July 2016 - Fairly immediately evident upon viewing the bike during purchase was the big gob of sliver solder sitting on top of the starter solenoid terminal. It was apparent that the pigtail from the starter field coil had broken at some point; although it worked, it is an exposed and rough job that I didn't want to trust. A new field coil is about $67 and a lot of work to replace, so I was hoping for a reliable fix.
Upon minimal handling of the starter motor when removed from the engine, sure enough, the solder connection broke, leaving a little copper pigtail sticking out. The starter cover proved difficult to remove; a trusty old oil filter wrench worked perfectly to pull it off. Rebuild instructions on Gregory Bender's site were invaluable.
Once the starter motor cover was removed, the copper pigtail proved to be fairly short, but enough remaining for a crimped butt connector. I bought a short length of braided copper wire and crimped it to the end of the pigtail. A loop terminal crimped securely to the other end of the copper wire provided a connection to the starter solenoid terminal. The connection is sound and secure, so as long as the copper wire is up to the starter amperage, we should be good to go. Before reassembly, I had to bore out the rubber dam slightly to accommodate the size of the crimp connector.
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| crimp connector and braided copper wire |
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| rubber dam around pigtail near center right |
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| closer of rubber dam and pigtail |
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| crimped wire (before crimping to terminal and cutting) |
Now a little paint here and there and one more item down.
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