My 98 is stock with pipes and AC. Starts great when cold, first time everytime. But Occasionally when I start it when hot, I get that gnarly kickback. Recently had to replace a primary starter gear. Is it the way Im starting it when hot? No choke, no prime, I just push the button.

 

I don't think so. I don't start mine with choke or primer when hot either.

 

At least it's kicking back the starter instead of using the kickstart lever to catapult you across the street like the Shovelheads and Ironheads were good for.

I give mine two cracks of the throttle before hitting the starter. It usually fires right away then. If I don't crack the throttle first, it may take a second or two to fire up and that's when it can kick back. Otherwise a high torque starter does wonders.

 

I'll try giving it a little throttle. Im just afraid of flooding it I guess.
I hope I dont have to change the starter. Thats a pain. And expensive.

 

A stock compression Evo shouldn't kick back in any situation, my crystal ball is saying that the starter drive clutch is getting weak. Had a stock Harley starter go south on a higher compression engine and I feel your pain on the sound it makes, let's hope my crystal ball is wrong.

 

might sound weird but i recently had my voes fail. Not advancing my ignition at idle. bike didnt want to idle and ran sluggish. replace and immediatly fires up ok with no added fuel. just another though.....
also is your starter wire super hard? ive seen a lot of these issues with failed cables.

 

Over advanced timing will cause kick back. It shows up worse if you open the throttle while turning it over. On the older kickstart distributor bikes you used to have to manually retard the timing to start it.

 

That's what i was thinking if possibly his voes is stuck in the advanced position. When it fails its designed to go retard but who knows.