Hard starting?
 

Hi Folks,

I'm new to the EFI world and my '07 street glide seems to want to spin over about 3 times (1-1.5 sec) before it fires up....is this the norm?

Bike engine is stock with 12k miles and a stage 1 air filter, PC III, and V&H oval slip-ons.

Do I have something wrong in my PC tune or is this just the nature of the beast?

07's had the starter fastener issue. There is a service bulletin I posted on here entitled big twin starter fasteners that you can search for. How's the compensator doing also?

I also would like to know...what exactly is hard starting. Once in a while my 2010 RG makes a kinda bang sound when i am starting it. Almost like my thumb slips off the starter button. It starts fine after that, just not really a good sound the first time it happens.

My 2010 SG started having starting issues after installing the 103". They warrantied the starter clutch, lasted 3.5 months and doing it again. It starts fine cold 1st bump. After it's warmed up it slaps, spins, and puffs smoke about 3 - 4 times. No more warranty left on repair work. Another old school HD employee and I agree it's tune/time issue. But sevice won't go there. BTW, I have an oil cooler.

That's the stock compensator. The SE comp will cure that bang

From all the threads on here, is that something that should be covered under warranty or is that an out of pocket expense?

Installing to the SE compensator makes a world of difference in starting and shifting. Hardly any clunk when shifting, neutral is very easy and no more giant clunk when you start cold. Now starts very smoothly.

My 08 Ultra SE3 runs like a completely different bike......... almost Honda like smooth shifting !!

I think it's the cranking fuel table that needs adjusted. This the fuel prime mode at startup, sort like twisting the grip on startup, if you have a carb.

Some have had success and some have not. Not too bad an expense for out of pocket.

Spoke with the service manager at my local dealer. He says he knows what I am talking about, says its been happening since '09 and has not heard of any problems from it. I asked if they are covering anything under warranty and he said no but if I were to get someone at the MOCO to approve it, he could do the work. No sh!t.

Are you mechanically inclined? I'd buy the comp, gaskets, seals and inner primary screws and install it myself. The install is not that big a deal. Ride up to VT and I'll help ya out.

What could happen from hard starting if it continues?

seems we got 2 questions going here,the bang is the comensater,the 2 seconds of cranking b4 it fires is the power commander,the fix is DONT wait for the engine light to go out hit the starter as soon as u hit the run switch and it will fire right up,as for the se comp,if not replaced u may eventually have hard hot starts that will grind the starter and ring gear on the clutch basket.

You're right two questions here.

I had the same problems with my PCV. Hard start. You can't tune it out. It's a problem between the PCV and the ECM.on some late model bikes, Jamie replaced my PCV with a TTS when they were selling the TTS and problem solved with the hard start issue.

Apparently with a bad compensator you are attempting to turn both the flywheel and the compensator because it is slipping enough to put additional pressure on the starter and starter won't quite do it especially with higher compression.

Dealer wanted to change out the starter and battery, until I read a similar thread on this forum.

After changing out the compensator bike starts normally with just a touch of the starter. and no clunks at all !! Shifts very smoothly and neutral almost finds itself !!