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Broken starter ring gear teeth

B-1B_Guy

Junior Member
Sunday, I attempted to install my SE Compensator and Aim VPC clutch. After I removed the stock compensator (a flimsy piece of junk) I pulled the primary chain and noticed three bad teeth (all in a row) on the starter ring gear. One tooth is completely gone, the next is 1/2 gone and the third tooth is chipped....none of the broken teeth are in my primary. The teeth are probably attached to the stator. My dealer is going to pick the bike up Friday to take a look at it. A very reliable source said that in '09 there were some hardening problems at the factory and this is not an unusual problem.

Last year I put 15K+ miles on the '09 Ultra. It has a 103" motor and 255 cams all of last years riding season. I never had any starting problems or grinding issues when starting.

Anyone else seen this? I'm hoping the my dealer changes the clutch basket and the starter under warranty.

Just something I thought you might want to look for when you have the primary cover or the derby cover off.
 
My 07 Streetbob did the same thing, dealer fixed it no problems, said they have seen this a couple of times
 
. A very reliable source said that in '09 there were some hardening problems at the factory and this is not an unusual problem.

Just something I thought you might want to look for when you have the primary cover or the derby cover off.

Great point. That is an unusual problem and I sure hope it doesn't turn out to be an epidemic.

Better check it before the warranty is up because it's $509 for just the ring gear.
 
Great point. That is an unusual problem and I sure hope it doesn't turn out to be an epidemic.

Better check it before the warranty is up because it's $509 for just the ring gear.

BEING CHEAP and RESOURCEFUL,,,, While apart on my 2000 dyna and having a starter ring gear problem and replacing the starter drive-clutch. NOTICED the teeth chipped out and a couple were pretty bad from all the KICK-BACKS of the high performance engine...

I being a welder took tho ONLY action I knew SHORT of replacing the ring gear.. I built up the bad teeth with a HARD wire weld a S-6 grade .030 short-arc wire...
a little shaping by hand(grind n file) did the trick... Later LOOKS when apart, the NEW repaired teeth held up fine....

I would ONLY recommend this operation AFTER warranty is OVER....
HOPING I don't have a problem on my 09 FLHR......

B-1B_Guy ?? WOULD you look at the frame tag and see WHAT IS THE "BUILD DATE" ON YOUR BIKE.... MAYBE IT WILL HELP ME TO SEE HOW CLOSE TO MY DATE... Won't prove anything but if you could I would appreciate that date please..

signed....BUBBIE
 
Great point. That is an unusual problem and I sure hope it doesn't turn out to be an epidemic.

Better check it before the warranty is up because it's $509 for just the ring gear.

When mine went south, the MOCO backed it and installed new clutch plates with a new clutch hub, Im a happy camper
 
I sure hope it is a rare problem. If it turns out to actually be a hardening process to the gear, the problem can be very far reaching. It certainly goes back to the vendor who supplies part to HD. And since the part has no serial number (I would guess) there will be very little batch identity.
 
BUB,

Build date is 03/09. I'll let you guys know what my dealer says. They pick the bike up in the am. Where did you guys find the teeth laying? Were they on the stator or the drain plug?
 
I think it was 08 I had a few problems with starter pinion gears, there teeth were breaking off for no reason and there were no official recalls or product campains, in speaking with Harley's tech service back in Milwaukee I was told that a batch of starter pinion gears slipped thru that were not tempered properly by the manufacturer. When the teeth would break off they would tear up the starter gear as well on the clutch hub, one good thing is that it will show before the warranty period is up, if temper is the problem. A misfire at start up maybe from a rad cam or a higher compression engine can also take out a tooth or two on the ring gear. If you do have that problem I recommend pulling the rotor off the stator to check for any metal, it wants to stick to the magnets.
 
Checked on the bike today. My dealer replaced the entire clutch and the gear on the starter under warranty. They also did the SE Compensator install for 1 hr labor. The broken teeth were not attached to the stator so I'm pretty sure they were attached to the magnetic drain plug when I had the 1K, 5K, 10K or 15K mile service done. Not sure how I feel about that....I can't point fingers but sure would like to know where those gears went.
 
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