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Hey guys, I recently serviced my starter and chain on my '79 or 80 strada. It seems to start very well now but I cant get the pivot bolt lined up and screwed in. All other bolts are threading in and lining up. But when I seat the starter clutch into the flywheel housing it seems impossible to line up the long M6 pivot bolt. This is the bolt that goes all the way through the case and starter motor and into an elevated fitting on the case. I can get the other 3 or 4 bolts started and secured but the pivot bolt just wont line up with the elevated case mount. Has anyone run into this before? It seems like the proper place to have an eccentric mount for the pivot bolt but i'm now wondering if in tightening the chain i've screwed up the alignment somehow. I've basically been running it without the pivot bolt seated and the friction holds it in place. The starter motor is secured by the 2 m6 screws and cam lock up front.

Put the long bolt through the case whilst you're lining up and tensioning the motor. The bolt needs to be perpendicular to the case mounting face in both directions.

EVguru wrote:Put the long bolt through the case whilst you're lining up and tensioning the motor. The bolt needs to be perpendicular to the case mounting face in both directions.

Hi Paul, the long pivot bolt was in place while adjusting the chain tension. I guess i'll have to loosen the front screws up and keep trying until it all lines up.

I just rebuilt my starter motor using the excellent you tube guide Paul C had done.When I tried to remove the long starter motor bolts I found no insulating sleeves, just blooming black tape. I then remembered I had some 4mm high temp sleeving so cut some off the roll.Perfect. Other work including clean up the commutator, fit a new bronze gear,new brushes and a new brush holder. The old brush holder was hideously corroded for some reason. One new brush was a bit tight initially but soon fixed. Anyhow about an hour to rebuild the motor then I too had trouble with that long bolt. It has been a bit tricky before but this time I tried assembling with a loose starter motor and still difficult,maybe the starter end cover is a gnats out of line though it's hard to see how it could be.
Still with the adrenaline rush that was listening to Exeter v Hartlepool on the radio I did get it all on eventually.And the starter motor now works very well....

3potjohn wrote:I just rebuilt my starter motor using the excellent you tube guide Paul C had done.When I tried to remove the long starter motor bolts I found no insulating sleeves, just blooming black tape. I then remembered I had some 4mm high temp sleeving so cut some off the roll.Perfect. Other work including clean up the commutator, fit a new bronze gear,new brushes and a new brush holder. The old brush holder was hideously corroded for some reason. One new brush was a bit tight initially but soon fixed. Anyhow about an hour to rebuild the motor then I too had trouble with that long bolt. It has been a bit tricky before but this time I tried assembling with a loose starter motor and still difficult,maybe the starter end cover is a gnats out of line though it's hard to see how it could be.
Still with the adrenaline rush that was listening to Exeter v Hartlepool on the radio I did get it all on eventually.And the starter motor now works very well....

Big thanks to Paul for his excellent videos and all the help he gives.

3pJohn, what was the secret to getting all the bolts back in, specially the long one? My starter works perfectly now but i'll be durned, that bolt wont go home...I'm off to fix stripped valve cover mounting holes now....but the bike runs and starts right up.

I need to remove and redo the cover bolts as ihat bolt is ikely under tension. I cleaned up the threaded insert that the long bolt screws into but it took a few goes before it screwed in,usually if I got that one in first then the upper part of the cover would not locate properly so it must be angled downwards slightly I reckon.
I cannot believe there is so much to say about a single cover bolt!