Starter Trouble

Hey Guys:

First time poster here. I have a XL1200R with a starter issue. I tried to start it the other day and I got about 3 turns followed by a clunk. When I hit the starter again I got the sound of it engaging and then an electrical pfffft along with the smell of burnt plastic. I don't have a lot of mechanical expertise but I do have the Clymer manual. Should I attempt my own fix or is the stealership going to get my money? Any ideas would be appreciated.
P.S. the weather is finally good here in Ontario and now I can't ride!

Check your battery cables,I have seen many sportsters have the connections somehow get loose, especially the ground cable both ends, tighten them up and you should be back in business, Todd

Checked the connections today. All solid. Any other advice?

:rant:Took a chance it was the battery, charged it overnite. Hit the starter once and nothing and completely discharged the battery. So not the battery and not the connections. This is starting to sound expensive!

sounds like a weak battery. usually thast will lcok up the starter and draw on the battery. this heats things up fast, melting wires and burning up the starter. you might want to check both starter and battery. definitley do a load test and check for dead cells in the battery.

Mechanic says we need a new starter. Hd wants $625 for a new one. Anybody got any cheaper and better alternatives? maybe an aftermarket one someone has had good results with.

That was good info except when i called toyota that isn't a proper part #. the guy at NAPA said hes heard of it but didn't want to commit to helping me find it. Is there any way we could get a proper part # to match my bike. I tried checking a '02 celica( my buddy has one), but the starter seems much larger. Also asked the mechanic at HD, and he would install an aftermarket part as long as it was made for my bike. The local recycler didn't have one and tried to order one from S&S, but they don't make one for a sportster after '80. I WANNA RIDE!!!!!!

If you have a place in your area that rebuilds starters, take the one you've got to them & they can match it up using a "crossover book" to see what else that starter is used on. Or rebuild the one you've got. I used to deal with a place in another city called "Automotive Armatures" & they had, or could rebuild on the spot, just about any stater, alternator, etc. ever made - for a LOT less $$$ than you'd pay for a new one & theirs were better than new because they made 'em one @ a time, not on a production line.

Wow, My buddy just had to put a new clutch in last weekend. I wish I had know this info last week. Might have saved him the bucks to buy it. He did it himself on a 03 Softail but has torn down many bikes. But I don't think he knew about the part number crossover I am gonna remeber that for myself just in case. He handed me the bad clutch and said this was a pain in the neck to get to on his ride. I think I will go get the bad one and size it up to Napa later in the week just for my own interested mind.
Good Luck!!
Later
Voo1

XL Ed, try J&P motorcycles. They just might have what you want at a cheaper price... J&PCycles - Keeping the World on Two Wheels!! or 800-397-4844. Hope this helps ya!!!

The denso starter is a pretty common automotive starter, when the clutch went in the softail, I took the broken one into a starter shop a guy came outta the back shop cleaning up the same part I had in my hand, it was out of a toyota pickup, take the starter to starter shop and they should be able to tell you whats wrong,get you the parts or fix it for you.

I got lucky & found out about it when I was a teenager. Bought a '47 Willys Jeep from a young guy who was raising $$$ to go to college & worked in a local gas station / garage his Dad owned. They'd stuck a 302 V-8 out of a '72 Mustang in the Jeep & while it was drivable, they weren't done with it - had a 12-Volt battery & lights, but the original 6-Volt generator, which they'd made mounting brackets for & found a belt for. I was told about the "Automotive Armatures" business & took the generator to them - is there one with the same case & pulley that's 12-Volt, or can you convert this one?

The man @ the counter said I think we've got one & opened a HUGE "crossover" book - yep, the 12-Volt version of that generator came on a '56 Packard & on a Towmotor (forklift) - we do have one of those. They took my 6-Volt in as a "core" to rebuild & put back on the shelf, saving me a few bucks off the 12-Volt & the guy showed me several examples from the book - I was amazed @ how many very different manufacturers use the same parts.

Years later I became the engineer in a factory & by then I knew that most manufacturers buy more parts than they make & they'll buy what's available before they design a new part, if what's available will do the job. In other words, H-D doesn't make starters, carbs, etc. GM, Ford & Dodge use many of the same driveline parts, like axles for the larger pickups, S. Korean & Japanese manufacturers use many of the same parts & some American companies do too - it's worldwide - who makes the best part for this application? Buy it. You only design a new one if there isn't one on the market.

Simple reason why - it's just too expensive to design a new part, get the tooling to make it, start up a new assembly line, hire more people, etc. If a particular supplier already makes say 10,000 starters / month, it's not hard for them to go to 15,000, 20,000, whatever - they may need to expand, go to double shifts, etc., but there's no design, R&D, setup, etc. time involved to make more of what you already make & it's the design, R&D & machine setup time that's REALLY expensive.

At work they take name brand parts for heavytruck and const.out of boxes and stick em in our boxes and whammo you have a (your brandhere) bearing. Just never thought about starters on bikes. Man that something new I learned!!!! This is by far the best Site to be a part of.I went to a couple others and alot of nonsense and not into the tech side at all.
Just some women posting every little comment and to every comment and fellas flirtin with them. Nothing tangible or constructive to me.
Thanks to CD and all that have kept it goning since it's conception.

Later
Voo1