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Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 77
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From: Olympia, wa
The bike was built up when I bought and the owner in jail so i have no history on what he did internally. It seems like it has a lot of compression because I cant turn the motor over by pushing and popping the clutch. Compression test says about 160.
The starter has always seemed to work real hard at spinning the motor. It never has gone zing zing like other harleys, which is why I am suspecting a weak/worn starter. It is OEM with 22K miles.
I like chrome because we all know it adds horsepower but I mainly wanted to know if the High Torque started made a difference
The starter has always seemed to work real hard at spinning the motor. It never has gone zing zing like other harleys, which is why I am suspecting a weak/worn starter. It is OEM with 22K miles.
I like chrome because we all know it adds horsepower but I mainly wanted to know if the High Torque started made a difference
Road Master
Joined: Feb 2010
Posts: 884
Likes: 0
From: n
Doesn't sound like a compression issue if you are getting 160--and that is cycling through a few rotations? As noted before, HD starters ain't bad. I have had 4 with way more miles than 22K on all of them and never a start issue till the 255 cams, but it does happen. Shooting from the hip, I don't know if a high torque starter is gonna be any better than rebuilding your OEM starter if you are only getting 160 ccp. Good luck and please remember to follow up your post with your final solution. Good luck with whatever route you choose.
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Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 77
Likes: 3
From: Olympia, wa
I ordered a 2.0 kw Arrowhead started from eBay. I choose black because the poster who mentioned that a chrome starter is hard to shine made a lot of sense. I figured a high torque starter has to perform better than a stock one so I pulled the trigger. It's a cosmetically blemished new starter and i got it for $140 with shipping...less than half price. I will post again after I install next week
Outstanding HDF Member
Joined: Oct 2010
Posts: 2,706
Likes: 14
From: Near Frankenmuth, MI
Good deal.
I thought it was starter time for me last week. I had the slow dragging starter syndrome. First thing I did was check for loose connections and the new ground lead I put on a year ago had loosened up to the point of smelling melting wires. Just heated the insulation a bit, most of the smell was from arcing on the loose connection.
Boy was I ever happy to tighten that down again and have the starter turn over like it was supposed to.
Seeing as how the only time I removed the stater was to tear down the primary and get it out of the way for the tranny to be overhauled in the bike last spring I was surprised to find out my starter can be pulled in a matter of a few minutes without disassembling the primary. 2 bolts to the starter and one on the back support.
I guess not ever style and year is that simple to do.
BTW it was me who thought having to try and polish a chrome starter would be tough. WELL... I sat last night for almost 3 hours polishing my outer primary, the nose cone and the end piece of the tranny. All old aluminum that seems to stain up real easy when exposed to water. This time it was road crud from being caught in the rain. It glued onto the covers because they were hot at the time. The crud adhered to the aliminum and the finish felt like sandpaper. What a pisser! Mothers and several rags, and worn out fingers made them look better than ever. And then I waxed them to hopefully negate this from happening again. The wax slightly dulled the shine, but I hope it protects them better.
Hope you get on the road soon.
I thought it was starter time for me last week. I had the slow dragging starter syndrome. First thing I did was check for loose connections and the new ground lead I put on a year ago had loosened up to the point of smelling melting wires. Just heated the insulation a bit, most of the smell was from arcing on the loose connection.
Boy was I ever happy to tighten that down again and have the starter turn over like it was supposed to.
Seeing as how the only time I removed the stater was to tear down the primary and get it out of the way for the tranny to be overhauled in the bike last spring I was surprised to find out my starter can be pulled in a matter of a few minutes without disassembling the primary. 2 bolts to the starter and one on the back support.
I guess not ever style and year is that simple to do.
BTW it was me who thought having to try and polish a chrome starter would be tough. WELL... I sat last night for almost 3 hours polishing my outer primary, the nose cone and the end piece of the tranny. All old aluminum that seems to stain up real easy when exposed to water. This time it was road crud from being caught in the rain. It glued onto the covers because they were hot at the time. The crud adhered to the aliminum and the finish felt like sandpaper. What a pisser! Mothers and several rags, and worn out fingers made them look better than ever. And then I waxed them to hopefully negate this from happening again. The wax slightly dulled the shine, but I hope it protects them better.
Hope you get on the road soon.
Road Captain
Joined: Sep 2012
Posts: 746
Likes: 5
From: Boston
The MoCo puts auto compression releases on the 103 and up from the factory now, so if your engine is heavily modified and you dont have any way to release the compression, the starter absolutely will have to work a lot harder to turn the engine over. And as time goes on this will wear out the starter to the point it sounds like you are at now. You probably need to replace the starter and while you're at it, install the CR's to avoid this issue again in the future.
Club Member
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 145,895
Likes: 821
From: 40 miles Northeast of Indy..
Typical build and not knowing whats going on..
A simple case of CR's would prob helped... but if Ur builder didn't say anything,, THEN,,, I would not have use him....
...
A simple case of CR's would prob helped... but if Ur builder didn't say anything,, THEN,,, I would not have use him....
...
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Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 77
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From: Olympia, wa
Ok, so the new Arrowhead 2.0kw starter arrived. It is a lot bigger than stock but the documentation with it certainly says it fits my bike.
The first problem is when I set the starter in place it will not seat because it now hits the VSS (vehicle speed sensor)
Is there a fix for this? Trimming? relocation? hammer time?
The first problem is when I set the starter in place it will not seat because it now hits the VSS (vehicle speed sensor)
Is there a fix for this? Trimming? relocation? hammer time?
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Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 77
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From: Olympia, wa
Conclusion
So I installed the new starter. WOW what a huge improvment. As previously stated...the OEM starter was 1.4KW and the new high torque starter from Bikers Choice was 2.0KW. It was also huge and after some wrassleing it finally slid into place...with NO additional clearance around it.
The bike now springs to life when you hit the starter....zing zing zing instead of lub lub lub. no more kick backs or backfires. I totally recommend this upgrade.
footnote...had to drain the primary to change the starter. I was previously running synthetic ATF and liked the firm hookup. I switched to Mobile 1 synthetic 20-50 HD Dyna primary oil. It gives a much softer and smoother hookup. Gives a tame feel to the bike but I havent noticed any slippage.
The bike now springs to life when you hit the starter....zing zing zing instead of lub lub lub. no more kick backs or backfires. I totally recommend this upgrade.
footnote...had to drain the primary to change the starter. I was previously running synthetic ATF and liked the firm hookup. I switched to Mobile 1 synthetic 20-50 HD Dyna primary oil. It gives a much softer and smoother hookup. Gives a tame feel to the bike but I havent noticed any slippage.
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