I don't disagree that it is not good for the alternator. The less it has to do the better it will feel, but if I am close enough to bring it home....I prefer bringing it on home, or to the closest shop as opposed to calling the wrecking crew. That's why I suggested that you shut off every conceivable electrical device. like the radio, passing lamps and run the headlight on low beam.

 

Hi. New here, and glad I found the forums.

I have a 2000 FLHT. Sadly, the bike has been dormant in my garage since Jul '09 due to injuries sustained in a cage crash (totaled my truck, broke my wife's right hand & nearly severed my left thumb) & my wife's subsequent back surgery this year (I am her caregiver, 24/7).

My Glide has gone through 2 batteries in 2 years. During some upgrading, I rolled her out to make the necessary space in which to work. The battery was already dead, so I put it on the charger overnight & it was charged up pretty good. I hooked it back up & the bike started up after a little cranking & ran for about 10 minutes before it died & wouldn't restart. I jumped it with my truck & she started right up. This time (and several attempts after), I straddled her & put her in 1st to pull her back into the garage (slightly uphill). As soon as I started to release the clutch, she died again & wouldn't restart on her own.

I assume it's the alternator & possibly the regulator. Any help to determine whether I'm right or not is appreciated in advance. Following that, any help finding the parts I need at a low, low, low, low (did I say, "low"?) price to get running again is even more appreciated.

God bless you, God bless America, God bless John Wayne & God bless Harley-Davidson & those who ride them.

Charlie

 

Sure sounds like it's not charging. If you can jump it off or charge it up for a wile and the bike cranks and runs a bit....then dies, sounds like the charging system. If the charging system was good, it would run the bike on it's on, unless the battery had an internal short.

Get it cranked and rev it up to around 2500-or-so and measure the voltage across the battery terminals. A good charging system should show 13.5 to 14 and maybe higher depending on the condition of the battery, if everything is up-to-snuff. If it's 12 or below...it's not charging.

 

Ok, with my ghetto background i should be an expert at push startin, and i AM! Alternators have no residual magnetism, and therefore are not conducive to "push starting". You MUST jump start with a good battery in order to start it. Back in the day, we could push start a battery ignition bike; just put it is 2nd or 3rd, fall down on the seat while you pop the cultch, and vroom,there you go. Not any more, guys! And if you let Joe Dipshit cross the wires for you, you're out for a new ECM, too! Isn't technology wonderful? (Hope you don't find this inflammatory). Old Skool, and Old Guys, RULE!

 

Thanks to all for your posts. Guess I'll play it safe and call my buds to bring the truck. Yup moden technology is a wonderful thing when everything is working as designed. Bad part is everything is dependent on each other so when one part goes south the other components dont behave. Not so with old school technology. But you cant go back(?) always gotta move forward.

Ride long, ride safe!

 

I agree!!
Makes me want another Joe Hunt magneto
unless it's raining

 

Bro, that is an awesome story and a great example of a riders ingenuity and smarts! I liked reading that

 

And....it's the total truth. If you ever need to.....an auto or lawn-n-garden battery strapped on a luggage-rack will usually get a bike close to 100 miles, depending on what it is, like size and weight of the bike and whether it's EFI or not. If it was an older bike with just points and no electronics, I'd wager it would do twice that.

I recently saw an advertisement of a Road King for sale and the guy had an auto-size Interstate strapped on the back. Dead giveaway for something blown-up in the charging system and I doubt anybody would have given him his asking price.

 

I have roll started my 2007 Dyna with FI, not enough juice in the battery to turn the starter but enough to light up the dash one morning, so rolled down my drive onto the street and down the hill in 2nd or 3rd gear till it cranked and fired. Good from then on in.


Until I had actually tried it I had wondered about this but I did think you could roll start them so long as the ignition is on and you get the engine turning over it would generate spark like in the old days, but maybe with all the sensors and BS these things come with things are different.


But maybe you do need enough to juice to pump gas.

 

Back in the day of points, if you had any fire at all you could make one run. Nowadays, the electronic ignitions want closer to 12V, but they will still work at a bit less. The guy on the EFI dresser I mentioned in the earlier post would still be running until the meter showed down close to 10V, but it's not all that accurate. If you have a good alternator and can get it cranked, it should run just fine as long as the battery is not shorted. The alternator will carry even an EFI bike with a weak/dead battery. I just had him shut-down everything in the way of radios, running lights....etc. and he could get around 80-miles on a battery swap before it nosed-over and died. Bear in mind here that he had a bad stator and was generating nothing....simply running on a charged battery. I'd run like hell in 3rd. and 4th. gear up around 4500 RPM to recharge his battery. I was never so happy than when we coasted into the motel in Jackson Hole and the next morning, loaded that thing on a U-Haul and drove it to a dealer in Denver. Battery swapping gets old after 4-5 times in one day.