[mikethebike1127]

A bit late in relying to this but here goes......this will maybe help with slow cranking problems. My 450 cranked over very slowly when I bought her. I always blamed the starter motor so I eventually changed it out for a modified DRZ item. Motor span over slightly quicker but the problem was still there. I laid the bike down on its right hand side, removed the fly wheel/started gear casing and hit the starter button. Starter and the upper gear/cog were spinning as the should but everything below was sluggish!!!. I removed said cog and found there was a 17mm hex on the back. Stuck it in the vice and backed out the hex......this split the inner and outer gear. Inside the two is some friction material (a la clutch plate/brake pad). I can only assume this whole cog is a safety devise which allows the two cogs to spin independently should the motor kick back on start up thus preventing casing damage. I then cut a disc of thin cardboard (shoe box), placed it between the cogs and nipped them back up in the vice. Threw everything back together, pushed the started button and hey presto....the bike has started first push of the button since.