My 2008 Dyna starts hard when hot, sometimes sounds like starter is not engaging all the way. Battery is new, connections are clean, bike has only 8700 mi. On it. Am new to Harley's. Is this a Harley thing? My buddies Heritage did the same thing since new.

 

Stop using cheap gas,
Please look up the recommended fuel for your bike and start using it.
Use some "Injector Cleaner",, just like your car,, the bike needs proper care.

 

Did you check the connections at the starter, pull the main fuse while checking those just to ensure no stray sparks or voltage any where. If you haven't been using a top tier gas and premium grade, consider it. Bikes can be hard starters when hot, Maybe the dealer can re-flash the ECM on your buddies bike.

 

It's not normal for a modern FI Harley unless it has a tuner and other silly mods.

Rev. 03-29-17
Some electrical 101 and a little more..

Remember, the best made brand new battery that has been on a maintenance charger for 3 days that has a loose or bad connection is no better then a boat anchor with a loose rope. The connection can get loose after one ride if the battery is not anchored and the wires are short and get tugged in a direction that can unscrew the bolts.

After a good 24+ hour maintenance low amperage (never over 2 amp) charge, with the charge light in the solid green and the battery has set about 24 hours off charge, voltage should be about 12.8 volts.
You can speed up this process by turning on the ignition key (headlight comes on) for ~3 seconds and then switch it back off. This is enough of a load to bleed off the excess residual charge from the charger and then you can measure the battery voltage.

12.8 = fully charged
12.6 = 75% charged
12.3 = 50% charged (Lot of new modern cars with system protection will not even click at this point but will have good headlight beams showing)
12.0 =25% charged

Always check both the terminals at the battery lead and also at the terminal on the wire. That helps to verify connection. With a DC volt meter (one that has a feature to lock high and low reading is best) hooked across the battery terminals and reading 12.8 or so, crank motor and while its cranking it should not drop below about 9.6 volts and as soon as it starts and throttled up to 2000 rpm, voltage should read around 14.8 volts. The 2000 rpm is the bench mark standard. Ignore idle output. Ignore output above 2000rpm unless it exceeds 14.9 volts. That is a sure indication that regulator is bad.

The crank check shows a rough check of the reserve amperage capacity of the battery while cranking with a 150-200 amp load on it. The 14.8 shows a good alternator and if you leave it on a while as the regulatory will drop the voltage a little showing itself working. However, with the lights and stuff always on, it will never drop back much. If you have a lot of options, most modern bikes will not show 14.8 charging volts at idle but stock newer bikes will be close. Older bikes with lower amperage output not so much. However, 2000 rpm is the bench mark for the standard 14.8 volts.

If you think battery is good and something is draining it sitting, now would be a good time to check for drain problems. Go to Harbor Freight and get you a AC/DC meter for under $25 or so. http://www.harborfreight.com/ac-dc-d...ter-37772.html Make sure it has DC amps draw, DC voltage, resistance and AC voltage. Key off. Remove the negative cable off the battery. Set meter on DC amps. Hook the meter lead to cable and the other to battery. !!Key off.do not turn on!! Ignore that first draw as the alarm trims back and stuff charges for 1 minute. Now, how many milliamps (mA) is it drawing? It should be no more then 6 mA which is the ECM (1), speedometer (1), tac, TSSM (1), HFSM (1) and voltage regulator (1)

When a battery wears out, a good charge will show fairly good voltage, but the battery can still have very low amperage capacity which will show in the crude crank test above, but it really should be checked after a good charge by removing it from bike and getting a free check at a place like AutoZone that has a fancy load meter check that gives you a print out of the battery health. Battery MUST BE CHARGED to check it. Be sure they set their meter to correct cold cranking amperage stated on the battery. Never charge the AGM absorbed glass mat battery with a regular car battery charger unless it is a newer one that says safe with this type of battery. Also, by taking battery out you now know you have good connections. Vibration tends to loosen the connections or a little corrosion will prevent charging or cause starting problems. Be forwarned, these checks quite often are incorrect due to the low amperage of these small batteries and junk checking equipment. If bike is charging, no load on battery when key is off and you are still having problems…REPLACE THE BATTERY. If battery is more then 3-4 years old.. REPLACE THE BATTERY.

Using the maintenance charger can get more years from a battery but be careful here. You do not want the last start 5 miles from home. If it still grunts when you first hit starter or kicks back with a bang, replace it. After a few years, charge and pull battery and have it checked for cold cranking amperage ever spring. Even then, if it grunts most ever start, I would replace it. Most battery checkers at AutoZone and places like that do not do really well on the low amperage setting on small batteries. Not sure why but they tend to say they are OK when they are weak. If they have one that fits your bike, Wal-Mart's AGM absorbed glass mat battery is just as good as any for one third to half the money of a Harley Battery. My last 4 years befor it started grunting. And out it came. Do not put an old fashion one with vent tubes on a modern TC Harley. Do not jump, push start or run bike with a half dead battery except in a real emergency. If a bike battery is down and you jump it, throwing all that amps to it from a big car battery especially one that is running can wreck a bike regulator or charging system. Charging a worn out battery can kill alternator stator or the voltage regulator or both. Probably ending in a big dollar repair in parts alone.

It is also a good idea to always check your battery at 2000 RPM with your meter set to AC. If by chance, the regulator goes bad, sometimes it will let AC come thru. That is a sure sign of a bad regulator. Older 2 wire stators have a single-phase output while the newer stators with 3 wires have a 3 phase output. The 3 phase system provides a more consistent and higher current output to the voltage regulator. The voltage regulator takes the AC from the alternator, rectifies it to DC and limits the voltage level to the battery depending on the voltage reading it gets back from the battery.

Also remember, when starting a Harley, hit the starter and hold it in till it is firing on both cylinders and running before letting up. If you let up before it’s running, quiet often, it actually take an FI motor longer to start. There is a fraction of a second more for a long stroke Harley then a multi-cylinder car for it to get going. If you do not do this, it will kick back with a bang, sneeze thru the intake or crank a lot longer the second time or shame on you the third time. Also, if you have a habit of doing this, the starter solenoid switch contact will only have half the life it could. You cannot hurt the starter. The starter gear has a sprag clutch. There are drive pins in it that as the gas motor catches and run, it outruns the starter motor drive and disengages it from the electric motor. If you hold it in a little too long and listen carefully, you will hear the sprag clutch run up the ramps and slip. Makes a sizzle hum. This will show you your starter sprag clutch is OK.

My batteries:
11-05-03 Originial Harley 3 years
08-07-06 Harley 6.5 years (nursed way too long and was grunting and banging often)
04-29-13 Walmart Ever Start 4 years (grunting)
03-25-17 AutoZone Duralast Gold

 

 

Premium gas will not help on hard starts! The ONLY purpose for premium gas is to control pre-ignition (pinging).

A higher octane gas ignites at a higher temperature. That's not a characteristic that enhances starting.

 

My 2008 starts fine, cold or hot... I have a tuner and silly mods, so I can adjust my starting mixture, and first few seconds of idle... and how those react at different temperatures.
I did have a stg.1 MoCo map in there early on in it's life... worse map the bike has ever had. Rough running, more vibration and hard starts.

 

I used to have this as well, there was a thread some time ago with the suggestion that to start the engine when it is hot turn the ignition on and start it before it has time to finish priming. I tried it and it works for me - don't know why i'm just happy it does.

 

Thanks Aires59, l will try that.

 

From my experience it sounds like your battery is no longer able to turn over a hot engine. Usually a battery that cranks a couple turns, then will hesitate for a second then crank again before the engine will start. The one in my new FXDB has done it since I brought it home. They start it up on the showroom repeatedly then shut em down before they have completely charged. Do it enough times and the battery will be damaged and you'll start getting the hesitation crank until it just won't start anymore.
So, let's discuss your statement that you have a new battery, how old is it?
If you put a brand new battery in there, betcha you won't get the hesitation mentioned earlier. Charge it on your work bench with a 2amp charger till it greens up before installing it....the first few charges will set the pace in how healthy the Battery will be.
I work with equipment batteries in my line of work and have a lot of experience.