I had the same thing happen to me on my 90FXR. Check ALL of the wiring. My problem turned out to be in the wiring harness.

 

Yeah harleyguy...I gonna go back through everything and do a process of elimination...my brother-in-law is really good with electrical wiring diagnostics..he's got all the meters/tools to properly check it out...you said you had the same thing happen on your 90'fxr..what did you find in the wiring harness?

 

The thing you want to look for is any damage to the insulation on the wires. I had more then one wire where the insulation was damaged. Current was jumping from one wire to another. One day it would be fine the next day it would happen. I hope this helps and I hope you find the problem. Make sure to let us all know how it works out for you.
RIDE FREE

 

I will be working on it this weekend...I will let you guys know what I find..thanx for all the input guys.

 

Interesting, I am having the same problem with my "86 FLH. I also had the motor out this winter for a rebuild, and since putting it back in I am having the same issue.

I have replaced:
Starter, Solenoid, Battery (Odyssey), all circuit breakers, starter switch,starter relay and I have also run a ground from frame to inner primary, to starter to solenoid.

My symptoms are: Starter will really hesitate on that initial compression stroke. If it gets over that 1st stroke, it will spin the motor freely to start. If it doesn't, the starter will stay engaged and I have one more than one occasion had to disconnect the battery to avoid a meltdown.

My next plan was to remove the primary to see if there was an issue with the starter "forK"

Perhaps together we can figure this out......

 

That is why I love this forum!!! I just found this site a week ago and so far I've been able to find the answers to a ton of question that I've had. There is nothing like talking to people who have been there and done that.
Everything you both talked about is exactly what was happening to me. Don't wait to fix it, get on it NOW!!! I ended up frying my wiring harness and then 2 weeks later the starter went. I'm not sure if one has anything to do with the other, but I found it ironic that it went bad.
My bike would also hesitate on the first try, even after I replaced all the above mentioned parts. I started checking the battery output and noticed that it would never really be fully charged. The battery was old so I figured I would replace it. The bike was fine for the first few days and then it went back to hesitating when I would try to start it. Long story short, I got 300 mile from my house and the bike would no longer turn over. I had to charge the battery off my buddy’s bike and I still had to catch it in gear to get it to run. Turns out the charging system took a **** on me. I made it back home (barely) but I had to disconnect all my lights and keep catching it in gear.

 

The only thing I have to add would be that sometimes the wire can break internally. You will not be able to visually see any damage. But, if you LIGHTLY pull on the wire, it will stretch. If it does, thats a sure indicator that the insulation is the only thing holding it together and when the conditions are right, it seems fine. As the bike heats up, vibrates, etc.. the wire will loose contact..

 

I have an 1985 Electra Glide.

all was good for several weekends. nothing new added or changed.

took bike into town to get mower parts. came home then later
went for ride, all was good. out in open ran it up to 80 or so. then.....

noticed no charge on volt meter. turned off lights, bike was trying to die. turned lights back on, bike operated better. even for a sec it would show charge after lights back on.

turned off driving lights same thing. bike was dying, I would switch lights off, then on, it would allow it to run a bit better. sounded like it was running with limited spark. then flip lights off/on again it would run better. Only would run with lights on.

when I got home, I looked to see what lights were working all were. turned bike off, battery showed 13.25 on meter after I shut it down. Tried to start, nothing, no click turnover or anything.

now...volt meter reads 12.5 with bike off.

r/s handlebar switches unhooked. if I try to hook them up, volt meter shows 0 volts.

if I honk horn, 0 volts (no sound),

press left turn signal, 0 volts.

turn ignition to lights, 0 volts. push foot brake, volt meter shows 0 volts.

Next morning I started rechecking all connections from battery to ignition. all were well connected.I visually checked all the connections, connectors and wiring harness. I pressed horn and it sounded. power at last. I hooked up r/s handlebar switches, good to go.

But i didn't change anything.

I concluded it was the main breaker and and remote started solenoid,so replaced. all good so far. But then the weekends before this one it was running well too.

Any thoughts?

 

Pulled my primary off tonight, everything appears to be ok in there. The binding is on the jack shaft, when the ring gear does not allow it to disengage because there is too much pressure on it.

I don't know what else to do, I guess it is going be up to a qualified tech now.....

 

Are the starter bolts tight? Since you just put the engine in, could the inner primary be missaligned at all? (not sure if its even possible) Since your that far into it, I'm sure you can fix it.It should be something pretty simple. Anything that can change that angle..