I have a new to me 1995 fat boy. I bought it at the beginning of March, and I put a little over 900 miles on it since. We have had a lot of rain here in the Midwest over the last month so some of my riding has been halted. Last week I wanted to take the Harley to work, and it wouldn’t start. I thought maybe it was the battery so I put it on the battery tender. It started up fine when I got home. More rain happened, but today I was going to ride it to work again, and the Exact same thing happened, the only difference being that this time before starting it up I had unplugged it from the battery tender. I am not new to motorcycles, but I have never had this specific starting issue before. I’m going to try to explain what happened to the best of my ability, and hopefully somebody can help me figure out the issue. So, some backstory on the fat boy. When I went to test drive it, the battery was dead and they had to jump it. I knew the battery would be a problem, but I had other things I needed to do to the bike first so I figured I would replace the battery next year and I bought the Harley Davison trickle charger. The first time that this happened I assumed that it was because it had been sitting for a week and I had not plugged it into the trickle charger. This time it is been sitting for a week but has been plugged in so it could still be a dead battery or potentially another issue. Another thing that I need to repair on the fat boy is I need to rebuild the carburetor, one of the first times that I took it out when she warmed up I noticed that she was running really rich at idol, I tried adjusting the carburetor but it did not help much. I could however get her to idle down by adjusting the choke. It is a temporary fix and I have purchased a carburetor rebuild kit. I plan on rebuilding the carburetor this winter, but if I have to I will do it sooner. Those are the only two major issues that I have had with the fat boy, Again I have put over 900 miles on it in the last couple of months and never had issues until the last two times I tried to start it up. So On to the start up issue. I can turn the bike on and all the electronics function normally. When I go to hit the start button she will start to crank over, although I do have to use the throttle and it does take 15 to 20 seconds for it to turn over the first time after sitting for a while. She would start up just fine and then after a little bit she would idle down and die. It almost seemed like she was choking out although I had the choke all the way in. I could then hit the start button again and she would fire right up, a little stronger than before but after 10 or 15 seconds she would idle down and choke out again. If during this time I would apply any throttle she would die faster. Also, when I have had start up issues before when she had been sitting for a long period of time normally I could throttle up and be fine, this has now changed. After two or three times of getting her to start and her idling down and choking out, when I hit the start button all it does is click, the engine does not even attempt to turn over. At this point since I was trying to start her up to go to work I could no longer mess with it, this was each time, so I just hooked her up to the trickle charger and went to work. Again after the first time I got home, she fired right up and I took her out for a ride. This is why I assumed originally That it was just the battery and the fact that it sat for a week without being hooked up to the trickle charger. This time I unplug it from the trickle charger at the beginning, the exact same series of events happen, which is why I am now posting here on the forum to try and get some help. Thank you all in advance for any and all help that you can provide.

 

there's lots of good info in the evo section an friendly guys that will help. when you do the carb I'd replace the fuel line since ethanol eats them up from the inside. another thing to check is the intake seals. when it's idling well take some carb cleaner an spray it between the cylinders behind the carb an if you have a bad seal it will change the idle rpm's. the 96 an newer bikes got upgraded wiring, that could be causing the starting issue. I put a button right on the back of my starter as a backup an to bypass the starter switch wiring. might be some help in this https://www.hdforums.com/forum/evo-c...ded-click.html


here's the starter button https://www.ebay.com/itm/Mid-USA-Chr...053!US!-1#rwid

 

Sounds to me like you need a new battery, and try leaving the choke 1/2 way on when you start it.... how do your plugs look?

 

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