starter failures, have to roll bike in gear

[DWr100s]

So what does this mean? 60k miles on this R100s, never a problem as long as battery healthy and this one is newish and always on trickle charger. First time it happened, I remembered an old car trick, put it in gear, rolled it a bit in 2nd, then back to N and started right up. It's happened a few times now.

In car talk it was called a 'dead spot' but I don't know what that meant, more mechanical than electrical I think. Any suggestions what's failing here? Is it an urgent fix, are there missing teeth now flying around inside the motor?

thanks in advance

[osbornk]

A $15 starter relay fixed mine. It is under the seat near the top.

[108625]

Is the starter motor spinning when this happens? Or, is nothing happening?
If it is spinning, but still not turning the engine over, then yes, I would examine the flywheel ring gear for worn/missing teeth. Look at them from the top/front by removing the starter cover and rotating the rear wheel with the bike in gear. They may appear intact from behind but be badly worn in front, where the two gears make the most contact. Check out the drive gear on the starter, too.

[DWr100s]

Check, nothing happens, there's no spinning of the starter. So I'll hope it's the relay despite the fact that that would be an electrical issue and I don't get how moving the bike about 6" in gear corrects electrical with a mechanical movement. Maybe the vibration was enough?

Well I'll change it out.. darn, just had the tank off doing coils and plug wires, too. $15 sounds good!

But good tips on checking the gear, I'll do that as well.

thanks guys

[10564]

So what does this mean? 60k miles on this R100s, never a problem as long as battery healthy and this one is newish and always on trickle charger. First time it happened, I remembered an old car trick, put it in gear, rolled it a bit in 2nd, then back to N and started right up. It's happened a few times now.

In car talk it was called a 'dead spot' but I don't know what that meant, more mechanical than electrical I think. Any suggestions what's failing here? Is it an urgent fix, are there missing teeth now flying around inside the motor?

thanks in advance

Dead spot usually refers to one of the commutator windings in the starter opening up. But the same symptoms can also show up as a result of badly worn brushes.