I am having an issue with my wifes 08' Heritage. Ever since we have had the bike when she goes to start it sometimes it sounds like the starter is not catching and it has a bit of a grinding sound. Here lately the sound is getting worse and it is getting harder to start. Can anyone tell me what this is? My 08' RG did this as well,but my new 12' RGU does not do this.
Someone said it had something to do with the compensator.....?

 

Id say it's the starter clutch. Or worn teeth on the ring gear of the clutch pack.

 

Change the compensator and maybe the drive too,

 

Definitely check out the compensator...when they loosen up they make all kinds of strange noises and vibrations!

 

07's and 08's clunked hard on start up.

some made noise while accelerating, Mostly tourning bikes that was build up and some came loose during normal use.

The clunk on start up can cause havoc on the starter stator which was caused by the weaker spring on the Comp collapsing..

I read a article back in 07 and I have posted about it yrs ago in here about having the timing retarted to zero at zero RPM's during start up,

I don't know about all the other 07, 08 but I had my tuner do it to my bike and it hasn't made the clunk at start since then..

It does turn over a little slower than most for the first turn during start up, but at least it hasn't clunked nor has it ever failed me to start for 5yrs and 36k miles, until the battery failed this spring at 5 yrs old.



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Whatever it is Harley knew it was messed up because they fixed the problem with the newer bikes. If it is the compensator spring,how hard is it to change?
To be clear it really sounds like the starter is grinding when I hit the start button,so I have let up and push it again,sometimes 3-4 times before the bike will start.

 

My '02 Heritage does that when it's hot. Sounds like something is trying to rip the motor out of the frame!

A friend of mine says his RK has been doing it for 30,000 miles and to fix it when it won't start any more.

You can try bumping the starter a couple of times when it's hot before you hold the button in. That seems to help with mine.

When it won't start any more or gets so bad I can't stand it, I'm going with an aftermarket starter.

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It sounds like the Starter Drive One Way Sprag Clutch. See the attached picture. The part I colored in Green (#22) is the One Way Sprag Clutch for the Starter Motor. When it fails it will cause exactly the symptoms you are describing. It may also be the Splines on the Intermediate Shaft that I colored in Blue, or the Pinion Gear shown in Yellow. But in any case, you will need to remove the Starter Motor from the bike to properly check any of this. You may also need to remove the Primary Cover to look at the Ring Gear (Not Shown) if the external teeth on the Pinion Gear (Yellow) are damaged.

 

The same thing happened to mine more when hot, I changed the comp and the drive was ok, if you do it early enough. You let it go too long and it will just cost more $$$$. The spring is too weak and the mototr backs up pushing it against the drive gear. One thing you can do is to turn the run button and hit the starter right away and don't wait it will help it

 

This is what I do and rarely have a problem now.