Fellas,
I have a 01 Police Electra Glide and some times it will not start. I can hear a clicking noise near the starter when i push the start button. However, it will not start. I can take the outer fairing of and voila! it will start. One day i took the outer fairing off and looked at every connection to ensure that its tight. I found a few loose wires so I thought I had it licked but when i was loading it on the way to the dyno it happened again. Once i take the fairing off and put it back on things are good for at least 15 starts then it happens again. I can take the outer off and not touch one wire and put it back on or i can move every wire and i get the same result; 15 or so starts and bam it happens again.

I have seen on a few other forums that if I use a higher wattage headlight than factory it may cause ignition issues with my model year. It seems a little far fetched but I do have a Hella bulb in there that is much brighter than factory and it is melting the connector a little. Ill give it a shot but do any of you seen any correlation between a overheating headlight connector and ignition issues?

 

Why not take the left side cover off and check for a faulty start relay.

Lot easier than taking off the fairing and that is just giving it time to reset.

Or pull the lights fuse and see if the drop in voltage use does anything.

 

I can admit that I have never checked the start relay. However, opening the fairing has been the only thing that has made it start, aside from a ride on the trailer. If I pull the fairing back without touching anything it will start. I can shake the bike bounce it back and forth and do a rain dance but the only thing I have seen work was pulling the fairing.

 

I seen the other responses on the other forum as well about the ignition switch wires.

So you have a few new things to try next time it happens.

 

Is your head light harness shorting out? Maybe you taking the fairing off is moving the shorted wires apart taking the load off the system. I would start by replacing the head light harness and getting a stock bulb to use for a while so you aren't melting it again.

 

Someone touched on the start relay and the time it might take to reset. I also have an 01FLHT (CI) and it did the same thing you describe, id wait a few seconds or a minute and it would start.

I chased it for a few months and finally my battery gave out. It has never done it with the new battery.

My point is your headlight and/or melted harness might be just enough voltage drop, especially if your battery is weak.

 

Update:
So I purchased a new heavy duty socket from the Auto Zone and will replace it when my bike gets back from the shop with a tire change. I understand the voltage drop because at first when it happened, i could get a jump and it would start for me.