Would trouble shoot skittle more. 3 things required to run gas, compression and spark. If an engine doesn’t start and backfires through the carb it’s lacking fuel or timing advance. Try to start and backfires through exhaust, to rich and retard ignition. Go to start and engine spins check fuel and ignition

 

No carb and it starts perfect when cold. Turns over when hot but seems to turn slower than first start. Thinking starter, battery, or compression release. Also thinking possibly engine temp sensor… could be sending the wrong temp to the ecu therefore the hard start when hot.

thanks for all the leads. I’ll keep everyone updated as they come.

 

Bike coming out of storage. Runs fine except with hot starts, I would suspect the battery.

If it started fine before you put it away then do a load test on the battery. On my 08 Softail I had issues starting after a gas stop ( engine hot ) and it turned out the battery had a bad cell. Just one thing to cross off your list.

 

Load test battery.

 

IMHO, load test doesn't work.Had a battery in my truck that had a sight glass for the charge state. Showed black, not green after charging it numerous times. If the truck sat for a week or so, I would get an error when I put my key in the ignition to start or shut the key off ....low battery. Had it tested, and the shop said it was fine. Bought a new battery and all was well. Load tested another battery and it showed good. Replaced and all was well with that car.

If in doubt of a battery, they are not that expensive in the scheme of owning a bike.

Tom

 

I think one thing to note is that, assuming the charging system is good, that a slow to crank when hot is an indicator of lower CCAs. If not too cold, the motor will crank easier when cool as the cranking pressures are lower. The motor isn't heating in the mixture that is drawn in.

It is not the only way a battery can fail. Another is simply the battery developing internal leakage. Over time it goes dead.

A battery can fail either way or both.. In this case it's likely not enough CCP. Looks like the temps in Colchester were about 60f during the day.. Warm enough to have less effect on the cranking when cold. Still after charging, waiting a say 10 minutes, measuring the voltage and letting it sit overnight produces a voltage drop of more than a couple tenths volt, the battery has the second issue too.

BTW

A guy on Youtube found a battery charger that is pretty slick..


60 bucks I bought one and it has the capability to measure cranking amps.. Matches the $500 one I got to within 3%.. A cool feature is that will bluetooth to your phone.

 

If in doubt about load test, hook up a volt meter to your battery and start your bike. Years ago (auto background) if battery dropped below 9.5 after a couple seconds, battery was bad. Check manual for draw and test. Once you have ruled out battery, we can waste your time looking at other stuff

 

*Update…
I called Vance and Hines to update the map. Seemed to help a bit but the problem is still there. Left the bike to sit overnight and voltage on the battery was 13.1. When starting it dropped down to 9.4 best I could tell. Also when I turn the ignition on voltage drops to the low 12s. Once started the charging system brings it up to 14.2 so I would assume the charging system is good.

While looking further I found a knock in the battery cable which may not help the problem either. I changed the cable and am going for a ride now. I’ll see how it starts warm with the new cable but I have a feeling the battery is on its last leg.

That being said I have found an AGM with 550 cca (so they say) but have been researching the lithium. I like the fact that the lithium can last a lot longer and seldomly need a charge if at all. Even through the winter. I do ride in the cooler months though, so having to “warm up” the lithium battery is a turn off. But I won’t be riding below freezing.

the lithium I’m looking at (noco) is only about $15 more than the agm. I’ve researched and seen mixed reviews. Anyone have any experience with the lithium batteries or input on which way to go?

Thanks again for all the helpful input.

 

You been advised to load test the battery a couple of times, do it. I had the same problem, started fine when cold, but not when hot, had to wait 15-20 minutes a few times after getting gas. I thought no way it's the battery because it started fine when cold. Who would have thought it would be harder to start when hot. Turned out it was the battery.

Always associated slow cranking with sub zero temperatures on my vehicles.

 

I believe I did load test it. Didn’t I? Drops to 9.4 volts under load?

I will say though after my ride and during it I shut the bike off on 3 occasions and it started right up. I can’t believe that small knick and cleaning the starter terminals would make all the difference in the world but it seems to be much better. Still I will load test the battery if my procedure was incorrect. I have a clamp meter. Could you walk me through your procedure?