Starter noise

[forjj]

When I bought my 2000 I/S a few years ago, the started sounded different than the 97 standard I had before. It starts fine, just has a clicking sound when I engage the starter.  I have ridden the bike about 10k miles, and I have never had a problem with it starting, so I am not sure I want to do anything about it, unless it is an easy fix... Any ideas???


jj

[gordonv]

How many miles do you have on the bike total, and what kind of work are you willing to do?

My first thought was a missing tooth from a past Hydrolock.

I would pull the starter sometime you aren't using the bike (winter), clean it right up. Then inspect in the engine case the starter gears, and see if any teeth a missing.

If nothing found, then at least you've done some pre-maintenance on the starter.

[John Schmidt]

I'd first check to see if all the mounting bolts for the starter are tight. A loose starter will make a similar sound. But at the same time, if it happens to be loose that should make you wonder why it was removed to begin with.

[forjj]

The bike has about 22k miles on it.  The sounds hasn't changed on it since day one, if the mounting bolts are loose, wouldn't it get worse/looser over time?  I was hoping it was something easy, but I guess I will pull the starter this winter.  I am thinking about selling the bike this spring, so I figured I better fix it before I try to sell...