TOPIC:

Thanks Kawboy, I was thinking along the same lines.

I actually have two 1979 KZ1300 A1 bikes. One starts flawlessly, the other has been cantankerous since the day I owned it (back in 1981). I'm thinking about swapping the starters and see if the problem moves before I tear down the starter motor.

In either case, I'm going to return the "Rick's starter", as I don't like the shorter length.

Thanks for the help.

George

Tear the starter apart and give it a good clean. Look at the solder joints between the rotor windings and the commutator ring.

Also, the starter relays on these bikes have been known to cause problems. it wouldn't hurt to open it up and check the contacts. Worse comes to worse it is possible to silver solder the faces of the contacts and then file them to a slight convex surface and then polish them with maybe 400 wet and dry sandpaper..

For what it's worth:
I service my starter every three to four years. Tear it down, give it a good "blow-out", clean-up the commutators, lube and reinstall. 
It's on it's second set of brushes. To clean-up the commutators I put the comm. end in my drill press (lower speed)  and use a strip of 400grit  
In my case, all this is doing is removing any surface contamination/discoloration.
The awkward part is re and re'ing the power cable. 

Thanks Scotch,

Could you explain the awkward part with the power cable?

Also, what do you use for lubing it?

Sorry to bother but I've never taken a starter apart before.

Jafsteph  suggested  a longer cable from the solenoid to the starter.  Excellent suggestion !  This would allow you to connect the cable to the starter with the starter out of its mounting position.  The extra length can then be routed accordingly to keep it up and put of the way. The stock cable length doesn't provide this convenience unless you disconnect the cable from the relay and feed the required length back to the starter.
Otherwise you're left with being somewhat of a contortionist trying to get the stiff cable ring-end onto the starter terminal and then getting the nut/washer onto the terminal. 
I lube the bushing with a general purpose "chassis" grease - Sparingly !  You want to avoid excess grease which will "sling-out" and gum up the commutators and fill the gap between the segments with  a "carbon filled paste". 
 

giorgi3 wrote:

I'm also curious if anyone has actually installed one of these starters on ebay?  It's supposed to have 20% more power than the OEM model.

Rick's Electric Starter Motor Kawasaki KZ1300A 1979-1981. 

 

I have installed the Rick's starter motor and had the same pain as yourself with the cable. I think I disconnected my cable from the solenoid so I could install the starter motor with the cable attached.

The starter motor performance is excellent - Mine always had trouble starting when hot but not with this motor. I think the winding insulation breaks down on the original starter motors when hot and reduces their performance. I would recommend one to all owners having starter issues - though they are VERY expensive - especially if you have to pay customs and import charges on one.

I posted a before and after video on here somewhere with my old starter motor and then the new one.

Before anyone tells me I'm wrong - I did fully strip my old motor(s), including windings out of the body, cleaned everything and installed new carbon brushes and their springs and still no good