My 96 FLHTCI started doing that at about 35K. I had just got the bike earlier in the year at 33.2K and did replace the battery. No change. My local dealer did some major fiddlin after I lost half the primary fluid in Chattanooga 05, after they had just switched to SYN 3. Rear cylinder base and head gasket, all tanny seals and while the were fiddlin, there was a starter problem.... New starter, new selenoid, more money - no change. Still does it unless I keep the battery on maintenance. Battery is year and a half old (MAY 05), 12K more miles, ride year round.... Engine is stock.
Who's got the answer??? Keepin the ride, BTW.

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FLGEEZ: Since you've got a FI Classic, there could be a voltage drain somewhere. Disconnect the ground from the battery, take a testlight or meter and start checking for a drain. I'd also check that pesky regulator/stator connection. If it's dirty/oily or loose you're gonna get an intermittant connection which will not allow the battery to charge consistently.

A less than fully charged battery will create the symptoms that you are describing. Which is why having the trickle charger on it will not create the same symptom. Battery chemistry is....well it's chemistry. I've been told that an initial load can 'excite' a weak battery into working like a fully charged one. Up to a point. Which would explain why you get the 'wham' as the starter engages. Release the button and hit it again....crank, crank, crank.

Any Electro Chemists out there?

 

Thanks for the tip Hackd.
I hope to get some Prevent Maint time after the Turkey rush. I'll let ya'll know whatsup.

 

I had a shovel that did the same thing. It had a kickstart also so I never worried much about it. One day I decided to replace the starter button switch and that cured the problem. Could be the switch but may also only be a loose connection. First thing to check is the ground. Seems like about 90% of electrical problems are caused by a bad (loose) ground connection.

 

Seems that I have the same issue, but only when the bike is hot. If I crank it cold, starts up everytime. But if I've been putting some miles on her, and stop for a coffee, or nature break, that's when it acts up. The dealer said to put the battery on maintenance, but I have to think it's something else.

Bike has a little over 16K on it (not bad for a '90), so I'm just curious as to any thoughts.

 

Sometimes they just do that. If it is excessive, it could be a weak battery or a solenoid that is questionable, or the starter as was mentioned. I put an Accel chrome solenoid on to replace the original one that was starting to go out. It was a total piece of shiite. The internal resistance was so great that only about 8V was on the output side under load. That made the starter behave like you mention and worse. I wound up cleaning up the original one and flipping the contacts around and it is good now.

FLHT's of this vintage at least, appear to be battery killin' machines. I know my 86 is. If I get 2 years from a battery, it is excellent.

 

one thing you can do it replace your stock starter with a high torque Spyke. Depending on whichstroke the piston is on will cause the starter to freeze while it fights against the compression stroke. Trust me I faught for sever months trying to figure out my starting problems with starters not wanting to turn the motor.....I now use the kick to bring the piston to TDC and then hit the button.......starts everytime!

 

I had the same problem with my 1990 and my mechanic suggested to change the battery to a new HD AGM battery. He does not work for HD and works on his own, but he was right about the battery. What he told me is the aftermarket batteries don't have the cold cracking amps of the new AGM batteries for that first grunt of turning the engine over. We put one in and now it spins right over. I don't know if he cleaned up and connections also, as he didn't say but there is no pause in the starter now.
He did say however to keep the battery on a battery tender when not in use. According to him the AGM batteries will last 4-5 years if you keep them fully charged, but if you forget and let it run down from sitting you will ruin the battery.

 

My '91 Ultra starter stops momentarily too. It's worse than it was. Two things occurred on the same day. I lost my battery, which was barelyover 2 years old, and a dyno tuner advanced my timing 2 degrees. I replaced the battery with an el cheapo becuase that was all that I could find on a Sunday night and had planned a ride for the nextmorning. There is no seat-of-the-pants improvement from the ignition advance, so I may set it back where it was, and the next battery, which I'll get in the spring,will be the best I can find.I've had 3 EVO's, and every one of them required a top notch battery/charge. If the starter dies, I'll getone with a higher rating also. Obviously, good connections and charging systems matter, but in my caseit's been a weakbatteryevery time so far.

I have an Odyssey battery in my old '76 Moto Guzzi and it's been awesome. Guzzi's of this vintage aren't known foroutstanding charging systems, butI have nothing but good to say about the Odyssey, which is advertised to come back from zerocharge at least 400 times without damage. I have at least 380 to go Unless something better comes along, that's probably what I'll put in the Harley next spring.

 

My 1992 FXDB does it but I also have 10:5.1 pistons in it. Doesn't bother me and it's been firing up reliably for many moons.