So, first in a series of stuff about my Bonneville. I've got a 2012 injection 900 - not an old one. But I've had Triumphs for years, and all 1050 Speed Triples, so I know the Triumph ropes.
So a while ago - maybe early 2020, the starter was playing up, and like an idiot I thought giving it a thump would solve the issue, rather than remembering that they suffer from awful starter issues. Predictable result - I broke the magnets. Snapped one clean in half from the casing. Cue loads of unnecessary work to repair it.
I looked about a bit and discovered that actually getting a second hand one was not practical. There just wasn't one to be had. And then it dawned on me that maybe I could repair it. I have managed to repair quite a bit of stuff in the past, and so it was with this. But it was quite a journey. Why bother I hear you ask - well, a new starter motor is a load of money for one. I think - 700 odd quid, water comes to eyes. For making a dumb mistake.
So, I take the motor off. First issue, my Haynes suggests that it's a trivial matter of taking the screws out and pulling away. Unfortunately this was not my experience. I had to remove a load of stuff, side panels, footpegs, exhaust, oil pipes to the sump, empty the sump, etc, etc - and inevitably those said exhausts were bloody well bonded on because the nuts were rusted. This used to happen all the time with my ST3's. So eventually I get the bloody thing off. Great.
I take it apart and lo and behold, broken magnet - ok that's maybe some Araldite. Cue next issue. The Araldite does a sterling job. Like a weld. I go to put it back together and behold - there is what looks like a worn spring, which I assume is tightening around the shaft of the starter motor, there to do some retaining job. But no - it turns out this is in fact an oil seal. A very basic one at that. I posted on the Triumph forum - nobody really knew what this was.
Loads of stuff not quite understanding what the issue is. I phone 3X in Ringwood, who don't really understand what the hell I'm talking about - could be why they were having issues. According to the Bournemouth Echo - sadly they have gone bust, what a shame as I will be going all the way to Taunton if I need a dealership. The article says that basically the death knell was cheap Chinese mopeds. A massive part of their income was from selling French mopeds. It's a bit sad that a main dealership is making money from selling mopeds. I don't really get mopeds. Unless you're 16 and can't get a car. Especially really shoddy ones from China. And I can't buy my motorbike? All a bit of a ballache. I will have to rely on what was Jack Lilley (now something else, presumably the same syndrome) or Total Triumph of Taunton.
So anyway, as you can see from the image, the 'spring' is in fact a worn oil seal. Price a few quid. So from £700 I've gone to a few quid. Its really unfortunate that 3x couldn't diagnose that. The starter is very basic. That should have been an easy one. But they did to their credit put me onto someone that did manage to diagnose that it was an oil seal, and gave me one pretty much for nothing! So back I come and fit the thing. Back on with everything in reverse order. Start her up and bingo - works like a dream. So from a smashed starter motor I managed to rebuild and get going again for a few quid. Moral of the story is that Triumph make very good quality bikes. This means the ancillaries are very good quality - so you should try and repair them before replacing them...
