Lately when I hit the starter button the starter button will hesitate and then start . Ive never noticed this before. I tightened up my battery cables and they were fine. I also tightened up the positive cable that connects to the starter. It was a little loose but not much. My bike is an 05 model and has 112,000 miles on it. The bike has the original starter on it.

Any comments are appreciated.

 

How long does it hesitate? During the hesitation, is there any noise?

If it takes over a second or so and there is no noise it could be a bad contact on the start button. If you hear a click and it takes a second or so to turn over, it's probably a starter/connection issue.
Good luck

 

how old is your battery? whats your running battery charge voltage? whats your battery state of charge with the key out using a volt meter (12.4V is a 40% charge, 12.8V is a 90% charge)?


Also, check your engine main case ground for corrosion and clean it off and reinstall using star lock washers. Don't know exactly where it would be on your 05, but on an 07, the ground point is on the oil fill side of the engine, below the starter and behind the engine oil fill point.

 

Mine started it too, after the dealer installed the 103 kit on it. It cranks once, stalls and then continues to crank then starts.

 

I've had this problem on my Fatboy. First check the battery connections. Harley battery terminals are notorius for loosening. If they are ok then remove the battery and have it load tested. If the battery is week the starter drive will engage but then there is not enough power to turn the motor. Load testing is the best method. If you need a battery go to Advance Auto Parts. Their line of batteries for a Harley are Deka under the Advance Auto name. Deka or East Penn make the OEM battery for Harley. If the battery is good you may have a starter drive clutch issue. They have similar symptoms. You have to rebuild or replace the starter.

Good luck

 

This is a real easy fix. Look at your starter and to the right you will see a cover with three small bolts (7MM i think) holing it on. Disconnect the (-) side of your battery, remove those three small bolts, pull off the cover (should be able to reuse the dust gasket under it for re-installation), The thing you are then looking at is the solenoid plunger, grad hold and pull it straight out (no fasteners holding it), should now look like my attached picture ('05 bike as well), there are two copper contacts in there on up and one down, clean them off (scotch pad, or scotch wheel on dremel work well), also clean off the copper washer on the plunger you removed, if the contact are very thin you should replace them (Harley and others sell rebuild kits for $30 or so), if they still look decent without wear through put the plunger back in after all is cleaned up, re-install the cover, and try it out.

This is the major connection from the battery power getting to your starter. 112,xxx miles is likely lots of starts.

Let us know how it turns out.

Adam

 

You mean that's not normal for a Harley?

 

I appreciate the suggestions. I will take the cover off and check the contact points today or tomorrow.