Yamaha Venture/Vmax Starter Slip and Low Voltage

[luke000]

Hello everyone! I am taking time off from my boat restoration to fix a problem with my scoot that started in the beginning of the season when i took it out of storage. The bike in question is a 1987 Yamaha Venture Royale 1300. The other day the starter started not engaging, it would just spin, and sometimes it would grind (box of rocks sound) At first i would hit the starter button a few times and it would engage fully and then crank the motor (slowly but would start the motor) I thought this was a battery issue because my volt meter was not as high as it used to be (about 12v when charged), I had a 1 year old Deka AMG and i thought it just quit, so I ordered a new one- fully charged it- and nothing different.
The next thing I tried was taking off and cleaning the battery terminals and connectors, engine ground, and the starter hot lead. Again to no avail. Last season I installed a used 4-brush starter to replace the stock (working) 2 brush version.I thought maybe the clutch in the starter failed or it somehow died. So I just took that starter out and re-installed my stock one, charged up the battery, cranked it, and the new starter has not made a difference. The starter I took out did not have any stripped teeth and the gear inside the engine that it connects to looked great.
I am completely out of ideas on what to look at next as the root of my problem- Any help would greatly be great!! I have not used my bike much this season at all because of this issue.

 

[Sonreir]

The box of rocks sound is likely to be a starter clutch issue. I know several Yamaha models that suffer from it.

Is it any easier to use the electric starter if you hook up jumper cables to your car battery (do not have the car running when you do this)?

 

[luke000]

The box of rocks sound is likely to be a starter clutch issue. I know several Yamaha models that suffer from it.

Is it any easier to use the electric starter if you hook up jumper cables to your car battery (do not have the car running when you do this)?

DING DING DING! Starter clutch it is. The last Yamaha I had, the starter clutch was located inside the starter motor itself. That one died too. On my current bike it is inside the engine behind the flywheel. I pulled the unit apart, got a harmonic puller from Advance Auto, pulled the flywheel off and took the clutch apart and sure enough one of the 3 springs had snapped and mangled itself up, causing my problem. The rest of the clutch unit was in perfect condition- no dents, cracks, etc. So I ordered a $2.40 spring on ebay (could not find it locally) and I should have it fixed up tuesday

 

[hillsy]

You might want to put a voltmeter across the battery terminals when you get the bike running again to check the charging (it sounds like this might be a problem from your earlier posts).

You should get around 13v at idle and 13.5 - 14.5v at 5K rpm.