[ericfreeman]

A few months ago I had a flood at my home and the my Ducati S4RS had water just covering the starter motor. I finally got around to removing the starter (what a pain in the butt, had to remove the entire alternator cover) and stripped the starter to clean it. It was surprisingly clean, doesn't look like any water got into it. Upon reassembly, I inadvertently reversed the center magnet housing (it was too cold for my marking tags to stick). Put the engine back together and the starter was running backwards! It wouldn't engage the starter clutch, just spun the starter motor. Pulled everything back off, reversed the magnet housing and the starter is turning in the right direction now. A dumb mistake, not taking pics of the starter before taking it apart, relying instead on my faulty 66 year old memory! Anyway, wanted to put this out there in case anyone else thinks the magnet housing can be reversed without causing any problems.

 

[bopperoo]

not taking pics of the starter before taking it apart, relying instead on my faulty 66 year old memory!

One reason why I've started to record my jobs with the GoPro Might as well since I have it. It's nice to continuously track the state of the bike like that.

Thanks for posting this too. That's on the to-do list, cleaning the starter motor

 

[ericfreeman]

The starter has thin O rings to seal out the water since it's in such a vulnerable position. I normally take photos as I work but this time I didn't, to my distress.