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Having been told by the PO that the electric start on my '82' 350 Sport would only work when the bike was hot I have not had a chance to test it til yesterday. And, surprise,surprise-NOTHING! Just a good old whine, rather like when a bendix is not engaging on other bikes. Can anyone point me on a trouble shooting path , and can anyone suggest a good, permanent fix. I d like to have it working, even if I never use it.TIA

It will benefit from being stripped cleaned and rebuilt.The starter gearbox may no longer have any oil in it. Mine ran well after I rebuilt it until last week when it became very sluggish. A clean out and fresh oil restored its function.
This may help.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=UfZv2OtD7Rc

You will need to drop the right hand footpeg and possibly the gear lever pivot before removing the cover to access the motor.

Good question - those who haven't understood the hand-built nature of our bikes and the occasional engineering compromises made in keeping them up to date will say don't bother.

The rest of us will say, ours work fine. My advice is to check out Paul's rebuild videos on YouTube and I think it's Franco (?) who does exchange rebuilt starter-motors on the fb group.

They can be pretty handy when you're fine-tuning cold running and it cuts out at the lights!
Good luck,
DD

Nowt worse than stalling in gear and having to find neutral to kick the thing into life in a crowded town!

Many thanks for your sage counsel

MDINA now have have the starter 'clutch' parts in stock @ £109 Inc vat

Did you ever get the motor apart? The videos mentioned will clarify.You can get it out of the case as its retained by 2 bolts through a metal plate.
My motor again started to be less than good. A quick strip of the gearbox unit revealed that the worm drive bearing was no longer fully seated in the case and nearly conflicting with the bronze gear but just got away with it.
I do not know if it migrated up in use or if I failed to seat it last time. Anyway it now works properly just it time for the ?penultimate MOT which makes the tester’s life easier.
You can jiggle the motor back over the chain to engage the sprocket .
John

3potjohn wrote: ↑28 Sep 2021 10:25 A quick strip of the gearbox unit revealed that the worm drive bearing was no longer fully seated in the case and nearly conflicting with the bronze gear but just got away with it.

The 609 bearing? It's semi floating in the case and held in place by the worm.

OK!
- shoes spin and flail out. Is there enough'meat' for them to grab the flywheel?
- what's this ('loose') tab for?

It's an eccentric stop to help set the chain tension.

EVguru wrote: ↑03 Nov 2021 13:07 It's an eccentric stop to help set the chain tension.

How does it work, and why is it loose? ( bolt done up tight)

I replaced the chain about ten years ago as there was evidence it was contacting the case. Pivoting the starter motor on it’s mounts to tension it was to no avail.No idea if the old one was original.
John

Syko wrote: ↑03 Nov 2021 16:40

EVguru wrote: ↑03 Nov 2021 13:07 It's an eccentric stop to help set the chain tension.

How does it work, and why is it loose? ( bolt done up tight)

You probably have the wrong screw (too long) or the threaded hole is bunged up with debris. The cam thing should be held in place when the screw is tightened. You can get away without it though!
I see you have asked on FB as well, so have you seen the youtube videos mentioned there (and here) and previously too? They will tell you all about it!

Many thanks