Rocker C Battery and Check Engine lights...UPDATE!!!
 

When I bought this bike, the battery was pretty weak. The bike is an 08 and has been in storage for most of it's life. The battery has barely turned the bike over on more than a few occasions. Additionally, a hand full of times the battery wouldn't even turn over at first when I pressed the start button. It just basically sat silent.

To top it off, today when I went to start it the bike barely kranked and then stalled (first time). Then it started and on my way to my job for about 2 minutes both the BATTERY and the CHECK ENGINE light came on.

Personally, I would just assumet that I should change the battery and everything will be gtg. But, I am new to Harley so I was wondering if I am on the right track or if you guys think it is more than that. This is the first time these lights have come on since I have owned the bike for about a month.

I have a 1000 mile checkup scheduled for when I come back from Spring Break on 19 Apr.

SO HERE ARE MY QUESTIONS:

1. Do you think it is something deeper or just the battery? I understand why the battery light would come on, but not sure if that would trigger the check engine light too or not.

2. At the 1000 mile checkup, they are putting it on the computer and changing all of the fluids to include the fuel filter. I feel that the fuel filter is an issue because the bike sat so long since 2008. Just wondering if the fuel filter could have caused the stall and the occassional SLIGHT hesitation/cut out that I feel when accelerating sometimes?

Any insight into these issues, other known issues (that I may not no about with the alternator, etc...or whatever else you want to say is appreciated. Thanks!

Rip

You might try taking the battery out and having the dealer test it.
I read years ago Harley had a patent on a process they used to slow sulfation of the lead plates, but if it sat long enough it will still occur.

Make sure your battery cables are tight first and if that's not the problem, change the battery. I think if I were you I would do this before the 1,000 mi. check to get this problem behind you.

It's the battery... the battery is the heart of the bike.

Have you tried charging the battery? Mine wore down over the winter but a couple hours on a 2 amp charge worked fine.

UPDATE to the symptoms...POSSIBLE Alternator
 

OK, now I think it is the alternator. The reason is because of a few symptoms which are very similar to a car experience I had. Plus the battery turned out not to have a bad cell. It was just low so I am charging it right now.

Anyway here are the symptoms...

1. Slow crank

2. When I was behind a car today, I could see that when I revved the engine the headlight would dim. The other night when I was riding the bike home and had the brights on the lights was start to dim really badly and then as I would slow to stop or stop revving, they would start to come back.

It did this light dimming thing again today. I could see it when I was at stop signs behind cars.

3. Sometimes when I have the gas open, it will kinda cut out for a second and then jerk.

If the alternator was working properly, the battery would be recharged.

Even if the battery isn't working properly, it should have no effect on the lights. The battery just turns the engine over, but the alternator and the voltage regulator do the rest.

Any experienced mechanics familiar with this?

Thanks!

Sounds like a loose battery cable. Have you checked them? To add, this bike doesn't have a 1,000 mi. on it yet, I doubt your stator is going bad.

I've never had that issue with my bike, but a lot of newer cars will also trigger the check engine light if there is a charging system issue. The battery being dead doesn't sound like whats going on if you don't have to jump start it (I'm assuming you don't since you didn't mention it). Sounds like loose cables, it doesn't take much on these things and is most likely the root of your problem.

I put that last one up before I read your update. It's unlikely to be a charging issue with that low mileage, but not impossible. Do you have a volt meter? You could check the voltage of the battery not running, key off. To be even near full charge it will have around 12.5 volts. Fully charged is 12.7/12.8. Then check it with the bike running, I'm not sure on a bike but you should see 13+ volts charging on a 12v system.

Just going to queue on storage all it's life. Do not relate this small battery real close to car. The battery is probably gel and low charge has took the life out of it. Soaking it good on a tender 24/7 would be my first suggestion for about 3-5 days. Then pull it out and carry it to autozone and let them do a load test (amperage should be on the battery If it passes their test its probably OK. My bet is bike is OK but for the life of me not sure why you are pressing it to start without giving it a good charging. Without a good charging it would take a good not stop 48 hour drive for this battery to recover if it ever does. These bike are rather rough on a small battery especially with the alarms and FI system. You keep doing this low voltage cranking and you are going to take out starter, voltage regulator and stator in short order. The battery is $100-$150. The others are probably 2K. Take your choice. The fuel filter is probable fine but if stopped up the first thing you will notice is an idle issue when it's stopped up. However it's large and there is a screen in front of it. Mine has 40K on it. What might kill it would be dumping a lot of trash in the tank. Very low voltage will cause hesitation and stall since once you get above 2000 the alternator voltage can over come the battery and take over the running required voltage. If it was me I would just put a new fresh battery in it and go from there. Mine last 4-5 and I nurse the crap out of them. If I do not use it daily it's on the tender but daily use I leave it off since I do not want to get the last start leaving home. Also have found two year in a row that softails tend to loosen the battery connections due to vibration on rough roads At 2000+ RPM voltage should be close to 14.5 volts