I know this may have been touched on before, but here’s what happened to me.

I went to to start the Softail Slim last night, after just over a week.
She coughed, spluttered and then refused to play.
The only other symptom I noticed, afterwards, was that the neutral light wasn’t coming on.
So, first thing, I put the battery on charge. But then, when I was pressing the starter button, I noticed there had been no click, no nothing. And the lights weren’t dimming. So obviously the solenoid/starter wasn’t even trying.
So a quick snoop on the database revealed a horror list of potentially failed solenoids, bridging relays with bits of wire, bypassing this and bridging that etc...
But I kept thinking ‘listen to what the bike is telling you, why won’t the neutral light come on?’ It’s a LED and hadn’t blown. And a few people on the DB had mentioned the ‘safety’ aspect of the neutral circuit. If the bike thinks it’s in gear (even if it isn’t), it won’t start.. Aha!!

Sure enough, that’s what it was. A bit of verdigris on the neutral switch terminal posts (too much washing) a quick cleanup, reconnect, the neutral light lit up and now she starts again!!!

Strange to think that two tiny bits of muck on two little connectors are enough to take a bike out of action.

Andy

2012 Softail Slim
1995 883 Sportster
Hampshire
England