If it wont turn over or is hesitant it will probably be battery or starter. battery just load test it, simple way is watch the voltage when you hit the starter button. batteries can easily have plenty of volts sitting but put a load on it and it drops to <12. If the battery check out look to the starter next. The bike was running with the previous owner so it should not have anything to do with your build. SE203 cams are a mild street legal , epa compliant cam they wont boost compression to make the need for a more powerful starter than stock.

 

That battery should read a little above 13 volts
if fully charged Like 13.2 or 13.4.

 

For your information, while you are trouble shooting the problem...

1) You should NOT need to mess with the enricher and idle setting to start it cold...... You have a dirty, worn, and/or a very poorly adjusted carb.... Time to clean, rebuild, and tune the carb... with low rpm issues, pay special attention to the needle jet/holder & pilot jet, and of course the starter valve & spring of the enricher. Also, don't forget to check the carb to manifold seals....

I have an '01 Springer I bought a little over a year ago, with only 9.8K miles. It sat a lot. It was a hard starter and just wouldn't run right. I totally stipped the CV40 carb to it's bare body... I cleaned it really well, to include a sonic cleaning of the body, jets, covers... just about all the hard parts. I put it back together with new gaskets, diaphragms, o-rings, new float valve & set the float. I also did a complete tune (mixture screw, idle, etc). Now, totally cold and just pulling the enricher out, it will start by the 3 rotation... Cool engine with a little enricher, or running temp without any enricher, it starts on the first rotation... if it were a kick start bike, it would start first kick!

2) I suspect you have a battery, connection, cable, and/o ground problem. The OEM starter can spin over that Big Bore Kit just fine

I also have an '03 Heritage with an SE big bore kit: 95", SE203 cams, & 10.5 pistons.... it cranks over just fine with the 16 yr old OEM starter... Just a week ago, it was starting to crank slowly at first. I thought it may be battery time, then I found the battery ground wire to frame was loose. All good again...


Good luck with the repair....

 

Im not sure why I hadn’t considered a dirty carb earlier. Especially since the bike does have a tendency to stutter while riding but clears if I give it more throttle. The thought did cross my mind earlier today. I’ll see if one of the local dealer can pull it off and clean it since I have no experience pulling one apart. As for the enricher and idle I had asked on here and a few people had suggested it’s normal for Mikuni carbs to need idle adjustments on cold starts? I figured once I get the carb cleaned if the problem persists I’ll look into the starter as the battery tested good earlier today.

 

My bad, I missed the part about the Mikuni, I was talking about a Keihin CV40... I never had a Mikuni on a Harley, but I know they make a good carb. I still find it hard to believe that a clean, well tuned carb would need constant idle adjustments to start....

 

It's entirely possible you are correct. Once I get it cleaned and have a shop take a look at it I'll see if the problem persists.

 

12.7. Will start in the 12s, but indicator. Should not be 13s unless new battery type. Lead acid and arm, 12.7. Manual probable gives you a chart. Maybe electric manual, can't remember.

Stock Harley battery in 2000, 12.7.

 

Im pretty sure my hd batt is at 13.2 volts at rest and when I start the
engine it jumps to 14.2 or so volts. This is on my 2000 carbed
fatty.

 

Even though you are testing a 12-volt battery, you should know that a battery that is truly 12.0 volts is a boat anchor. The following table shows how battery voltage corresponds with state of charge at 80 degrees F:

VoltageState of Charge/What to do

12.73 or better 100 percent. Go ride.

12.62 90 percent. Charge it, then go ride.

12.50 80 percent. Charge it, then go ride.

12.32 70 percent. Charge it, then go ride.

12.20 60 percent. Charge it, then go ride.

12.06 50 percent. Charge it, then go ride.

11.90 40 percent. Try charging it, but it might be toast.

11.75 30 percent. Try charging it, but it might be toast.

11.58 20 percent. Battery has converted to doorstop.

11.31 10 percent. Battery has morphed into boat anchor.

10.50 No meaningful charge. Check to see if battery has been replaced with rock.


https://www.revzilla.com/common-trea...rcycle-battery

 

Manual will say 12.7 100% 12.6 some other percent, 12.5, ECT.

Not sure I agree anything under 12.7 needs a charge. But it is telling you something. I am doing experiment. Was 12.4, t years old. Put it on charger, hour later back to 12.4. 2 weeks later 12.3. Going to be around 4 or 5 weeks by the time bike is done.

Normally I will charge a battery so I don't stress, but I might not. I Was having that hot starts. So you might say bad battery. But it's been doing it 2-3 years. And only 5 years old. So put new starter clutch in. Curious to see what happens. I believe it will start. See if bad hot starts go away.



You may get 13v on battery as soon as You turn off. I am using a good fluke too.