I picked up a couple bikes (85 VT700s) that were supposed to have been running before they were left sitting. Both had fried starters. I got a sweet deal on a used starter on eBay (less than $50, including shipping). It bench tested great. I installed it into bike #1. Good wires, clean solid connections but it won't budge. I've got a charged on my battery and still won't budge. I'm real comfortable with my electrical ability. I feel strongly that the engine is probably seized. I took the starter off and did the same thing on bike #2. I'm very comfortable working on cars but haven't dug to deep into bikes. I flipped through my clymers but figured I could get the answer from here easier. What's the best side of the bike to take a cover off, in order to grab onto the crank? I'd like to rock it and see how bad I got screwed.
Pull all the spark plugs out and shoot some ATF into the cylinders and put it in 3rd gear and try to rock and push the bike to see if the engine can rotate.
Also consider this. My starter went bad on my 84 VT700C. When I took it off the bike to test the starter it came out fine. Everything did what it was supposed to, the starter wasn't strong enough to crank the engine but would bench test just fine. I'd suggest taking the round plug out of the crankcase and try turning it using a breaker bar on the nut for the main gear, you should be able to turn it fairly easy if the engine isn't seized. The small 2 inch round plug on the right crankcase cover, just unscrew it and you will see the nut on the main gear. No need to take the whole cover off at this point
I really appreciate the quick responses. I had one of the bikes up on the center stand and the plugs were already out. So I popped it in gear and rolled the wheel back and forth. It didn't want to move at first. Then it did move a little way in each direction. Bike #2 didn't want to budge. I'm going to leave them to soak, while I'm in town today.
I found a cool snap-on video scope in the garage that I'm using. I looked down each of the cylinders on both bikes. Bike #1 looks like new. Bike #2 had one cylinder that had a coat of carbon, on top of the piston and a ring of possible oil, where the ring may have failed.
If the rings failed then you might have a hard time finding new ones. I just replaced the rings in mine and after a month of looking for new rings I just decided to have them made. The company I used is called Total Seal and I've decided if I have a need for more rings to be made for anything I'll use them again without hesitation. They did good by me, there is probably a more local place you could have them made though and save the shipping. The job of replacing the rings cost me about $200 doing the work myself after buying rings and a topend gasket/seal kit.
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