Starter
Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 14,075
Likes: 11,096
From: San Diego, CA
I watched a couple videos on starters and compensators. Battery voltage was at 12.9-13.0. Dropped below 9 when starting.
Tried another start and the starter engaged then disengaged with the grinding sound.
Put the tender back on, waited for the green charged light, pressed the starter button and it started instantly (turned over quick too). Started the bike 2 more times perfectly.
Not quite understanding the battery at rest at 13 but dropping low when worked? Starting on the tender fine?
I'm late to this thread, and just read through it quickly.
I'm not sure I'm following all that's been talked about, but just that last highlighted sentence suggests to me you have a bad battery...
If your battery reads 13V (full charge), and then momentarily dropped below 9V when you tried to start the bike.... THAT is a load test of shorts... It is often suggested to people who don't have a load tester.
When starting your bike with a full battery, the voltage should not momentarily drop below 10V say some, and just about all will say if it momentarily drops below 9.5v it is the sign of a bad battery...
The charger being hooked up to the battery when it started just fine, confirms to me you have a weak/bad battery.... It needs the help of the tender to make the voltage required to start under load...
If I have missed something, I apologize...
Last edited by hattitude; Nov 7, 2024 at 08:40 PM.
Grand HDF Member
Joined: Jan 2012
Posts: 4,445
Likes: 2,822
From: Oklahoma
Do you occasionally or frequently get a loud, sharp, metallic bang when you press the starter button? If you still have the factory compensator, you have the last of the old style comps that were not quite up to the job of handling the compression and power of the 96 and 103 engines. The loud bang is the compensator traveling to, and slamming into the stop. That transfers a shock back to the starter clutch and slowly destroys it. The grinding noise is the sprag clutch chattering. A strong battery will prevent the chattering ....for a while, but it will come back. The less expensive, but TEMPORARY FIX, is to replace the starter clutch but the weak compensator, frequently slamming against the stop, will slowly destroy the new starter clutch. The long term fix is to replace both the starter clutch and the compensator.
Not knowing if you get that loud bang, I won't go into any more detail now. If you don't get the bang, then the compensator is not the cause of your problem.
Not knowing if you get that loud bang, I won't go into any more detail now. If you don't get the bang, then the compensator is not the cause of your problem.
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