Hi guys, long time no speak. I've been having starter motor issues of late. About a month ago my bike just stopped starting altogether. Relay was still clicking, so I knew it had to either be the relay, battery or starter motor. Battery was tested with a digital load tester and was fine and there was no spark from shorting the relay terminals. I then checked continuity of all the leads in the motor circuit and everything checked out.

Decided to pull the motor out and disassemble it and discovered that two of the four magnets had come loose and were stuck to each other. I read another post on here about that and how the magnets must be aligned correctly for the motor to work. Just as a side, the inside of the motor was covered in jet black engine oil from what I'm guessing is many years of oil buildup; I'm assuming that's not normal and is due to a worn oil seal?

Anyway, I then decided to buy a brush repair kit as the brushes were also pretty worn out, and some JB weld to reset the magnets in their original positions as suggested on this forum. Tonight I reset the magnets and everything was going really well until I tried to replace the oil seal.

I couldn't seem to get it in by hand so then I decided, in my infinite wisdom, to try and press it in with the rotor and the shims by screwing them into the seal with the two bolts. The result was mangled shims and circlip and a squashed oil seal. Obviously I'm going to replace these parts now but I'm just wondering what the best method for pressing a new oil seal into the front cover is so i dont screw it up again. My next immediate thought is to use near boiling water from a kettle to soften it up first. Does anyone here have experience with this?

Also, I couldn't locate a part number for the circlip on the rotor, is this part of the rotor assembly or is there a separate part number somewhere that I'm not seeing?

Seals are carefully tapped into place with a seal driver.  It can be done without one but is slightly harder than with the (proper size) driver.

Using a socket that is slightly smaller than the seal diameter, use a small hammer to tap the seal into place.  Work slowly and carefully to get the seal started evenly all the way around.  Typically, it will start to go in crooked and an edge will catch on the recess and distort the seal.  Once the edge of the seal is below the top lip of the recess, the seal will go in smoothly.

Quote from: Falken Hawke on April 18, 2019, 10:24:14 PM
Seals are carefully tapped into place with a seal driver.  It can be done without one but is slightly harder than with the (proper size) driver.

Using a socket that is slightly smaller than the seal diameter, use a small hammer to tap the seal into place.  Work slowly and carefully to get the seal started evenly all the way around.  Typically, it will start to go in crooked and an edge will catch on the recess and distort the seal.  Once the edge of the seal is below the top lip of the recess, the seal will go in smoothly.

Hey Falkan Hawke, thanks for the advice. I'll give it a go next time. Was also thinking about what I said before about heating up the seal; it would probably make more sense to heat up the front cover first and then try and tap the seal in with a socket and hammer.

I think there is a video on YouTube showing how to replace that seal. If I have time later I'll try and find it.

Quote from: Bluesmudge on April 19, 2019, 10:22:06 AM
I think there is a video on YouTube showing how to replace that seal. If I have time later I'll try and find it.

Hey Bluesmudge, that would be great, cheers.

Does anyone have any idea about that circlip as well?

Quote from: karlhoffman_76 on April 19, 2019, 12:28:34 AM
Hey Falkan Hawke, thanks for the advice. I'll give it a go next time. Was also thinking about what I said before about heating up the seal; it would probably make more sense to heat up the front cover first and then try and tap the seal in with a socket and hammer.

Heating the cover would make a difference but it would have to be at at a high temperature along with a frozen seal to be able to do the install quickly enough for all that prep to be worth doing.

The seal has enough flex where installation isn't difficult but that same pliability is what makes it tricky.  Reading my post again I realized I didn't emphasize not to distort the seal.  If the lip catches, reset and try again until the edge of the seal goes in evenly.  It seems intimidating but once it's done the first time, it will be obvious it's just tedious.  If anything, get two seals just in case.

I'm not sure what circlip you are refering to but "partzilla.com" has OEM Parts drawings online to refer to when ordering parts.  The drawings will show if the part is available as an assembly or individually.