I've been having this issue for a while on my '15 Street Bob. I'll go to start it and it will turn over once, then seemingly die for a split second, then i get a "v inner" message on my odometer and it chuggs along for a couple of revolutions before finally starting. I keep the battery charged and even recently replaced it. I was thinking maybe a starter relay but i cant seem to find it anywhere on the bike. Anyone have any clues as to what might be going on?

 

Always do the cheap, simple stuff first.

I would first have the battery load tested, you wouldn`t be the first to get a new bad battery.

While the battery is out of the bike, clean the battery cable connection points, both ends of the cables.

Don`t waste any more time looking for a starter relay, there isn`t one.

 

Ok, I'll give that a shot. Is the "relay" integrated into the ecu somehow? What else could be causing this?

 

My 15 street bob and 17 lrs have always done that when it’s really cold or when they’ve sat for a while. Have your battery tested (soh/cca) and if it’s good just keep charging it. You can keep your battery charged but if your battery is only testing at half the rated cca it’s voltage will drop low enough to set the code.

 

What he said

 

The starter solenoid gets the signal from the Body Control Module.

 

The starter solenoid also functions as a relay in that it switches power to the starter motor. If the contacts get burnt it can affect starter power.

 

I've had that happen on two different bikes and in both cases the battery was fine but the cable connections to it were not clean and tight. I got in the habit of whenever I replace a battery I clean all contact points thoroughly and put some blue Loctite on the screws going into the battery.

 

I recently learned that even a battery that tests good is not necessarily strong enough to start a Harley. My 17 Heritage did the same thing your bike is doing (less the trouble warning on the odometer) for months. It was roughly two years and 35k miles on the OEM battery, which tested good at the Harley dealer. As the problem got progressively worse, I had it tested a second time at Batteries Plus and they also said it was good. A few weeks later, on a really cold night, it stranded me in the parking lot at work. Before calling Harley to come pick it up I decided to gamble on a new battery. Put the new battery in and it’s been good as new ever since. Just for giggles I had that old battery tested a third time and it still tested good even though it was too weak to start the bike.

 

Always keep your battery plugged up to a battery tender.
very cheap and effective.