It appears that if you don’t go two feet in a spin fast enough you can tear up the starter in an over rev. Why don’t radical starters have that spring design that disengages starters like on our street cars?
I don’t know the details of the design, but Radicals use stock Suzuki starters which apparently don’t have a design criteria for allowing the wheels to spin backwards. When the wheels start to turn backwards the starte engages and screws up the rest of your day.
This is what NOT to do!
I got lucky, and didn't damage it. I guess the slow speed and the fact it was dirt. I did think about it before I pressed the starter button, but thought if it was damaged it won't start. you can hear the starter spin up as I am going backwards.
There is a frame or two that you can see in the mirror, the Lotus with the fronts locked up, that's why I didn't turn in at the proper spot, then ran out of pavement and grip. from other cars video, he missed me by a few inches!
@graemed Wow, you are lucky! It will be interesting to see how long that starter lasts. I have never heard that before.
Charley
That is a nice option.
Maybe if you had to replace the clutch basket and hub at refresh time, then some of the cost is offset.
I did take the starter out and hand turn it, felt the same as my “new” starter that I keep in the trailer. I also inspected the driven gear inside the engine (thru the starter mounting hole) and it was fine also. So I did dodge one at the time.
It was funny that I didn’t even try to get the clutch in, my mind must have been on not getting hit, even when I was going around. But the fun started then, as I got to work my way back through the pack, all the way up to 3rd, before some Bozo that caused a local yellow, got out of his car for no good reason. That caused a full course yellow, and then he didn’t have a tow hook in the front! 5 laps under FC yellow, then Race over.
You definitely dodged a bullet. Glad to hear it worked out. I have to admit that I have done my fare share of spins... I automatically put both feet to the floor immediately so the starter hasn’t been an issue... yet...
That sound you can hear is the starter clutch engaging, the one way gear on the end of the crank.
Must have just been going slow enough to get away it! It destroys the starter due to the gearing when driven backwards.
I do like the idea of the spin safe clutch but it is expensive, you can get through alot of aftermarket starter motors for the price of it!
I think Radical have made some design changes to suit the car but the original is actually produced by a company in the USA.
I can confirm that a spin can kill the starter. I was at Mid Ohio this past week and a guy hit a groundhog, which crushed his oil cooler. I spun in the oil, didn't get clutch in quick enough, and absolutely destroyed the starter. It was in pieces.
Since I wanted to continue the day, I removed the starter and thought I would bump start it. I'm a car guy and didn't think that the wet clutch meant that the starter hole opened right to the oil sump.
So we ran it, realized we were dumping the oil, thankfully not enough to kill the motor, and then parked it. I thought about putting the starter back in, but it was so destroyed, I worried it might lock up and then create more damage.
So, we learned a lot about the car this past track day.....
I think I'll just buy two starter motors and always have a spare.
Good luck, y'all
@lwsr3, Wow, sounds like you had a wild day on track. Sorry it was shorter that planned but glad to hear it is a minor and easy to fix issue.
This might be helpful.
Thanks. Let's hope the gears are okay. Will check. Does anyone have a preferrred source for the starter motors? They seem to be about 100 bucks.
I'm with Larry, preferred source? Sounds like a good spare to have.
What year should we generally reference for the engine? Just had a new 1500 crate installed so that would use a 2019 or later motor?
Seems to be two different specs? This first link specifies 99-07, second 08-19. Both around $60.
amazon.com/Assembly-31100-24F10-1999-2007-Hayabusa-GSX1300RZ/dp/B081K6J64S/ref=asc_df_B081K6J64S/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=467324289292&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=12029354700676675497&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9018738&hvtargid=pla-974253395018&psc=1
ebay.com/itm/292090360316?_trkparms=ispr%3D1&amdata=enc%3AAQAFAAAAoPfayzoQhO4Y%2Fku5ErOsMUUqN7mW0kvvOYFm%2BL2GdAKwCY3V1n7IQtkYUox7qUz8uO7Y0Y%2FzeWTHzdtdgNACoOEoO7dk29Cu1Jq2CcFhrKrgaHhfQ8Mpe7IKsw2AYkGW%2BHgsDmkU%2B42fAYfzhW14fP0srebzKKamVHPpSIMMSGcxRUwtJXcWRxP46QktLk1c7YRNrJvK3MCKUL8xkh7%2BjLs%3D&chn=ps&norover=1&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-117182-37290-0&mkcid=2&itemid=292090360316&targetid=1262843335089&device=c&mktype=pla&googleloc=9018738&poi=&campaignid=12873833227&mkgroupid=120757694159&rlsatarget=pla-1262843335089&abcId=9300536&merchantid=6324134&gclid=Cj0KCQjw5auGBhDEARIsAFyNm9HdE0aM_-d794lsommpwU41h4UWYOsynPU2IIvdgPY52fqpoMreHNEaAusOEALw_wcB
Well, thumb rule is, hold in the clutch when shit atarts going wrong. I spun out 4times last year, never had any issues since i try to correct the slide with clutch in, and when it goes backwards im allready prepaired. Not even killing my engine
