I rode the bike this morning, started up and ran fine. Went to go back out again and hit the starter, the engine lugged on a compression stroke, stopped and then the starter solenoid just started hammering. No crank, just rapid clicking. Now thats all it does. You guys think a winding went south in the starter?

Battery is hot and I've got the big Sumax battery cables, so that's not it..

 

Are you sure the battery is "hot"? Just because it shows volts, doesn't mean it's good. Only a load test will show that.

 

Actually it's not. Just been working in it. Put it on the tender for a while until the light went green. Checked the voltage and it was 13. Hit the starter and it tried to crank, but failed. Put the meter on it and it's at 10 volts. Chargered and tried again and its the same thing. Apparently its got a shorted cell. It was just the timing and quickness of the failure that threw me off. Off to Harley to pick up another one.

Thanks..

 

Yup, dropped the new battery in and it's happy again. I had the dealer check the old battery just for grins and it's got a shorted cell, as I thought..

 

13 volts isn't a good battery. Glad your up and running again.

 

Same thing just happened to me, had to call AAA to bring the bike home. I forgot the rule, replace the battery every 2 years no matter what!

 

The thing that threw me was how fast it happened. I've always known when the battery is getting tired. My ear is tuned to that kind of thing. Also, my speedo warns me as well, because it will reset from the time selection to the odometer when cranking. None of that occurred. Cranked strong the whole morning ride and when I decided to go out again it went south. Shorted cell..

 

Dang mine's going on 7 years and still starts pretty strong, (knock on wood).
It stays on the tender though whenever it's at home.
I think that adds a lot of longevity(obviously).

 

It does seem to help and mine is always on the tender at home when I'm not riding. It's bad for batteries to be kept at a low state of charge..

Like you, when I first got the bike, the battery lasted around five years. The replacements haven't come close to that for some reason.

Edit: I did check my charging system and it's putting out between 13.7v-14.1v depending on rpm, so I'm still good there..

 

Hmm, I have one of those tenders that 's supposed to be de-sulfater too.


BatteryMINDer Model 12117: 12 Volt 1.33 Amp (12V 1.33A) Charger/Maintainer/Desulfator