For the last few months the electric starter began to struggle to start the bike. It used to be you would touch the starter and the bike fired up. Lately it sounded as if the starter struggled to turn the engine over- there would be a pause like the starter was fighting against something. This weekend the process failed. The starter tried to work but nothing happens other than the sound of it trying for a moment before silence. It's like the engine needs wd40 or something- like the starter is working but the engine needs lubrication. The bike starts fine manually. And the electric start can work occasionally after starting the bike manually.
Any suggestions? Is there an easy lubrication point to hit or is it the sign of a bad starter?