Checking and lubrication of starter chain; making a new starter cover gasket.

This is a very simple post but I list it for completeness and because often the obvious stuff is hardest to find! I have been concerned about the general noise from the electric starter mechanism, I didn't know if its clutch is slipping or if the chain is worn. There is also no provision for lubricating the starter chain and I doubt this has been done since the bike was new.

Stripping is very straightforward, you need to remove the leg shields and the gear-change lever. This means removing the single retaining bolt on its underside completely. The split in the lever can be enlarged by wedging with a screwdriver before the change lever is pulled off its splines.

Next remove the  rear lhs sprocket cover, simply two bolts at top and bottom, I found the bottom one was slightly longer although I note the parts manual says they are the same at M6 28mm.

Rear lhs sprocket cover, retaining bolts top and bottom

This reveals the neutral switch connection (green/red wire) which is a bit odd; there is no terminal on the wire, it simply pushes through a hole in the brass post of the switch and is held by spring pressure. 

It simply pulls out

Electrical connections to to the alternator need to be disconnected; these comprise one multi-block connector and one bullet connector (black lead) and are hidden beneath the rubber protective boot under the frame.

The second (rearmost) wire loom clamp has to be removed.

The second wire loom clamp needs to be removed to put enough movement into the leads.

The alternator leads are pulled out of the boot and disconnected at the multiblock (centre) and black wire bullet seen here hanging free on the left

The starter cover is held on by 4 bolts, at the top, bottom and both sides. 

The retaining bolts are of uneven length- here they are in plan, the longest bolt goes to the bottom

The cover then pulls off although it is retained by magnetic attraction of the coils on the inside of the cover and the magnets on the rotor. The top and bottom bolts are fitted through orientation bushes to keep the cover in the correct place. This is important because the coils which must fit into the rotor must be positioned correctly.

The cover then pulls free.

There is a gasket beneath the cover but provided the oil seals are functional its main purpose is to keep environmental dirt out rather than keeping oil in. In my case it was fragmented when I removed the cover.
This exposes the starter mechanism, the chain loops behind the alternator rotor and over the drive pulley at the top.

Starter mechanism, chain behinds rotor, remains of gasket visible.

Starter mechanism- note positioning bush in upper screw hole.

I ordered a complete gasket set (Hi Level 995263) as this was only twice the cost of a separate starter cover gasket. To my surprise this kit doesn't include a starter cover gasket which is surprising since the kit is specified for electric start models! I'm not going to buy a gasket separately so I will make one out of nitrile sheet- this should be reusable. The upper positioning bush remained in the crankcase, but the lower came off with the cover and has to be removed before I can draw around it to make a gasket.  These bushes cannot simply be grabbed as they will crush, its necessary  to insert a 6.5mm drill to fill the centre and prevent crushing

... before wrapping a short strip of nitrile around the bush

... and withdrawing it together with the drill bit using a pair of pliers.

I also removed the cable clamp nut and guide plate (8mm)

Cable clamp- bottom and 8mm retaining bolt (bottom).

The cover would now lie flat and I placed it on a sheet of nitrile to draw around.

The case lies flat once the cable guide and position bush are removed.

I laid the shaped nitrile on the back of the case and used a drill bit held in my hand to drill through the nitrile above any one hole. Doing it this way let me locate the holes by feel. I could then tap it out neatly using a 6mm hole punch before I and threaded a bolt though the gasket and case to hold it in position whilst the next hole was felt and marked with the drill bit, punched out and a second screw inserted. Inserting a screw into each new hole helps to hold the gasket in position so that it should fit when finished. Once all holes had been punched I removed the centre of the cutout and used an 8mm hole punch to enlarge the top and bottom holes to accept the positioning bushes. Make sure that the gasket doesn't foul anything either inside the cover...

...or inside the crankcase.


Gasket as finally produced.

I cleaned both gasket faces- note there was a small groove in the case (seen below) which I found blocked with grease. I assume that this is a drain hole and is needed so I carefully made sure it was clear.

Drain hole found in the cover- here its actually positioned at the top of the picture.

Having stripped the cover, I applied chain lube grease (aerosol) to the starter chain and checked that the clutch disengaged when the motor was turned with the kick-start.
Reassembly is simply the reverse of the stripping and was straightforward once the new gasket was available. I checked that the neutral light was once more functional, that the motor started and battery charge was obtained when running  before refitting the gear-change and legshields.