I’ll see how long this one lasts! If it keeps happening they will certainly need to change something as these bikes start and stop a lot as I’m sure you know.
Dead easy removing the starter on the 24 bikes, literally only 3 bolts so wasn’t too much of an issue really. But maybe if you don’t want to get underneath the bike then you could take the flywheel off instead.
Question, do you think the starter can now be removed without taking out any engine mounts? My 24 XC-W also failed at 22hrs and I know of one other at 17hrs, with little to no hard enduro (limited use), was a ball ache to get bendix in and out as I tried to salvage the original but ended up replacing without pulling starter or flywheel.
Hi! Certainly on the exc you can remove the starter without having to remove any engine mounts, I assume the XC-W would be the same. You just remove the black cover that protects the starter then there are two small bolts holding the starter to the engine. Once those are removed you can slide the starter out fairly easily. Obviously when replacing you’ll have to wiggle it about to get the starter cogs to engage with the bendix correctly but it should be possible. I have seen people get the bendix out without removing the starter but mine just couldn’t get the clearance with the starter in place. Cheers Ben.
My bike is 2018 250tpi , is it possible to push the starter back like you did? I cant pull out the bendix and i dont have tools to take of the flywheel!
Unfortunately as far as I am aware the starter removal on the 17-23 bikes is a fair bit more involved. There is a bolt and a collar near the bendix you need to remove and then I think you need to remove most of the hoses, engine mounts, swing arm bolt etc to get the room to move the engine up to get the starter out. Have you tried getting the bendix out yet? You way well be able to wriggle it out past the flywheel without removing anything.
Thanks for the reply! I managed to remove the bendix as shown in the video, but I had to unscrew a screw on the clutch cover that was against the starter motor, which didn't allow it to move back! The clutch cover has a crack in the hole where the bendix fits, so the bendix probably jumped out, got stuck and damaged the starter motor!!
@desigart1089 glad you got it out! If I have understood what you explained it sounds like the bushing in the cover is damaged. So when you come to put the bendix back in you’ll need to replace the two bushings for the bendix, one in the flywheel casing and one on the engine casing. Cheers Ben.
@@SwiftMXUK Unfortunately, it's not the bushings, it's the cover stator that's damaged where it fits. I'm going to replace the bushings anyway, I'm going to see if I can fix the cover, I don't want to buy a new one, they're expensive!
There isn’t really much point in my opinion (if it’s even possible) a new part was about £50 aftermarket(approx £120 if genuine) and it’s only about a 15 minute job to replace. I might carry a spare in my rucksack now 😂 cheers Ben.
You don’t need to touch the starter motor to remove the bendix. Take the ignition cover off as you did and wiggle out the bendix turning the flywheel a little . I just did My 24’ tx300 at 26hrs
Ahhh - what an annoyance Mine obviously had that tiny bit more clearance it only ‘just’ came out thought I’d have to remove the starter too . Bendix made in Italy not a Chinese part but either way shouldn’t fail so early . Was $200aus from dealer
That’s good then, maybe those couple more hours meant your bushings for the bendix were that fraction looser. It is annoying isn’t it, especially when these bikes have no kick start backup now.
!5 years so far on the ktm bendix failures , better now or maybe not ? China part guaranteed, China part bikes for years also ! Ready to race marketing billions of dollars to muzzle any industry comment publicly , why cant they build a decent reliable bike . Ongoing madness .
It was a bit of a bummer it going on a bike with no kickstart, made a day of jumpstarts interesting to say the least! Personally I feel this was more unlucky it failed so early on but none the less….its concerning and always at the back of my mind now! Cheers Ben.
Hard to believe that KTM still allows this to be a known issue without a fix. I feel like a one way bearing would be a much more reliable solution.
It is a bit concerning when out in the sticks. Personally would have preferred them to keep the kickstart asap backup.
while you were in there it would have been good to replace the thin oem c type starter bushes with new bronze bushes
Cheers for the tip, something to keep in mind for next time 👍🏼
I think that Tokyo Offroad has starter problems with his KTM, too. Perhaps it's time to change the system to a sprag.
I’ll see how long this one lasts! If it keeps happening they will certainly need to change something as these bikes start and stop a lot as I’m sure you know.
Surely removing the flywheel would be easier than messing with the starter motor
Dead easy removing the starter on the 24 bikes, literally only 3 bolts so wasn’t too much of an issue really. But maybe if you don’t want to get underneath the bike then you could take the flywheel off instead.
same bendix on Piaggio scooter much cheaper😁
Question, do you think the starter can now be removed without taking out any engine mounts? My 24 XC-W also failed at 22hrs and I know of one other at 17hrs, with little to no hard enduro (limited use), was a ball ache to get bendix in and out as I tried to salvage the original but ended up replacing without pulling starter or flywheel.
Hi! Certainly on the exc you can remove the starter without having to remove any engine mounts, I assume the XC-W would be the same. You just remove the black cover that protects the starter then there are two small bolts holding the starter to the engine. Once those are removed you can slide the starter out fairly easily. Obviously when replacing you’ll have to wiggle it about to get the starter cogs to engage with the bendix correctly but it should be possible. I have seen people get the bendix out without removing the starter but mine just couldn’t get the clearance with the starter in place. Cheers Ben.
@@SwiftMXUK Cheers Ben!
My bike is 2018 250tpi , is it possible to push the starter back like you did?
I cant pull out the bendix and i dont have tools to take of the flywheel!
Unfortunately as far as I am aware the starter removal on the 17-23 bikes is a fair bit more involved. There is a bolt and a collar near the bendix you need to remove and then I think you need to remove most of the hoses, engine mounts, swing arm bolt etc to get the room to move the engine up to get the starter out.
Have you tried getting the bendix out yet? You way well be able to wriggle it out past the flywheel without removing anything.
Thanks for the reply! I managed to remove the bendix as shown in the video, but I had to unscrew a screw on the clutch cover that was against the starter motor, which didn't allow it to move back! The clutch cover has a crack in the hole where the bendix fits, so the bendix probably jumped out, got stuck and damaged the starter motor!!
@desigart1089 glad you got it out! If I have understood what you explained it sounds like the bushing in the cover is damaged. So when you come to put the bendix back in you’ll need to replace the two bushings for the bendix, one in the flywheel casing and one on the engine casing. Cheers Ben.
@@SwiftMXUK Unfortunately, it's not the bushings, it's the cover stator that's damaged where it fits. I'm going to replace the bushings anyway, I'm going to see if I can fix the cover, I don't want to buy a new one, they're expensive!
@desigart1089 ahh I see! Maybe out with the Liquid Metal then! 😲
Mine destroyed itself at 11hrs, replaced, now at 165hrs and no issues
Thanks for the comment, good to hear a similar story! Hopefully I’ll make those hours on this one 🤞🏼
Is there no way to rebuild the original Bendix?
There isn’t really much point in my opinion (if it’s even possible) a new part was about £50 aftermarket(approx £120 if genuine) and it’s only about a 15 minute job to replace. I might carry a spare in my rucksack now 😂 cheers Ben.
You don’t need to touch the starter motor to remove the bendix. Take the ignition cover off as you did and wiggle out the bendix turning the flywheel a little .
I just did My 24’ tx300 at 26hrs
That’s what I was hoping to be able to do but for love or money it wouldn’t come out without pulling but starter back just a tad 🤷♂️
Ahhh - what an annoyance Mine obviously had that tiny bit more clearance it only ‘just’ came out thought I’d have to remove the starter too .
Bendix made in Italy not a Chinese part but either way shouldn’t fail so early . Was $200aus from dealer
That’s good then, maybe those couple more hours meant your bushings for the bendix were that fraction looser.
It is annoying isn’t it, especially when these bikes have no kick start backup now.
4.5yrs with no kickstarter first fail (over 3 bikes) . Yeh annoying - I still kept riding that day but made bit of a mess of the flywheel teeth
@mikeaust80 luckily when mine failed I was at a motocross race so just bumped it before the start and made sure I didn’t stall in the race 😂
!5 years so far on the ktm bendix failures , better now or maybe not ? China part guaranteed, China part bikes for years also ! Ready to race marketing billions of dollars to muzzle any industry comment publicly , why cant they build a decent reliable bike . Ongoing madness .
It was a bit of a bummer it going on a bike with no kickstart, made a day of jumpstarts interesting to say the least! Personally I feel this was more unlucky it failed so early on but none the less….its concerning and always at the back of my mind now! Cheers Ben.