Hey guys. New to the forum and this is the first cruiser I have owed. I've had a sport bike up till now. I have "grown up" and transitioned to the real way to ride. Well I bought a 2008 Road King SE 105th anniversary edition with 33k miles. Bike runs amazing but I am having a starting issue. About 1 in 3 attempts to start the engine turns over and sounds like it ceases. Then there is a small white puff of smoke that comes out of the breather. I wait a second try again and it usually starts. I've put about 1000 miles on it since I've gotten it. One ride was 380 miles. No problems at all while I am riding.
The previous owner said he had engine work completed on it. This what he had listed:
110SE Upgrade (110 Heads & Jugs), 255 Cams,
58mm Throttle Body w/ High Flow EFI Tuner

I took it to a back yard mechanic and he couldn't seem to find anything wrong with it. Anyone had this issue or have any idea what is going on. Makes me worried I bought someone else problem.

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks guys!

 

For anyone to help they will probably need a little more info.
Does it do it hot and cold, only when its hot?
What have you checked? (battery, starter, grounds, etc.)

What other mods done, who did the tune, and what EFI tuner do you have, and do you know how to use it?

The first thing that comes to my mind is ACRs ( Automatic Compression Release )
Did they install them with the 110 kit? (recommended by Harley)

If they did, are they turned on?
I have seen dealers tune bikes ( problem probably not restricted to just dealers ) and forget to turn the ACRs on when they were done, especially when using a SE tuner.

 

Look into the compression release. Are they manual? If not are they enabled in the tune? I don't know what's wrong I'm just suggesting an idea.

 

I would also start by looking at the compression releases.

 

Thanks guys. Only question I can answer is it does it when cold. I have had it do it after a ride but it had sat for at least 30 min. I will do some research and figure out how to check the compression releases.

 

110SE Upgrade (110 Heads & Jugs), 255 Cams,
58mm Throttle Body w/ High Flow EFI Tuner
You have a lot of motor that needs to spin and overcome compression in order to start.
I would imagine that battery would need to be excellent and a specific start sequence would be required to start from cold.
Odd that there was no mention of a compression release.

 

If it were the ACRs it should be doing it when hot more so then cold.

Simple things first.
Put the battery on charge overnight, then take it and have it load tested.
( Auto Zone, Advance Auto, Batteries Plus, etc. will usually do it for free. )

While the battery is charging check all the grounds for corrosion and clean them up.

 

I think that it's just an issue with the Owner not holding onto the start button long enough to let the motor actually start.

 

That does make sense that the battery could be the issue. I keep it on a trickle all the time. I have them check it out.

And OldEnuf I am holding the start button down long enough lol.

 

I had to "learn" how to do this on my '98 Roadking. I concur with this thought...