I'm not sure if it's doing the same thing but it does do it occasionally when the bike is warm, mostly when it's on a cold startup.

 

I too am having similar issues. I just bought an 07 Road King Custom and this problem just arose. It started normally for the last 2 months. When it’s warm, it sneezes through the carb and the starter seems to disengage prematurely. It can do this up to 5 times before it starts. I am using a K&N filter and I just replaced the battery with. 400 cca dekka. I tried starting before fuel pump shut off but that didn’t help. I had a little success with bumping the motor before starting. I can stay on the starter till it starts, but that sounds horrible. I might just have to take it in.

 

More than likely you need to replace the starter clutch.

 

Post a video or audio file of the horrible sounds.

 

Thanks for the advice guys. I will post a video this weekend.

 

Here is the video of me starting my bike. At the end of the video I tried showing the oil film on my exhaust but it didn’t come through very well.

 

2nd attempt