New to the forum..go easy on me. LOL I have an 08 Ultra Classic that has had this problem pretty much since I bought it used three and a half years ago. I can start it up and it runs great. It will run forever (until I run out of gas.) But when I stop for fuel or any other reason and shut it off, it will not restart. The engine cranks like crazy, I can hear the fuel pump, but it will not fire. If I let it sit for 20 to 30 minutes it will fire right up, but then I can ride it a mile or two and shut it off..same problem. It seems like the problem is worse when the ambient temp is mid 80s or above. I was told it was the crankshaft position sensor so I replaced it, that didn't help. In frustration I took it to my local Harley store. They said it was the compensator and replaced it. That also didn't help. It's back at the Harley store now and my frustration level is at maximum overdrive. As long as I don't shut the bike off, it runs great (last ride was 140 miles from the point of the last breakdown to the Harley shop.) I shut it off at the Harley store, counted to ten, tried to restart it..cranks but wont fire. Any ideas?

 

Assuming you've checked for codes (if not the dealer surely would've) and found none? This doesn't sound like a mechanical issue to me but rather a sensor that is getting hot and shutting off fuel on restart. Does the cranking sound the same as it does prior to a cold start? Replacing the compensator was an expensive "guess" at a fix and I'd be pretty pissed after spending that coin and no resolution. I had hot start issues before my cam upgrade and attributed it to too much strain on the battery/starter from heat soak. Since putting in the Easy-Start cams I've had no more trouble, but even then my problems were a little different and the bike would always start after a bit more cranking.

You've come to the right place though and maybe somebody with a similar problem will chime in. And welcome to the HD Forums.

 

You are more than likely either losing fuel or spark, find out which one and you'll be on your way to a repair.

Way out in left field would be a valve clearance diminishing when the engine is hot and loss of compression.

 

danzio - I guess I should have mentioned that before they replaced the compensator when the engine would finally fire it sounded like the whole bottom of the engine was coming apart. The new Screaming Eagle compensator fixed that but didn't fix my starting issue. I've been thinking it's gotta be a sensor as well, but narrowing it down is gonna be the hard part and I was hoping somebody in the forum had experienced the same issue and got it resolved. Thanks for the reply!!!

 

Cogswell - I can hear the fuel pump doing it's thing when it won't fire. Hoping these guys at the Harley store can narrow it down, but they told me that they had never heard of this issue before.

 

Mine will do the same thing on occasion. Just out of the blue it won't crank. Little twist of the throttle when it does that and it'll bust off every time.

 

Hopefully they can put a fuel pressure guage on it to see what's happening with the fueling.

Keep us posted !

 

Sounds like ignition coil issues to me.

 

Just throwing some crazy idea out there. How about some type of Vapor lock issue? Although you'd think you'd see that while riding those 140 mi...but anyways. There has been known issues with the fuel lines INSIDE the tank developing pin holes and decreasing the ability for the fuel pump to pull fuel from the tank....maybe after sitting for 20-30 min or so the pressure (vacuum) is somewhat equalizing to the point the pump is able to pump out the fuel and it fires up???????

Good Luck and Keep us posted as I too have an 08....so you never know I may deal with the same issue someday!

 

Ignition coils are often known to work while cold and die when they get hot. I would check to see if the problem is spark or fuel. Has to be one of the two I would think.