Hey guys - looking for some suggestions on things to check out.

2009 FXD (approx. 20,000mi.) - A few months back my bike was getting harder and harder to start. This went on for a couple of months. It would struggle to start and eventually fire up. One night I went to start it and it tried a few times and then click, click, click.

Well, I parked it for a while and got a new battery when I had the dough. I tested the old battery with a voltmeter - 10.38v. Dead as a doornail.

I put in the new battery and tested it with the voltmeter - 12.68v. I started it (fired right up , first crank) I let it run a good 3 minutes or so and tested it again - 14.385v.

I figured the problem was fixed. I rode it about a week, and now it is starting rough again. I'm sure I didn't do anything wrong putting the battery in and the connections are clean and tight.

I'm thinking it may be a bad ground or maybe a short somewhere. Anybody have some suggestions of common weak points to check out? I have the manual, but it doesn't really tell you exactly where everything is.

I appreciate the help!

 

You could check if there is any power consumption while the bike is not running and the ignition is off.

 

Does it crank like normal but not fire or is the starter cranking slow?

Cleaning out where the brushes go might help.

 

After checking for loads while the bike is off you need to check the charging system. It is possible to have volts, ie 14.3 is a good charging voltage, but no/low amps. You will need an inductive digital amp meter set to 0-200 amp scale while starting and back down to 0-100 max scale while charging. While applying different loads, ie brakes, hi beam, signal lights make sure amps dont go negative. There should be a trouble shooting flow chart in the manual to help. Assuming no loads draining battery I would lean towards regulator. Oh and dont forget to check all connections. Not only the battery.