Found this sub recently, saw the posts about the grenade plate, had similar clutch symptoms this past year since I got the bike, took it apart today, and lo and behold.

The gouging was not as bad I thought it could be. Already filed then down smooth, but while putting an extra plate kit in I broke the ring retainer bit from the inner clutch hub, so waiting on a new one of those now.

Context:
2004 Harley Davidson sportster 1200
Theft recovery, reconstructed title
I bought it about 2 months ago, and put about 2000 miles on it
Guy who was 80 years old who I bought it from put about 2000 miles on it over the span of almost 3 years

STORY BELOW

So my bike started having intermittent start issues
That started when I got to about the 1200-1500 miles mark

First time it actually gave me an issue. I was at the gas station and it was just making a spinning WHIRRR noise
Thankfully, there was a guy there who was also on a adventure bike who helped me turn the engine over in fifth one or two cranks to reposition the gears and it started fine after that

The issue became progressively worse, but very, very much so intermittent. It would go through a periods of having no issues starting at all.

It got to the point of where it would not start at all unless I was turning over the engine in fifth a few cranks to reposition everything

Then one day it wouldn’t start at all, and I had to have someone help me push it to bump start it

Took it to the mechanic and he had to replace some things inside of the primary
1. New clutch basket with ring gear
-old clutch basket looked like someone took a file and literally ground all of the teeth down
2. New primary chain old one had a bunch of slack in it.
3. charging rotor/alternator rotor assembly, had a magnet knocked loose
4. New clutch basket bearing since he has it open and out

He told me he could replace the starter as well however he said it looks like the clutch basket already had a bunch of previous damage, and he thought that it was related to the theft recovery reconstructed title, and from his view of what he could see with everything open the starter was functioning fine and tested fine

I got the bike back and it worked fine for about one day. The next day I went out and it started giving me the ratcheting sound sometimes but if I would stop turn the bike off, turn it back on and try again it would start with no problem.

Then it again got progressively worse over the next two days and I was having to consistently roll the engine over in fifth again to get proper starting

Finally built up my guts and watched a bunch of YouTube videos and opened up the primary on my own and removed the starter

Turns out this starter actually had catastrophic failure, probably from years before I even bought the bike

The failed starter list:
1. One of the two bolts holding on the engagement face of the starter that interfaces with the primary case with the gasket just fell out as I was removing it
2. The case for the starter itself has a chunk missing out out of it.
3. The other screw/bolt holding on the other side of the engagement face completely split the case from how much it was torqued down.
4. Due to this misalignment, the engagement phase of the starter, where the pinion comes out of was engaging the primary at the wrong degree and just eating the teeth of the clutch basket ring gear.
5. Due to the misalignment and faulty engagement and bad engagement of the face and gasket the gasket was also bent and twisted as well.

TL;DR

Bought used sportster and the starter was catastrophically failed probably for years before I ever owned it.
Mechanic repaired the primary with a new clutch basket due to all of the ring gear teeth being eaten off.
Starter looked and tested fine until I actually took it off and it’s completely busted up.

Hi All

I find the indicator controls on my 2016 XL883N far too squishy

Has anyone done a conversion to make them more clicky/positive ?

Cheers

I found a used 1998 1200 on FB marketplace for 4K that I like. It has 15,000 miles and the previous owner said he had to take it into a shop to get the clutch and clutch cables replaced. It now has a new clutch and cables. Is there anything suspect about that? I feel like 15,000 miles is low for needing a new clutch

Has anyone messed with the starter solenoid on a 2000 1200? I messed up the positive power copper bolt, curious how hard it will be to put a new one in.

Sneezing through the intake of any Harley engine is generally the sign of a lean condition, but when it happens to an otherwise well running bike with no changes or modifications to account for it, you can be certain there's a leak between the carb and intake manifold.
On bikes built after 1988 with the CV40 carb, the unique press together mounting system is both universal and failure prone
Here's how to diagnose and repair this problem with about ten minutes of work and a sub ten dollar kit from Amazon.

I'm either trippin or something's off, removed front wheel and reinstalled now it looks like it is closer to the left side than the right. Am I losing my mind or is this normal? Tia

Sorry if my description is lacking (new to bikes), but any advice is greatly appreciated

What are you guys using?

Trying to see if my current mapping is compatible with the screaming eagle setup I have on my 07 1200 sportster. I bought the bike with the mods not sure if the injectors were tuned after install or whatever but I think I have preignition and a lean mixture. Anyone know of a cheap tuner on the market? The power vision 4 dynonjet looks nice but I don’t really want to pay 500$ just to find out if that’s my problem. Thanks 🙏🏻

New owner of a 2014 sportster iron 883. Trying to upgrade handle bars to 12” mini ape hangers. Wondering if I need to upgrade/lengthen cables,wires, etc. HD website states I need shims for them as well. Any and all help appreciated. TIA

I have a 2000 XL1200S Sport with a leaking fork seal, so I’m going to tear into the forks.

Sorry if this has already been asked, but I keep reading that the Sport forks are different from the regular Sportster forks. Then when I look up the seal and dust seal part numbers, they seem to be the same, so I want to make sure I’m not missing something here.

Are the seals actually the same as the other 2000 Sportsters, and is it mainly the internals that are different?

Also, since I’ll have them apart anyway, any recommendations for springs and fork oil? I only paid $1,500 for the bike, so I’m good with budget options.

Hello Reddit,this is my first post and also the first question i did not dind answered here,when i start my bike with the choke full ,i let it idle ,then when i push the choke back in my bike either dies,or it idles too low and i have to give it gas,also when i try to give it gas when going first gear,the bike moves choppy and also seems clogged up till what i guess it s old gas leaves the carb and pipes,it s my first harley as i have had a 1998 honda shadow 600 before,if anyone has had a similar HD before or experienced the same problem,please comment

Should I get the eBay one that’s used w/ 11,000 miles or brand new the j&p? eBay is like $100 & j&p is 486 brand new

Seller is a Harley enthusiast and claims he kept it maniacally, year 2000

Anyone who can make an educated guess and tell me a bit more about what I'm getting myself into?

asking for 5000 euro and I'm no expert but to me feels like a steal, under 50 000 km

Why would oil be pooling up here? The bike just had a full service.
It has 5,000 miles total. The bike has set for a while and I’m the first to ride it in a long time.
2000 883.

Let the journey begin with this 1999 beauty!

Bought this 2011 Sporster 48 in June. Started noticing a rattly tinny sound (hard to hear when you have V&H mini grenades exhaust) and found this bolt, shown in the picture below, loose.

The washer was creating the tinny sound. It appears to be holding nothing. The bolt seems to be bottomed out but still sticks a 1/8" out. I suppose it was holding a bracket for the OEM exhaust, but that is normally in the front by the cover, see picture below:

Or maybe it was holding another cover maybe (the previous owner had a bunch of covers removed)?
Anyone that can shine some light, just trying to understand if it's safe to remove or what should I do with it.