When my bike is hot and i stop for gas, or shut if off for a very short time, say a minute or two, then try to start again, sometimes it makes a horrible noise just for a split second, then i hit the start button again and it starts with no problem.
Only happens when hot. Never when cold. Anyone else experience this ?

 

starter clutch ....very common failure

 

I had a 99 that did that. I replaced the starter and that fixed it.

 

Yep, it's a fairly common problem on 1200's do to the higher compression ratio.

First, the back story:
When you shut down the motor, one cylinder virtually always comes to a stop on a compression stroke leaving that cylinder under pressure. When the bike sits for a (longer) period of time, that pressure bleeds off past the rings, valves, etc. When you just shut down for a quick fuel stop, that pressure is still there when you try to restart and the stock starter doesn't have the torque to "push" through the stroke and the motor will tend to kick-back against the starter clutch gear.

What eventually happens, is that the kick-back against the starter clutch gear strips the teeth off of the clutch gear and you need to replace the starter clutch. I had this happen twice on my bike at 12K miles and again at 24K miles.

The starter clutch gear is some sort of phenolic material and becomes sacrificial being the weakest link.

You can order and just replace the starter clutch instead of the whole starter. Unfortunately, the starter mount bolts are inside the primary so that has to be opened, and you'll typically have to remove the rear exhaust pipe to get enough room to get the starter out.

Now, to eliminate this happening again in the future, I recommend replacing the starter with a 1.4KW "All-*****" brand starter. Last I checked they were in the $270.00 range, but since installing one in mine at 24,000 miles, I haven't had a single kick-back/clutch gear problem in the 55,000 miles since.

Edit: Here's a link, looks like it's $279.95

Edit2: A better price - $242.95

 

Thanks heybaylor, rjm729 and cHarley.
When i had the new stator put in last year, i told the indy about the problem and he checked the starter and said there was no sign of any damage. I'll get the All ***** when it goes.

 

Just don't wait until you stop for fuel in BF Egypt and loose the last few teeth.

 

so that's what that noise is? Thayt loud Clunk that sometimes happens when you start? How long does it take for the pressure to go away? Another design flaw! $250 for a motorcycle starter is not cheap! reading all this about design flaws in sportster I think I'd better trade this bike in when it hits 12,000 miles or so Because I dont I'm going to be able to afford to fix all these design flaws, starter craps out at 12,000 miles, clutch explodes at 30,000, stator craps out at 24,000 miles. I guess this is what is expected of american products. I think my next bike will be a yamaha, they may not look as good but atleast you dont have to worry about the repairs making you completely broke.

 

Had a Yamaha and that starter was a much worse design! You wont pay 250 in parts to fix your starter especialy if you use higher quality aftermarket parts. If it makes you feel better go buy another bike.

 

You obviously don't have a clue...........

 

well, I'm going off what I've read on this board, I've read about 3 major design flaws on sportsers just this week, sorry, but it pisses me off that HD would purposely put a defective starter on their motorcycles that craps out after 12,000 miles, this is why no one buys american products anymore.