?!?? was Yamaha thinking when they designed this piece of crap? Anyway some bozo had installed the bendix gear the wrong way around, don't know if that was intentional to try and fix it as I've heard of people doing it, but the correct side was in good shape anyway.
I ground a lead/chamfer on the edge of the gear to help it engauge and I've seen those "G" clips available on ebay, but I pressed a sleeve over mine to achieve the same result (about 10mm dia). Someone had also drilled and pinned the internal ring gear inside the starter so it can't slip so there won't be any problem there. I also cleaned up the channel inside the casting where that spring clip loop rides in and out. I also ground up a spacer to push the bendix gear closer to the large gear.
Anyway the starter motor is working well now.
