[tdh]

Wonder how many others have had a similar issue. I pulled the starter out and took it to my buddy who works at a shop and this is the 2nd one he's had this week where the magnets have come loose from the housing. I thought my ZX6R was a bit of a bitch to change the starter on but changing them on these ZX10Rs make the ZX6R look like baby stuff.

Heading out to Colorado next Friday so I am glad this crapped out last night and not on day 1 of our trip!

 

[scout]

You don't change the oil?

Bike looks show; how many miles?

 

[kawikidd]

Same issue on my '12 at around 12k miles. Starter was making a weak noise and i thought it was the battery but after buying a new one im having the same issue. Is there a rebuild kit or are you getting a new starter?

 

[tdh]

you don't change the oil?

Bike looks show; how many miles?

25,000.

 

[tdh]

Same issue on my '12 at around 12k miles. Starter was making a weak noise and i thought it was the battery but after buying a new one im having the same issue. Is there a rebuild kit or are you getting a new starter?

That little bugger is 500 bucks. My bike is out of warranty already but my buddy called up Kawi and mentioned this is the 2nd one he's seen in a week and if there wasn't something they could do. Kawi said they would cover it, even though it's out of warranty! I am paying an extra 80 bucks to get it expedited because I need it for my trip. They totally didn't have to cover this part so I am extremely impressed with them! They even covered a jug of coolant because you have to drain the cooling system to get the starter out. I had the same issue with it acting weak. I had a 120Ah lithium in it which is less than the stock battery so I recently put a 240 in it. To be honest it seemed weak from the day I picked it up from the dealer when it was brand new. I think it was a problem from the start that just slowly got worse and worse and then just completely crapped out last night.

 

[vdharris]

You're not alone. The starter on my Gen 5 is on its last legs at 14K miles and my buddy's Gen 4 has gone through two of them, the original and a used one from eBay. TDH, did your buddy mention the possibility of rebuilding it or is replacement the only option?

 

[tdh]

They do have a parts breakdown for the starter. Unfortunately the housing is not one of the parts! So, it's either buy a new one or find a used one off Ebay.

 

[2K16/10r]

I was looking at the manual and aren't you able to remove the starter without digging that deep into the bike? Service Manual page # 16-47... I only ask because my Gen 5 since new has had starting issues and the battery has always came back good. If I needed to get to the starter to replace, I'd like to know which is best way of doing so.

 

[kawikidd]

I was looking at the manual and aren't you able to remove the starter without digging that deep into the bike? Service Manual page # 16-47... I only ask because my Gen 5 since new has had starting issues and the battery has always came back good. If I needed to get to the starter to replace, I'd like to know which is best way of doing so.

Have to take off the thermostat housing blocking the starter so its easier to do with the tank off. i did mine with the air box still on

 

[2K16/10r]

Have to take off the thermostat housing blocking the starter so its easier to do with the tank off. i did mine with the air box still on

OK, sweet. I assume its doable then if you were able to get it done, still very tight? Was it a pain in the ass? I am still under warranty but I don't like anyone else working on my bike. My dealer is cool enough to warranty certain things and allow me to do the install such as my brake light switch that went bad.. part warrantied and I did the work. Being by the water they are more busy with watercraft/boat work and I refuse to drop my bike off for weeks.

 

[kawikidd]

OK, sweet. I assume its doable then if you were able to get it done, still very tight? Was it a pain in the ass? I am still under warranty but I don't like anyone else working on my bike. My dealer is cool enough to warranty certain things and allow me to do the install such as my brake light switch that went bad.. part warrantied and I did the work. Being by the water they are more busy with watercraft/boat work and I refuse to drop my bike off for weeks.

The starter itself came off easily with a socket extension but the thermostat housing was harder because of the top screw on the right doesnt have room for a socket so had to use a small wrench. It's not a hard job just a bit time consuming since theres not much room to work with

 

[tdh]

Yeah, it sounds like it can be done without pulling the tank, air box and throttle body but if you do pull all that stuff you can get your hands around it to pull it out. I'm not sure I would have been able to do it without pulling all that stuff, at least not without a lot of frustration. It's not a lot of work to pull the tank, air box and throttle body if you've done it several times like I have. But yeah, you do have to drain the coolant and pull the thermostat though, which I would rather not have done. Don't think there is any way around that part. Service manual says to pull all that stuff so I did.

 

[scout]

Just thinking. After 120,000 miles on two g4's, no starter problems, 200 miles per loop, roughly, with 3 starter pulls per loop, no starter failures. 120,000 miles divided by 200 miles is 600 loops, multiplied by 3 starter pulls per loop equals 1800 starter pulls. With no failures.

I know that kawa fixed the front fork seals comparing the '11 to the '13; I know that kawa did not change the radiators between the above two years. We know that they changed the damper between the two years.


Kawa certainly may have changed out starters when electing to run the heavy g5's.

So my question, do you truly have 25,000 miles on a g5 track bike. You know how the net is. And I respectfully request a follow up.

I ask you consider that Sears point is about 2.5 miles. That would be about 10,000 loops around that track. And you just bought the bike. Each track day is a time consuming pain. How's my math.

 

[tdh]

Oh, I ride both my ZX10s on the street and the track (same with my ZX6Rs). I switch them in and out of race fairings for each event. I sold one of the ZX6Rs but it also had over 25,000 on it when I sold it and the one I have left also has over 25,000 on it. The starter is a problem on both GEN4 and GEN5s. I think the one in my 2014 is fine and will probably last forever. I think you either get a good one or a bad one and I'm sure it's a small percentage that are bad. I noticed my 2016 seemed much slower to turn over compared to my 2014 from the day I picked it up. I suspect now that it was bad from the beginning. When I get the new starter I'll hopefully know for sure.

 

[Duhastme]

2012 ZX-10R with 18k miles, starter went out this past week. Brush assembly broke into 3 pieces, armtaure was shorted out to the segmented blocks and my magnets became unglued as well. Trying to source a stock but used one. Is there a number to call kawi about this personally? Would love not to spend to $500!

 

[Schooley]

This makes me nervous. When i picked my bike up I got the feeling it started pretty weak.. figured it was normal. Considering getting the extended warranty now.

 

[kawikidd]

That little bugger is 500 bucks. My bike is out of warranty already but my buddy called up Kawi and mentioned this is the 2nd one he's seen in a week and if there wasn't something they could do. Kawi said they would cover it, even though it's out of warranty! I am paying an extra 80 bucks to get it expedited because I need it for my trip. They totally didn't have to cover this part so I am extremely impressed with them! They even covered a jug of coolant because you have to drain the cooling system to get the starter out. I had the same issue with it acting weak. I had a 120Ah lithium in it which is less than the stock battery so I recently put a 240 in it. To be honest it seemed weak from the day I picked it up from the dealer when it was brand new. I think it was a problem from the start that just slowly got worse and worse and then just completely crapped out last night.

What number did you call? I called the kawasaki owner support and they said they couldnt do nothing until i bring it to a kawasaki dealership to confirm the starter is the issue and my dealer charges $70 just to look at the starter out of the bike and they said kawasaki probaly wont cover it. Cant find any used ones for sale so might be stuck buying a new one for $500

 

[Duhastme]

What number did you call? I called the kawasaki owner support and they said they couldnt do nothing until i bring it to a kawasaki dealership to confirm the starter is the issue and my dealer charges $70 just to look at the starter out of the bike and they said kawasaki probaly wont cover it. Cant find any used ones for sale so might be stuck buying a new one for $500

Same boat I am in :frown2:

 

[tdh]

What number did you call? I called the kawasaki owner support and they said they couldnt do nothing until i bring it to a kawasaki dealership to confirm the starter is the issue and my dealer charges $70 just to look at the starter out of the bike and they said kawasaki probaly wont cover it. Cant find any used ones for sale so might be stuck buying a new one for $500

I didn't call the number. My buddy at a local Kawi dealer called them. If the dealer calls it in for you and Kawi decides to cover it, they'll pay for the dealer to do all the work to replace it. My bike was just out of warranty so if it had been farther out of warranty I doubt they would have covered it. Certainly wouldn't hurt to talk to your local dealer about it.

 

[kawikidd]

I didn't call the number. My buddy at a local Kawi dealer called them. If the dealer calls it in for you and Kawi decides to cover it, they'll pay for the dealer to do all the work to replace it. My bike was just out of warranty so if it had been farther out of warranty I doubt they would have covered it. Certainly wouldn't hurt to talk to your local dealer about it.

Dont want my bike sitting at the dealer for the last couple weeks of the summer so bought a new starter from partzilla. They have it for $375 which is weird since everyone else has it for around $485