I took my Glide out last night for a ride to work. After work, I left and met up with some buddies at a bar before a party later in the evening. Up to then, all had been well. When I went to the bar--I was only there about 20 minutes--I left and my bike wouldn't start.

Turned the power on, hit run, waited, push start... cranked and cranked and cranked... nothing. Pushed start again, cranked and cranked and cranked... nothing. One more round... nothing. Finally, it started.

Went to the party, couple hours later, left and it started fine. On the way home I stopped for gas, go to re-start, and cranked and cranked... started after a few seconds.

Any ideas what the problem is? Has Thunderheaders, V&H Fuel pak, all that kind of stuff on it when I bought it. 32k miles. Have replaced the starter clutch this last summer with the All *****, and have a new battery as of a month ago. Runs great once it's started.

I've looked around and seen some stuff about hot starts--that aren't compensator related--but does this sound like that? Is there a fix? Does it do damage other than working the starter hard?

I'm not real mechanically-inclined, so I find this forum invaluable

 

M1231 Big Twin Starter Fasteners service bulletin. Plagued many 07's. This might be a place to start.

 

Id be looking at a fuel pressure issue. There is a known problem with the pressure regulator and cracking of the plastic housing.

 

Could also disconnect the fuel line under the tank and then reconnect.

 

How do I check those items to see if they're the cause?

 

notice when it doesnt start there is a gas smell?

not starting uep not good

 

Gotta go in the tank and pull up the canopy. The regulator housing is a little black housing sitting in the rear.

 

When it is hot, try hitting the starter without the usual wait, turn it on, hit the starter. Mine is similarly finicky when hot and almost always starts better without the wait for priming.

 

Fortunately no gas smell on the non-starts

 

Had an '08 RK that started fine cold but wouldn't restart after it warmed up and was shut off for any time under @ an hour. Wanted to act like a weak battery. I replaced the battery, overlayed a good ground cable to the starter, then decided to take it in for repairs. Dealer said it was the starter drive and replaced it. Two days later I had to take it right back, this time they said compensator and replaced it at no charge. They said its erratic movement caused the crank sensor to confuse the pcm, (engine computer) therefor firing at incorrect time.