There is a gremlin in my hog. I am open to all suggestions for finding it. The hog is a 1992 FXR with an Ultima 107 (sorry, limited budget years ago when the Evo 80 went to heaven). It cranks but will not start, quickly draining the battery. The battery is new. So too is the ignition module. So too the spark plugs, and the pushrods were recently adjusted.

I'm looking for suggestions to itemize for the shop who is about to pick the bike up (again). A few weeks ago the bike wouldn't start. Turned out the ignition module and battery had died. They fixed it, I picked it up, but the bike wouldn't start next day. The new battery was faulty. They put in a new battery, did an electrical test, replaced the stator plug too. Rode her home, and to work the next day, but on the way home she started running on one cylinder. Took her back. They adjusted the push rods. Rode her home, and two days later she won't start again.

I am hoping it is not just shop incompetence and some unidentified gremlin.
PS: not sure if it is relevant, but bike has always been an easy starter (little bit of choke, small throttle blip, hit button, starts up). The shop tech was starting it up by thrashing the throttle. Not sure if his vastly different ideas to how to start the bike is relevant to the fact it now won't start.

 

You need fuel, spark, and compression. Find out which is missing and start unraveling the mystery there.

 

If all the parts you replaced didn't cure the problem, I'm bettin your coil is breaking down when it gets hot, causing it to quit runnin.,,,

 

This. Crank it, then pull the plugs and sniff 'em, see if you've got fuel. Also try spraying some ether or carb cleaner through the intake while cranking. If it ignites, you've probably got a fuel issue. If it doesn't ignite, then you need to check for spark by cranking while you have one of the plugs out, still connected and grounded. If you have a compression gauge, use that too, just to eliminate that as a problem. But if the tech was able to start it by playing with the throttle, it sounds like fuel. Could be as simple as needing a carb clean.

 

Just an FYI that if you get sold two faulty batteries in a row - like what are the odds? - AND the shop tech breaks your choke without realizing it (so that it gets immediately sucked back in), your normal ways of starting your bike will be out the window and it might crank without starting.

Does this fall in compression, spark or fuel?!

 

If you have spark and compression (haven't verified either as far as i know) and the choke is inop, yeah it's likely fuel. If it floods, hold the throttle wide open and crank it to clear the excess fuel. Your OP sounds like it's time to find another shop. Does it start if you hold the choke when cold starting?

 

Any chance you'd send it to a different shop this time?

Just seems like a lot to go wrong from that one shop. Sometimes a second opinion (that isn't coming from blind internet diagnosis) can be really useful.

 

^ THIS!!!


The bike failed to start for a third time after a third return from the shop. Compression, spark and fuel check out. It's the battery (unless some gremlin raises its head).


This time I tested the battery myself, then took it for load testing, which it failed. I tested volts across the terminals and got 12.7, but volts dropped to 8v when cranking (tested the same at both battery terminals and cable bolts). Took the battery for load testing: it is a 385 CCA battery, which showed 13.32 volts but only 203-284 CCA (so the cells are OK but the battery does not charge to anywhere near capacity).


At this stage, with the battery failing a load test, that suggests immediate causes like bad connections or bad starter motor are not necessarily at issue. Instead...


a) seriously, crazily bad luck of getting TWO faulty NEW batteries in a row (I am NOT including my original battery; two years and these things do die)


b) the shop either selling me non-new batteries (old build dates; sitting on shelves for quite a while), or selling me a faulty battery which, when I returned it, they tested for volts but not CCA and assumed it was just in need of charge


I smell a rat, to be honest. You live and you learn. I'm taking it elsewhere for a check-up for peace-of-mind, assuming I can get it started first try with the dud battery or jump started.