The first time my SuperGlide won't start! BALLS!
 

Hey guys and girls,

Got a 09 Super Glide here... I'm a pretty decent wrencher, but I'm actually at a loss because I've never faced this before. Went to go and go for a ride, and crank, crank, crank, crank..... until the battery died. And mind you, this is on the trickle charger at all times. So today, I tried again thinking it just didn't catch for some reason, crank crank crank crank, crrrrrraaaaaank..... and nothing! Battery died. So, I'm smelling fuel so I'm thinking the injection is working okay. Spark plugs aren't NEW, but they're like 2-3 years, so I can't believe that's the case. I really don't ride the thing enough to destroy the battery (I don't think), maybe only 1-2 times a week I'm lucky. Battery is about 4-5 years I THINK.

I always find myself questioning the battery, because it just seems to be so slow and laborious to turn the engine over, compared to my girl's sportster which turns over so fast in comparison, and fires up almost instantly. When I go to start my bike, it just sounds like it's trying so hard and it's not going to get it started. Does everyone else find this with Dyna engines?

So my question is, what action(s) should I take here, and in what order? Could it be the battery? I'm going to check the spark plugs, but I just can't believe that they would be bad. But from there, I guess I don't know what else to check. Any thoughts on this would be welcome!

Start with a Diagnostic Scan for ERROR CODES. Fully charge the battery and have it load tested.

Old fuel and a weak battery. Do the simple first always.

The worst thing you can do is keep a battery on a maintenance charger all the time. And no, it doesn't hurt anything and yes, you may even get a year more out of battery.

Problem is the last start you get is when you leave home. You got lucky, you pushed it till you didn't even get that.

If a FI long stroke 2 cylinder does not catch when you first crank by letting up on start button too soon when you start cranking again, it get too much fuel. Three tries and it's flooded.

Keep start button in and open throttle a little.

Not riding a bike is what wrecks batteries.

Spark plugs are $10 and 10 minute install, might as well. Probably not, but can't hurt.

Slow start is hard to compare. Put on 6 or 10 amps setting on battery charger, see if it starts, with battery charged. Leave it on 5-10 minutes first. If its turning over half way decent, I would think it would start at some point. But I am not there. I'd throw it on a charge over night and try, if you are in no rush. Also try it charger on high.

The battery may be the issue, due to age. be nice to get it to start, to prove it runs. But also further trouble shooting will go better with a good battery. But they aint cheap.
Need to check for spark.

Try a battery swap from the Sporty

I'd start with the battery... Give it a good charge and then load test.

Make sure to check the cables, to include the ground at the frame. Cables should be clean and tight. Since slow starting has been happening all along, check the condition of the cables where they are crimped at the lugs. Look for possible heavy corrosion or broken copper strands. With a good battery and good connections, that engine should spin over well, unless it is a high compression, big bore monster...

Once the electrical is all squared away, if it still doesn't start, then check for codes... The codes can lead you in the right direction, however you may have a bunch of old codes from a weak battery. Electrical glitches can cause multiple unrelated codes to pop up.

If no current and repeating codes are present to point you in certain direction, then start a proper diagnostic check for spark, fuel, and compression... Given your symptoms as reported, I'd focus first on determining if you have good spark...

Best to be systematic and thorough in your diagnosis... you'll find it...

Report back what you find....

I should specify that i only keep it on the trickle through the winter months. For me that’s like Oct-April. O then take it off. But the last year or so, i’ve kept it on at ALL TIMES, because the thing sounds like the battery is going to die like every time I go to start it. Im relatively sure it’s been getting worse.

But will keep that in mind… I was under the impression that trickle charger would extend the battery life.

It kinda sounds like a bad battery. Like I said charge it over night, try it, put it on high charge try it. Or just buy a new battery, at some point it doesn't hurt when they get old. But be nice to know before throwing money at.

I think he is saying some chargers fail and ruing the battery. I think some will argue, the charger turns off when it hits charged.

I have a few things that don't live with me, that I leave on charger when not there. My bikes I ride enough I don't put on a charge. I do charge a few times over the winter.

I said it will extend battery somewhat. But then you may miss that grunt before it starts indicating a battery worn out and low on reserve amps.

Putting a fully charged battery when the green light comes on on your second start with a good reading volt/ohm meter on the maintenance charger connection and seeing below 9.4 volts is a sure sign you need a new battery. It helps to have a meter that has a catch setting to show that but if you watch, you can see it.

Usually, volt meters on cruiser are too small to see that.

Also, on your 09, the drain sitting is only 100 mil/amps. Mine is about 150. Even a cheap Walmart Battery is good for 2 1/2 months.

That spark you see when you first hook up a battery and always negative last is trimmed in 30 seconds by the electronics.

The bike should be 12.7 volts DC when not ran for awhile. Lows 12s isn't great, but usually will start. Voltage doesn't always mean battery is good. But harley does, as do others, include a table with voltage. 12.7 is 100%