So I went to go meet my crew from Laguna to Newport Beach this last weekend and my bike wouldn't start!

Had2 diff. issues in the past
1- left he headlight on, re-charge on the batt. then she was all good again.
2- spark plug issue where it was rough on the start up but then realized back cylinder spark plug needed to be gapped properly then all good again.

It's an 08' XL 883 Low and I'm literally just paying it of this month, I bought an Audi a year ago and have put a lot of time into tuning/building that but still was always back on the saddle on the weekends with no issues.

So I went for a start up (rode it 2 weeks before and she rode perfect, no issues) and she wouldn't turn over. Went straight to the batt. and my neighbor who has a HD and is a Mechanic tried jumping it with his big Navigator. He kept closing the hood and once he left, I pulled out my Audi, ran my new jumper cables, pulled the batt. all the way out and she fired right up!

Let her idle for 30 min (no issues, idled strong and healthy) then rode straight up to Newport to meet the boys.

Jumped off the bike (after about an hour of it running just normal) and turned it off. This is when it went BAD. Bike wouldn't start back up and I thought after an hour the battery would be juiced up and ready to go. I had a Truck try to jump me with crappy cables and that failed. A guy who builds our bike was there and even ran another set straight to jump the starter and when he did that - it would fire up...then it was like the fuel would just cut off, same with trying to bump--start it into 2nd.

Got her towed back home and tried the jump procedure that worked first with my Audi and failed again. Not even a rumble. We then opened up the housing to check out the Start Button and Kill Switch and everything seemed fine in there.

My buddy is picking it up tomorrow to take it to one of his guys to look at but I'm still trying to trouble-shoot so I'm not raped out of pocket $.

Any ideas or similar scenarios with your bikes like mine??? Tried several jumps and juicing it up and we think it might have to do with the most recent tank lift (an inch higher but wires were just sloppy electrical taped up).

Summer is here, crew is ready to ride, JUST paying her off and now she's dead on me.

ANY SUGGESTIONS/INPUT/ADVICE would be GREATLY APPRECIATED! You'll see the mods in my SIG. and maybe that might point to something that could be faulty. Never had ANY issues like this before? Xieds? Any ideas at all?

Thank you guys and miss this forum! I was going to race on here just to post and hope for some advice but got carried away catching up on the threads and what everyone has been up to lately with their scoots!

ONCE AGAIN, ANY HELP/INSIGHT WOULD BE SO SO VERY MUCH APPRECIATED as I'm lost and summer is here!!! Riding weather in So-Cal has been perfect, although I can't complain and it never gets too bad, but I'm stuck!!!!

Thank you!

Cheers!
-Chad


(praying it's something small as I've just begun building my car up the past month, installed a new upgraded turbo yesterday and BBK, oh yeah - and bought the girl a brand new MAZDA 3 for V-Day/Graduation Present) bills, bills, billssssss!

 

Sounds like you need a new battery, they do go bad and need to be replaced eventually. Also sounds like you should invest in a battery tender. I hook mine up all winter or if I know I won't be riding for a few days.

http://www.revzilla.com/product/battery-tender-junior

 

Did you jump start your bike with the car engine running?
If you did, you might have fried bike's stator.

 

Your symptoms are the same as my '02 1200 had with a bad battery. Got the aftermarket battery when I bought the bike (used) and a month after, it started being difficult to start. Shortly thereafter it would need a jumpstart to get it going. A week after that, it wouldn't even start when attempting to jump it with the bike battery still hooked up to the bike. The battery showed 12.6-12.8V on a multimeter when the bike was off, and 14V when the bike was running/charging (at least during the times I could get it going). Took the battery to AutoZone to have it load tested - load tester said battery was bad.

Replaced battery (with an HD one) and all is good now.

As stated above though, could have cooked your charging system if you jumped it off a running truck or car.

 

My pat answer...You do need a minimum $10 DC AC OHM meter from Harbour Freight

After a good 24 hour low amp controlled charge and the battery has set about 2 hours voltage should be about 12.8 volts.

12.8 = full charged

12.6 = 75%

12.3 = 50%

12.0 =25%

With a DC volt meter hooked across the battery terminals and reading 12.8 or so, crank motor and while its cranking it should not drop below about 9.6 volts and as soon as it starts and throttled up to 2000 rpm or so should read around 14.8 volts. The crank check shows a rough check of the reserve amperage capacity of the battery while cranking with a 150-200 amp load on it. The 14.8 shows a good alternator and if you leave it on a while as the regulatory will drop the voltage a little showing itself working. However, with the lights and stuff always on it will never drop back much.
When a battery wears out a good charge will show fairly good voltage, but the battery can still have very low amperage capacity which will show in the crude crank test above, but it really should be checked after a good charge by removing it from bike and getting a free check at a place like AutoZone that has a fancy load meter check that gives you a print out of the battery health. Battery MUST BE CHARGED to check it. Be sure they set their meter to correct cold cranking amperage stated on the battery. Never charge the AGM absorbed glass mat battery with a regular car battery charger. Also by taking battery out you know you have good connections. Vibration tends to loosen the connections or a little corrosion will prevent charging or cause starting problems. Using the maintenance charger can get 5 years from a battery but be careful here. You do not want the last start 5 miles from home. If it still grunts when you first hit starter or kicks back, replace it. After a few years, charge and pull battery and have it checked for cold cranking amperage ever spring. If they have one, Wal-Mart's AGM absorbed glass mat battery is just as good as any one's for half the money. Do not jump, push start or run bike with a half dead battery. It will kill alternator stator or the voltage regulator or both. Probably a $500 repair.

 

So I went in and took the battery out to be tested. It is a Drag Specialties Battery and tested perfect.
I had a highly recommended mobile mechanic come over and he ended up be a 10-15 year long friends of mine so we checked and trouble-shot some things last night. Seems from the Start button to the stater I'm not getting anything.
He's coming back Friday to fix it and he's sure he'll get it running in time for the weekend.

He told me that it may be the Nuetral (module or switch) not engaging and that's why it may not be firing up but he's talking to 2 of his other guys and said he has 3 things to check and it shouldn't be anything too bad.

Will keep you updated but as of now, she's still down and not running. Paying the bike off this month too which SUCKS but hope to find a resolution and go off my buddy's word that he'll have her ride-able and healthy by the weekend.

Have you guys heard of the Neutral switch or Module going out before? I don't have the lights which tell me if it's in Neutral but we can obviously tell by rolling it around.

We'll see and hopefully it's not too bad!

Thanks for all the input guys!

Cheers!
-Chad

 

Glad you got it going. And for coming back with the info...