How does a bad starter behave?

[meistre]

I just replaced my battery ('04 Rock, 18K miles) because it started cranking slowly even though I keep it connected to a tender whenever it's parked. Still, after a new battery it cranks slow and won't start. The voltage on the battery shows almost 13V and the system is charging @ 14V so I'm beginning to suspect the starter ($400!). It's making a slow grinding sound which doesn't sound too abnormal but it starts clicking after the first crank or two. I guess I could pull it off and test it but I was hoping for a simpler (and cheaper) solution.

[duckdave]

Badly.

I went through a similar thing last November. Replaced the battery and still had problems. Replaced the starter, all is good. I still haven't pulled the old starter down yet, but I suspect dirt and crud were the major bad actors. Saving that job for our next snow day.

If you want to pay less for a starter visit: http://www.euromotoelectrics.com/

I paid $189 for a complete starter for my '04 RR (including shipping) this past November. I re-checked the price today, still the same. The new starter arrived in 2 days. I recommend calling and talking to the guy as they also sell replacement parts of starters and he can troubleshoot most problems on the phone, so you might get off cheaper.

[Johnny]

I also had mine replaced some time back. I would get scratching metal noise after every start which would only get worse as time went by. I had the starter taken apart and cleaned by BMW Service three or four times. It would work fine after every clean but only for a week or so. After a month of troubleshooting the starter reached a point that you could hear it rotate properly but the bike just wouldn't start. By that time I was out of warranty but since my first visit to the dealer about this issue was when the bike was still in warranty, I got mine replaced free of charge. Thank God

[meistre]

Fantastic responses! Thanx for your help guys. I'll give euromotoelectrics a call. It appears that it would be a pretty quick replacement (aside from the fact that the damn fuel tank has to almost come off to access the battery!)

Thanx again duckdave and johnny!