Hello All:
I've got a 1200 Custom and it won't start. I've replaced the battery since it has been nearly three years old, air filter and spark plugs. I also have a battery charger and verified the battery is fully charged. I have the choke fully engaged and also tried starting with the choke closed in case the engine was flooded. I am noticing that I'm not getting any spark when trying to start the bike. Could it be the coil? Is there a fuse I should be checking?

Thanks in advance for your input.

 

i don't know the specifics for the different years, but there should be a 15amp fuse for the ignition. Do yourself a favor and pick up a HD manual for your bike, it'll give you a complete schematic and troubleshooting procedure, not to mention it's nice to have around anyhow. There's a number of things that could be wrong, short's in the wire, bad key or kill switch, ignition module failure, bad coil.

I'll tell you one thing though, DON'T REPLACE ANYTHING!!!!!.......unless you absolutely know it's bad. Especially with electrical issues, people always try to assume it's a bad coil or ignition module and they don't even do any testing with a meter to confirm failure, I see it all too often that people spend $50-$200 on replacement parts that are not the problem to begin with. So make sure you test the components to varify they are bad. Most common problems are ussually from shorts or bad connections.

 

Check the fuses.

 

Thanks for the advice.

 

Remember to us the KISS method of troubleshooting (Keep It Simple, Stupid). It sounds like you have already checked most of the obvious things so your doing a good job of checking it out in my opinion. Does the bike turn over? Can you smell gas? Can you see the jets put gas in the carb if you turn the throttle with the air filter off? Are the spark plugs in good shape, how about the wires, are they connected firmly? Do all the electrical components work (low and high beam, turn signal, horn, brake, emergency, speedo and idiot lights, etc..)

Lots of good advice posted above from guys with more experience than me. Tell us what it was when you get it running.