Question for the forums -
The last couple weeks my FXDF has been lagging a little bit when firing up. It seems to have a slow "wub wub wub wub wub - START. Sometimes it's only a few times but other times it goes on for 8-10 seconds before it fires up. First thought was the battery but I put it on the battery tender and it was almost fully charged. It's not due for services and while the weather has been a little cold it's been doing it more when starting up after I get back on it when it's already run a few miles to warm up (like out running errands). Temps have been in the mid 40s to 50s so my next thought was spark plugs.

Probably a really simple question but the service manual helpful so I'm asking. If it's a simple maintenance issue please tell me so I can get on it. Thanks!

clown

 

Original battery? It *is* 3 years old. Sounds like it's getting a little long in the tooth.

 

Hmm I guess it has been 3 years already. Think that's it?

 

Have heard of this before when bike is warm, people fixed it by hitting start without waiting for the fuel pump to prime, ie hit run then start straight away. Worth a try, let us know the results.

 

It sounds like the battery to me too. One way to tell though put it on a multi-tester.

 

I would remove, clean and re-tighten the cable connections ON BOTH ENDS just to make sure they were making good contact first, but yeah. Sounds like battery time.

 

if temps are in 40 t0 50 range then that's what it is. a 3 year old battery should be plenty fine.If you go on an errand and stop fifteen minutes later it is still cold and the battery hasn't had time to recharge either. i would keep the tender on it whenever it's not in use wait for the warm weather before throwing money and solutions on it.
Just my 2 cents

 

Thanks, guys. I'll keep a close eye on how it runs the next few weeks. I took the battery off the tender last night and it fired up immediately all day today but the temps were easily into the mid 50's today as opposed to what it's been like recently. Thanks again for the input.

 

Forget the light on the Battery Tender being solid green. Voltage may be fine, but you're battery is getting close to the point where it won't have sufficient cold cranking amps to start the bike.

If the connections are good and the battery is 3+ years old, start thinking about getting a new battery. Better than finding yourself stranded with a dead battery.