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i wanted to check the threads before taking it to the dealership. the dealership service department around here is horrible. i can almost guarantee that they will tell me nothing is wrong and charge me a fee for looking at it. thats what they did when i had an issue with the rear turnsignal/brake light. it would keep burning out and they said that the bulb was just bad but i told them that it was the 3rd bulb this month and that there had to be a wiring problem. they said they could not find anything and charged me for the bulb and .1 hrs labor. i haven't been back since.
The backfire is likely no big deal as has been stated but the starter grinding could be. If you don't like Modesto why not take it to a different dealer? Yeah I know - distance, inconvenience, yada, yada, yada. But you'll hate yourself if the warranty expires and you end up paying big bucks for a bunch of parts that got trashed due to a misaligned gear.
Call ahead for an appointment and tell the you plan to wait. A decent dealership will bust butt to honor your appt time and make sure the tech stays focused on the task to minimize your wait.
your bike doesn't sound like it has had any extensive engine work, but mine had some blow back issues during hot starts and when it started it wasn't all the time, but over time got worse. I put a 103" in mine and had added a bit more cam this resulted in some compression issues on a hot start and so I am currently having compression release valves put in... I know that over time with these blow backs it has a tendency to destroy starters. For me the gasket on the front cylinder head cover failed and started to seep oil... it should be fixed this week. Just some food for thought, but not thinking your problem is quite the same as mine, probably as others have said a mis-tune, but should be brought back and fixed before you need a new starter.
I'd check BOTH ends of BOTH battery cables first (although I suspect the positive if that's the problem), then exhaust and intake leaks. I didn't see if you said carb or EFI, if it's carb, and you have a tuneable ignition, have you been playimg with the timing?
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