My upgrade of an '05 103" is turning into a nightmare. As I said in a previous post, I upgraded to Redshift 575 cams along with the new camplate/oil pump.
The starter acts like it is straining really hard to turn the motor over, especially cold. And more and more when hot. It's been 3 years on the battery so I replaced it with an HD unit. Same issue. But at other infrequent times it fires right off when I punch the button. It doesn't sound like gears are grinding but more like it's under incredible strain. Then on the next push of the button it sounds like the starter is spinning but not engaging the pinion.
My local HD did not have a HiTorque starter in stock, so I have to wait. I've been reading about other 103's that have starter issues and many talk about compression. Also something about hydraulic lifters being bled down and not opening the valves creating unnecessary compression at startup?
My builder did something different and put the se hydr. lifters in with solid pushrods. Would that be causing the starter issues? Even still, I do really hate the tapping and clanking when I do start it. It finally quiets down after riding a bit and the oil heats up.
I read an idea from another post, and that was to simply loosen a spark plug and see if the motor cranks easier. I suppose it doesn't really identify a weak starter..... I also will inspect the + and - lugs on the starter.