RXV had issues starting

[NoTyme]

I bought my RXV new and have been seeing some issues in starting lately. My RXV is a gas, no mods to engine and what is happening is when I apply the gas to start the motor I hear a bit of a whine sometimes, (NO clicking) and have to switch back from reverse to forward to get it to go. Yesterday the cranking seemed to be a bit slow so I put a trickle charger on the cart (like I do during the winter months) and today she starts and goes just fine.
If I understand the charging system correctly the starter is both a starter and generator, am I correct?
I want to try and determine whether it is a battery issue or problems with the charging system. I don’t know jack when it comes to these carts and I am hoping to “do it myself” when the time comes that she no longer starts…
As a side note I did notice that my hour meter is no longer working so there is another thing to dive into this weekend while doing my oil and filter change.

[Jd62]

If your cart start when the charger is on,, the culprit is your battery....

[mcdave71]

My Kawi motor does that from time to time. I think it just happens to land on the compression stroke of the motor. After a couple quick taps on the gas pedal it moves past it and fires up. This only happens Once a week or so of daily riding.

[vince362291]

just a thought going with what mcdave said is the starter belt worn or stretched my marathon was doing this after a top end rebuild (done in the cart) and with the added compression of the fresh rebuild tighend the belt starts with no problems now

[NoTyme]

Thanks for the reply's!
Since the overnight trickle charge the RXV has been starting better but still does sometimes need to switch back and fourth from forward to reverse.
I have not done anything to the belt (actually nothing to the cart except oil, oil filter, air filter and spark plug since new) so I think after dragging a 900 lb roller and other yard implements I will next check the belt and tighten if necessary.
Spent 5 minutes looking for an issue with the hour meter and found nothing... gonna pull out of the cart and bench text it this weekend.