I went out to take the iron over to town to grab some things at the supermarket. it has been cold here (in the 30's at night) and upon trying to start her she couched a couple of times before she fired up, which has happened often when she has sat for awhile. ran fine to the store 6 or 7 miles away. in the store for less than 5 minutes. when i started up at the store it almost sounded like something grinding and thought it was the starter. made a couple more stops on the way and had the same sound. upon getting close and starting it at home it sounds like a cough from the air cleaner. strange sound. started three times in a row in the garage and it did it the first time but not the other 2. runs just like normal when going down the road or idling after start. just that small cough on start. any ideas? Might just be some type of vapor lock?

edit: also had it hooked to a harley battery tender for the first time before i started it today but can't see that would have anything to do with this. It is just the only thing i have done differently.

 

Looks like this may be caused by the starter clutch starting to go bad. got some very helpful info from a member of the xlforums who has had the same issue. just thought i would update the thread incase it turns out to be that and others have the same issue.

 

My Glide is doing the same thing! My starter is ancient, so I have bought a new one, however it is worth you considering getting a replacement starter clutch. Use Search, as the factory one is expensive, yet they are available much cheaper as aftermarket and there are bound to be pointers to suitable sources. I seem to recall Toyota use the same starter on some cars.

 

well mine only has 5000 miles on it so i'm not real happy if it tuns out to be that. not sure if the extra compression would have an effect on the wear of the starter or not.

 

Yep, definitely would make a difference