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Yeah, thanks. I'm trying to upload a video I took, but it's not working...:/ Any quick tips on doing that?

So why would the teeth all the sudden not engage?

I do have another airhead (:)) of course, but it's a 1977 and from what I can tell it's a 9 tooth...I need a 8 tooth in the 1975....oh bother.

Is the battery fully charged?

Yup. More than 12.5 V.

I'm beginning to suspect the planetary gears in the starter motor...

Has anyone heard of them stripping out after literally the second use?!?!

Yes mine has

You said this is a brand new starter.

Are you sure it is rotating in the correct direction?

IOW, it needs to rotate the engine clockwise as viewed from the front.

When I have had issues of the pinon gear not engaging it was due to alignment issues of the starter being too low in relation to the fly wheel. Maybe shimming the starter upward can address the issue.

RPGR90s wrote: ↑Wed Aug 10, 2022 10:58 amAre you sure it is rotating in the correct direction?

Didn't Matt Parkhouse at the MOA spend months trying to figure out why his engine was turning backwards when starting? Turns out he was sold an Oilhead starter for his Airhead.

Kurt

Kurt in S.A. wrote: ↑Wed Aug 10, 2022 12:00 pm

RPGR90s wrote: ↑Wed Aug 10, 2022 10:58 amAre you sure it is rotating in the correct direction?

Didn't Matt Parkhouse at the MOA spend months trying to figure out why his engine was turning backwards when starting? Turns out he was sold an Oilhead starter for his Airhead.

Kurt

I can't remember the article but I do believe an Oilhead starter would bolt up to an Airhead. And since the Oilhead starter nose points forward and the Airhead starter nose points rearward, but both engines rotate the same direction, it seems logical that this might be an issue.

Just a suggestion, have a good look at the teeth on the flywheel where the starter fits in now, assuming you have not rotated the motor and look to see if the teeth are burred over, reason i suggest this is you said it worked fine then stopped and you can hear a grinding noise, sounds like the engine has stopped at a point where the teeth on the flywheel are damaged and not letting the gear on the starter engage.

I am still thinking there is an alignment issue. Can you pull the solenoid and engage the Bendix from the lever that the solenoid moves to see if the teeth are in alignment.