So, I've got a question with starting issues. Every once in awhile, I'll go to start bike, and it cranks, but doesn't turn over, just cranks and cranks. First time I noticed, I kept going, stop more cranking, till battery was dead.

My bike stays on a tender when parked at the house and I ride it enough to keep a charge.

Now, through field testing, When it does the crank but won't start thing, I just stop, turn switch off, and kill switch. ROLL bike forward a bit, then start over, and most of the time it resolves itself.

However, sometimes, rare, but sometimes, it'll backfire (LOUD), then hiccup, then start, but rough. i'm at the point where I have little confidence when I push the start button. I kinda cringe. Which sucks, because it looks great, and I am proud of her, and grin when I throw my leg over, but I try and wait for people to clear out before i try and start it. Opposite of what I use to do, fire it up, blip the throttle, and smile from the sound.

Any suggestions, or ideas. I'm on a '10 SG, decat factory heads, 4" Rineharts, S&S AC, stage 1 DL.

(Sorry I didn't scour the forum for previous threads, yet. I'm still a lurker, but was hoping to just get close to the bottom of the issue.)

 

Have you checked for any codes? That would be a good place to start, see what your bike is telling you. Do you have a service manual? 60 bucks from the stealer, the best investment you can ever make. If you have codes, post them here and watch help/advise start to pour in. Sorry it dont seem like I have helped much but looking for codes would be the first place I start, could be numerous problems why your bike is not firing up quickly. Good luck gettin her going. Also, do you have the ESP? $50 deductable and let them troubleshoot it/fix it correctly instead of you shooting in the dark trying to get it running.

 

I see people talking about "codes" do you need special equipment to find these codes? Or are they visible on the speedo display by a specific sequence of button pushes?

 

With your mods, are you using any type of tuner? If not, you may want to consider it. The HD download still has your bike running lean.

What do your plugs look like?

Try putting the run/stop switch to run, turning on the ignition and hitting the start button right away.

 

The codes will show up in the odometer display of the speedometer. I dont remember the sequence off the top of my head, do a search for "code lookup or pulling codes" that will show you the threads that relate. After you find out which codes you have (if any) post it or do another search "code explanations" there are threads on here that list explanation of all codes on one page instead of searching for individual codes. Or you can just google it, google knows all, lmao. I wish I could help you more but I am in the military currently on my 5th deployment to Afghanistan, will be home in Sept to put all the goodies I have bought on my 2011 Limited. Take the 6 off of my username, that is my old username (long story) there is a pic of what is waiting on me when I get home.

 

are touching/moving the throttle prior to starting it?

 

If you are, stop doing that.
The problem you describe is most likely a fuel problem. Maybe the fuel filter needs replacement. Maybe water in the tank. Try some fuel treatment to see if that does any good. Other than that, your cranking fuel might need adjustment. You'll need a SEPST or similar tuner to fix it or pay the dealer to fix it. Less likely is an input air leak or fouled plugs.

 

Kinda sounds like a crank sensor if you ask me.

 

yes I have service maunual - No codes - haven't checked plugs, I replaced them with SE plugs about 500 miles ago at the 10,000 mile mark - only tune is the harley stage one download - no throttle twist before start. I usually wait for engine light to turn off before I hit starter button.

 

Try this, run switch OFF. Turn ignition on. Now when you go to thumb the run switch do that quickly hit the start button. You want to try to do all this while the pump is running.


This may or may not help, this was a big help for those that had power commanders.