TLDR. My starter motor works, but the engine won't turn. How boned am I?

A little while ago I used some down time to install LED headlights to the bike as well as some Oxford gips. All was well so I rode the bike 45min into town to test the grips and run chores. The bike ran fine.

In town the bike was parked for 15-20 and wouldn't start. Lights etc yep, 1 solid click from the starter relay. Jumping it had no other result, nor did bridging the relay.

Got it home and:
Charged the battery (now 12.8v),
Installed a new starter relay,
Checked the starter motor (all good)
Took the chance to replace the old friction plates and clutch springs.

Pieced it all back together tonight and same deal! Now Haynes is telling me it may be the starter clutch or idle/reduction gears. This bike was meant to be partially a learning experience in mechanics but this is getting on my nerves now.

Could a starter clutch or idle/reduction gears (first time hearing those names) go during a 45min ride? Nothing the engine did on the hwy ride screamed engine troubles. Just didn't start again.

Any thoughts? Theories? How much work am I in for now?
I'm yet to actually show my wife that this venture has been cheaper than the daily drive 4wd! 😅

mmm. cheaper? start learning now.

for what i can read you have 2 problems going on.

1
Electrical
grab a multimeter now, the cheapest one will suffice.
find the electrical wiring diagram.

diagnose:
if battery is charging, generator output (3 wires AC around 75v)
Rectifier working?=converting AC to DC and charging
Finally if the battery holds charge(~12.8v and above) and recharges with use, everything should be ok.


the electrical side for the motor operation: igniter aka TCI, spark plugs coils, spark plugs, and the most important signal generator(this can go bad when hot, but test ok cold and rans well until it gets hot again and shorts out.: so no signal to trigger spark)

2
Mechanical, the starter drive is very difficult to break, the starter clutch/bendix could fail but to make it simpler try to start it in second gear pushing. it should be fairly obvious because the starter motor should spin freely  without load(sounds different and faster)  if it is not engaging with the crankshaft.


it cranks? how? noise? battery juice is enough?

My multimeter had good power all the way to the starter motor.
The dash etc has power enough to try to start the bike, and spin the starter motor. The starter motor spins externally to the bike but not installed.
I don't think I can test the charging until the bike is running? I do think it may be running low though.

Next lot of days off I will get around to trying to bump start and see what happens 👍

if the starter spins out of the motor, but when you install it doesnt crank i would spin by hand the engine(remove the signal generator cover and turn using the big nut, be sure its not blocked.

beware there is a chance the starter motor spins good out of the engine but cant handle load when it is mounted, also the battery could be bad and have enough power to spin it without load but not to crank the engine.


Then, just bump start it.
if it starts, and the battery and starter is in good condition, then you will need to remove the side cover and inspect the starter mechanism: behind generator and the starter drive

Maybe take the battery to an auto store than can load test it. The GS doesn't really have the electrical capacity to run heated grips for 45 minutes. I usually run mine for 5 or 10 minutes until my dash voltage display shows the voltage has dropped too much, then I turn them off for awhile.

If your battery was already a few years old, its possible its just done for.

Update.
Tried bump starting in 1st, 2nd and 3rd a few times. Each time the rest locked.

I did notice however that the bike was significantly harder the push in gear (clutch in) than it was in neutral.

What exactly do you mean with the "rest locked"

Update/Solved.

- I jiggled the crankshaft and heard crunching in the generator.
- I emptied the brand new, unused oil and it was silvery. A magnet chunk was attached to the drain bolt.
- I opened up the generator and the magnets had shattered. The epoxy must have given some time ago.
- A magnet chunk had attached to the coils and prevented the rotor from rotating the crankshaft.

Funnily enough the crumbling epoxy is a known issue, but I only found one foorum post of this specific issue last night.

Gotta clean up all the Sharda now and source a rotor.
The shaft and starter motor spins freely when unjammed.