The starter system on early Hinckley bikes has a poor reputation. In particular, the starter clutch is known to cause problems. I think there are some key things to do to avoid trouble. One is to make sure the battery is always in good condition so it turns the engine over at a good speed, avoiding low voltage for the ignitor. If you are in doubt about the state of your battery after giving it a good charge, don't hesitate - just get a new one. Another is, if the engine doesn't catch properly after turning over, allow the crank to stop spinning completely before trying again.
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Starter behind alternator and rear coolant hose |
Finally, the starter system is a system - a set of components, all of which have a bearing on the way it functions as a whole. These include the starter button on the right-hand handlebar switch cluster, a heavy-duty relay (solenoid switch) behind the battery box, a side-stand interlock, the battery, starter motor and sprag clutch. So I decided I'd strip the starter motor itself to inspect and clean it.Removing the starter was straight forward for me because I'd already taken off a coolant hose at the rear of the cylinder block to sort the cooling system. It is held in by two M6 bolts and, apart from these, just the main power cable from the starter solenoid (it earths through the engine cases in the usual way). The starter engages the engine via an idler gear before driving a large cog that is in turn attached to the sprag housing.
I could see a previous owner had attempted to strip the starter before because one of the two bolts on the starter's drive end cap was a bit chewed up. It was a struggle to free it but I have a good set of 1/4 inch wall-drive sockets that came into their own for this job..
There was plenty of dirt inside the body from wear on the starter's brushes. It wasn't hard to clean out - just a case of applying patience and electrical contact cleaner. The brushes are held into the cap at the opposite end of the starter body. I carefully dragged dirt out from between the contact segments of the electrical windings and lightly polished up the surfaces with fine grade abrasive paper.
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Cleaned up and ready for reassembly |
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All back together again, aided by the Haynes manual |
1 comment:
Thanks Bow. I'm glad you've enjoyed reading about my work.
There are some places to look for people who are into the T300s. You could join TOMCC (http://www.tomcc.org/ProfilePage.aspx?id=44). There are a couple of UK forums for bikes of this era (http://www.triumphrat.net/hinckley-classic-triples/ and https://www.triumphtorque.com/messageboard/#modelrange). Have a look at a French site called T3 Passion (http://www.triumph-t3-passion.info/). It is pretty active (30K + posts to the forum) and has lots of members. Google translate will help you, if you are not a French reader. I've seen a Facebook group but am not on FB so can't tell you much about it.
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