Ok I've done a couple searches and didn't come up with much. I have been told by a local Indy that the 96 inch starters are direct drive and not that great. I don't about all that, but I have noticed that since I put in the cams my starter grunts more and kicks out before the engine starts from time to time. The Indy I talked to said the kicking out is the sign that the starter is on its way out. Anybody find this to be true, and if you replaced your starter what kind of upgrade choices are there from stock. Any help or advice is as always much appreciated.

 

Have a load test done on your battery, and check your battery connections--this is the #1 reason for starter kickback.

 

Check timing advanced too far

 

Be sure you have the best gas available . My Road King would do that only when I had to settle for a lesser octane .

 

Thanks dickey I should have thought of that. the battery is 4 years old. Maybe it's time for a new one.
John I'll have to take a look at my TTS Mastertune and see if I can retard the timing a little at start up.

 

When the starter clutch goes out, you will know it. When it does **** the bed, get a sprag style replacement clutch for 145 bucks and never worry about it again. Don't waste your money on a fancy high torque starter. The worst part is you have a softail, so taking the starter out sucks.

 

Mine was kicking out sometimes when I was running down the road. Ended up being the start switch. Changed them both out. Pain in the butt.

 

+1 on this. My bike was getting hard to start, I knew I needed a battery. It was kicking back almost every time I tried to start it. Don't forget a battery is cheaper then a starter. Also, some cams make the bike harder to start, so that very likely has an effect too. You could maybe use a set of decompressors...

 

Thanks Lexus, never heard that before. I'll keep that in mind if it takes a **** on me. I'm gonna start with a new battery. Maybe I should have gone with the s&s easy start cams.