arkives1
Member
Last fall I was riding one of my bikes when it suddenly came to a screeching halt. I soon discovered that the engine was seized. I couldn't think of why since I'm very careful about oil/gas mixture. I took the centrifugal clutch off, and learned that the drive sprocket and dry clutch worked perfectly, the problem was within the case somewhere. I took the engine off and put a different one on and set that one aside for winter projects. I finally got to it today. I had removed the dry clutch and turned the engine over to remove the magneto in preparation for opening the case up. When I took a close look at the magneto I found a thin star washer jammed between the rotor and the stator. I removed the nut from the rotor and loosened the screws holding the stator. With a small brass rod and a light hammer I was able to tap the rotor around and get the washer out. I was scratching my head on where the heck did that thing come from. Finally it hit me, there had been a pull starter on it. Sometimes when putting a pullstarter on these things a couple of washers are needed to space the cup out a bit to clear the stator screw heads. Apparently I had dropped one and didn't notice it. I had put the puller on and was riding the bike quite a long while before it locked up. The washer must have been down in the bottom of the magneto cover somewhere and I didn't see it. It finally vibrated up into the rotor which quickly latched on to it magnetically and promptly fed it into the narrow space between the moving parts. I was relieved to find that the engine was not damaged after all. It never occured to me to look at the magneto to see if it was free or damaged, after all I had removed the pull starter and would have seen any damage wouldn't I? Obviously not! Just something to keep in mind if I ever have another engine seizure. It doesn't have to be a major breakdown to stop these little beasts.