Ok Guy's lets see if anybody can shed some light on my starting issue.
2013 FLHX 16K miles

Starts ok 1st time, but if I take a quick ride and stop and turn the bike off it will not start the 1st time and will crank and backfire, Then I try it again and it kicks right over.

Plugs have not been changed, (I have all my services at the dealer up to 15K)
Fuel is good
Battery ??? cranks a little slower than what I remember.

Weird..

Thanks Gary

 

I just changed the battery in my '13 Road Glide Ultra due to some slow starts, but no backfires on starts. Maybe hold the start button in for an extra second or until you have a firm start.

 

Battery is the first thing you need to check or go get checked out.

 

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2 things.

1) Battery in your 2013 HD when new was likely activated late 2012 or early 2013 so battery is easily 4.5+ yrs old so yes it got to weak.

Battery pushing 5.5-6yrs old isnt trustworthy IMHO & i'd rec replacing it.

Best options i have found for quality vs cost is either deka's etx30l/400cc'a maint free fact act agm battery avail from high-tech battery onling or from ebay for $99 to your door.

I also rec yuasa's GYZ32HL/1500cca maint free fact act AGM battery avail online from Phatperf (use their 2nd older website) for best price i found of $132 to my door for my HD.

2) If your bike still has the std type plugs from HD in it @ 16k miles they are approx 75% worn out already (vs HD's 20k mile rec change time) with significant gap errosion/gap widening making staring harder at times too.

So at the very least remove the current old plugs and regap to fact specs which should also help starting quicker too.

Before you re-adj gap use some 320-400grit sandpaper between ground and center electrode to clean & even them up a bit prior to regaping.

After sanding/cleaning electrode spray some compressed air and brakleen onto/into plugs to clean any particles from sandpaper etc ot of the plugs.

Then regap,apply a little anti seize on plug threads and tighten to proper trq spec.

When i removed the std hd plugs from my 09 96" @ 10k miles the gap had eroded well past the high end of HD's plug gap spec.

I also rec you chk air filter and clean or repl if needed along with also running a healthy dose of injector cleaner (Chevron Techron in blk bolttle- say's " concentrated " on front label) at dose of 1.5oz per gal so 9oz per 6 gals fuel .

Bottom line is replacing your tired 5.5+ yr old battery with a fresh one,re-gaping old plugs or installing new properly gaped plugs along with cleaning the injectors & combustion chambers with techron and ensuring air filter is clean should collectively together ensure you bike has quicker/easier restarts many miles to come.

BTW,you should run the techron (concentrated version!) just prior to doing every motor oil & filter change (every 4k-5k miles) because it ensures the injectors and combustion chambers (esp backside of intake valves!) are always clean of excess carbon buildup so motors always running up to it best efficiency & performance.

Scott

 

Start checking your volt meter after you turn your key on and see I there's a correlation between the reading and the way your bike starts.
If you can hear or detect that your starter is turning slower it may be a indication of a weak battery but during "hot" starts, slower cranking should be expected as hot weather is extremely hard on batteries and electrical components.

My bike is a model '13 also and I just installed the second (three counting the OEM) battery.

I rotate the old batteries that I take from our two "road bikes" and use them in my generator and another bike that gets little use.

All of our bikes (and generator) are kept on battery tenders.

I'd rather waste a few bucks on two new batteries every two years that to be stranded somewhere on a trip with a discharged battery.

 

Thanks Guys,

This place is the best for understanding what is going on with my bike. I will have a busy Sunday installing a new battery, plugs and clean my air filter. I will try Autozone for the Techtron.

2AMGuy, I just started putting it on the tender and it tops off the batter for the 1st start, but not the subsequent ones.

-- Gary

 

Well I bit the bullet and payed Harley for a new Battery, man was hat painful. the bike seem to start nicely now in all conditions. I will make sure to keep it on the tender when I am not riding.

Thanks for all the help guys.

-- Gary

 

Good to hear that was it.

Starter clutch is a weak link in the equation too.
Jus' sayin'.

 

I just had to bring a new battery back to life. AGM battery had given up the gost. Broke out my load tester. reading was 258 cca(500cca) and 14.1 volts. Put it on a manuel charger at 10amps for ten hours ,retested 425cca(500cca) and 14.1 volts. Then bought a better(95$) maintnence/charger/restorer made for AGM batteries, im thinking it was solfateing and the 25$ maintaner wasnt cutten it. You can do similiar with a plain flooded/gel type battery and wake it back up.