Electric Start problems

[Tufftrax]

I know the Morini electric starter is often removed from bikes but mine was working fine until recently but has now developed a small problem and I'd like to fix it (myself if possible).

Usually starts first prod of the button when cold but fails to re-start every time when warm.

Just wondered if anyone else has had this problem and can advise how to sort. Bike starts via kickstart no problem at all but sometimes the starter spins and I can hear the engine trying to fire but doesn't.

I wondered if the (starter) oil level might need checking - an unusual feature for a starter motor!

Any suggestions please.......


Keith Holyoake

[3potjohn]

I have an electric start on my K .Someone said that this device causes as much trouble as the rest of the bike put together.They were not wrong.Mine had a tendency to not start the bike when warmed up.Or when cold.
I had mine to pieces,which is easy to do. I have rebuilt it, cleaned it,spent money at our local starter motor repair bloke, bought a new chain for it,bought the later heavier clutch drive for it (much better incidentally,the old ones made an ineffectual clacking sound, like a flamingo on mandrax, half the time.)
Oh yeah and then the new oil leaked out so I put a new oil seal in.
After all this newfound frequency of operation the starter relay had the temerity to weld its contacts together at last years trackday so I had to kick it.The relay, not the kickstarter,to get it to stop.Perverse isn't it.
So now I know how to dismantle and rebuild the metal cased relays.Someone from the pork pie districts sold me a new relay but it's a plastic bodied not-ever-waterproof type.Harrumph!
Only thing that hasn't happened yet is the starter button in the switchgear to fail. Mind you I keep a lizard eye on switchgear anyway.
Having said all this I rode from Exeter to Swindon on Friday via M5 (which was shut but there you go) and back via proper roads and it started perfectly every time.

[EVguru]

The starter pulls too much current, so if the battery, cables and solenoid aren't in tip-top condition it won't crank fast enough to fire.

A slightly weak ignition system (that otherwise isn't giving any problems) won't help either.

My '77 350 Sport is sometimes almost impossible to kick when hot. I have to ease it over compression and then give it a go.

Morini fitted a 26Ah battery to late electric starts (pre front mount starter) in an attempt to get enough cranking amps (especially as the battery ages). I put a 13Ah Hawker Odyssey (enough to crank a 1400 Harley) on a 500 Sei and that starts very well.