For the first time in the 7 years I have owned my King, I got a hot start kickback after filling up at the pump. I've had bikes do it before, but never THIS one.
So, when I got home, I checked the battery connections. They weren't loose per se, but they COULD be turned about 1/4-1/2 turn tighter. I always torque them down every so often, but hadn't in a while this time. Battery is about 3-4 years old; always on tender when not riding I know an old/weak battery can cause this; has anyone had experience with this kickback 'cause the battery terminals were not as tight as they COULD be? Bike has 254e cams (specifically avoided the 255s because of the hot start issues),dyno race tuned, and SE comp (the older one).
The bike has NOT done it again since I tightened the battery connections. Also, no more very slight hesitation in the starter motor when cold starting,which it had been doing lately.
Thanks in advance.

 

JMO, but I'd give Battery Mart a hundred bucks just to make sure my battery was "up to snuff".
The Florida heat takes a heavy toll on batteries and electrical systems so why gamble on getting another season out of a battery and run the risk of damaging more expensive components?

A hundred bucks for 3 or 4 years of service out of a battery ain't bad

 

Haven't had the problem, but thanks to your post I'll check my terminals. Thanks dickey.

 

Did it make that horrible loud clank and bang, and backfire through the carb?
I call that the Harley sneeze.

 

Might want to take a look at the compensator. Its a known problem for these bikes

 

My bike has done the "Harley sneeze" a time or to but nothing bad has ever happened because of it, so I don't ever give it much thought.

 

"3 or 4 years" on the battery? I'd take advantage of the July 4th battery sales online and order 1 up. If you're experiencing "hiccups or delays in starting" your battery is warning you of eminent failure. While a tender can help, it won't make a battery last forever.

Lastly, I put a dab of di-electric grease on the terminals and connections.

 

My '09 starting doing this and I thought it was a battery, which I replaced and the issue went away for a while. It came back and I thought after reading the forum that I needed ACR's as I have the SE255 cam installed. It turns out that I had a bad started gear, once it gets a little worn it will continue to happen, especially when hot. I had it replaced 10k miles ago and have never had the issue again. It cost me $200 at an independent shop.

 

That's EXACTLY what it did. Backfire through the EFI; not carb. Little puff of smoke.


"Might want to take a look at the compensator. Its a known problem for these bikes"

I replaced the stock comp with an SE comp; NOT the one with the little glue in thing; the one before.

 

My wife's '99 Heritage started doing this ad I kept telling her to not release the started button so quickly.

Id did that for quite a while until it final became apparent that the starter clutch was going bad and had to be replaced.

The indy said labor was more for this job. Just my luck, but it corrected the "kickback" issue.