Starter question?
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Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Nov 2016
Posts: 5,801
Likes: 809
From: South Carolina
Starter question?
Alrighty.. This morning I decided to take the I20 to the job, and low and behold a traffic jam for 40 minutes so I shut the bike off and coasted down the hill very slow.. Well at the bottom of the hill I was trying to start it and the starter wouldn't work?
So I slowly backed the pig up the hill partially in order to try a jump start.... Well that didn't work so I tried the starter again and it worked... Guess the question is, by coasting should it have effected the starter?
I will now be installing a push button on the solenoid..
I
So I slowly backed the pig up the hill partially in order to try a jump start.... Well that didn't work so I tried the starter again and it worked... Guess the question is, by coasting should it have effected the starter?
I will now be installing a push button on the solenoid..
I
Grand HDF Member
Joined: Jan 2012
Posts: 4,445
Likes: 2,823
From: Oklahoma
From the description, I suspect the OP meant a "push" start, even though he was rolling down hill. To spin the engine that way the clutch lever must be out thus making the clutch switch irrelevant to whether the engine catches or not.
Road Captain
Joined: Oct 2018
Posts: 539
Likes: 284
From: Coldstream B.C. CA.
Sounds like an intermittent issue I had with my electra last year. If your bike has a ground cable running to one of the starter mounting bolts like mine, check to see if that has come loose. I was about to go deep but the fix was much easier when I put my finger on it.
Good luck.
Good luck.
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Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Nov 2016
Posts: 5,801
Likes: 809
From: South Carolina
And what happened was short story.. Caught in a traffic jam, got to the top of the hill, shut the bike off as she was getting hot with no air flow, so I coasted about a quarter of a mile and when I got closer to the bottom I tried to start the bike... Dead.. So pulled over to the side of the road.. Pushed biked back up the hill, tried to start the bike several times and nada... So I did the poorest attempt to push start the bike.. As the bike grabbed the gear and nothing happened I then hit the push start and she fired up..
So I wonder if the long coast with bike off had anything to do with the no engagement of the starter?
And to save my *** I'm going to pit a push start on the solenoid so this won't happen again
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Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Feb 2007
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From:
Sorry... 2013 RK
And what happened was short story.. Caught in a traffic jam, got to the top of the hill, shut the bike off as she was getting hot with no air flow, so I coasted about a quarter of a mile and when I got closer to the bottom I tried to start the bike... Dead.. So pulled over to the side of the road.. Pushed biked back up the hill, tried to start the bike several times and nada... So I did the poorest attempt to push start the bike.. As the bike grabbed the gear and nothing happened I then hit the push start and she fired up..
So I wonder if the long coast with bike off had anything to do with the no engagement of the starter?
And to save my *** I'm going to pit a push start on the solenoid so this won't happen again
And what happened was short story.. Caught in a traffic jam, got to the top of the hill, shut the bike off as she was getting hot with no air flow, so I coasted about a quarter of a mile and when I got closer to the bottom I tried to start the bike... Dead.. So pulled over to the side of the road.. Pushed biked back up the hill, tried to start the bike several times and nada... So I did the poorest attempt to push start the bike.. As the bike grabbed the gear and nothing happened I then hit the push start and she fired up..
So I wonder if the long coast with bike off had anything to do with the no engagement of the starter?
And to save my *** I'm going to pit a push start on the solenoid so this won't happen again
For me.."shut the bike off" would in this case mean that you used the handlebar ON/OFF switch and the lights remained ON during the coasting but for someone else it might mean the key switch was turned OFF and all lights would be OFF.
If lights remained ON then perhaps the battery was weak and the battery drained during the coasting time.
For me..."tried to start the bike several times and nada"..that would mean that you pressed the starter button and the motor did not crank.
Somebody else might think that key switch was OFF and RUN switch on handlebar was OFF so the starter button would do nothing.
Somebody else might think clutch lock-out switch was not activated and bike was not in neutral.
*Somebody else might think. that battery was compromised because lights remained ON while bike was OFF and coasting.
They tried to start/crank but the weak battery caused a diminished ability to crank.
But later since you had some battery remaining the slight push start situation gave the bike just enough to crank over and start.
From a distance and based on information available:
Consider review:
1- clutch lock out switch if your year has one.
**2-Review battery age and then using a digital voltage meter at battery posts test the voltage at rest, while cranking and at high idle.
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Road Master
Joined: Jan 2020
Posts: 856
Likes: 373
From: Duke City, NM
When you cycled the switches back on did you hear the fuel pump prime? There might have been too much road noise. “Tried to start”? If you were using the start button and still rolling, that may be your answer.
Fuel injected bikes also have to provide pressure. Without it will not pop start on a roll like the old gravity fed/carbed bikes would. The fuel pump has to provide pressure. If the battery can’t fully engage the fuel pump to adequate pressure it will not start.
Fuel injected bikes also have to provide pressure. Without it will not pop start on a roll like the old gravity fed/carbed bikes would. The fuel pump has to provide pressure. If the battery can’t fully engage the fuel pump to adequate pressure it will not start.