones.

Jack