Tired of the pushbutton....
Road Captain
Joined: May 2011
Posts: 684
Likes: 9
From: Indian Head, PA
Unless you luck out and find the one dirty, loose connection, you will always have this problem until you either replace the wiring harness in your bike with all new or add the relay like outlined above. Don't trust the bike's voltage gauge, they are only close, not real accurate. They give you an idea of how much voltage is getting to the gauge through the 16 year old wiring harness. Read through that thread above all the way, it has many useful posts with lots of good information, from adding the relay to cleaning the solenoid and making sure everything else in the starting circuit is up to par. Adding the relay will most likely fix your problem for good, and only costs a few bucks for the relay, connectors and wire. Much cheaper than throwing a starter at the problem only to have it keep occurring!
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Novice
Joined: Aug 2012
Posts: 20
Likes: 0
From: Kingston ont.
Ok another question... there is three wires on the starter... The two on the main connect and the one on the tickle wire... Neither wire seems to be a 14 gauge wire so again I am curious are we to attach the wire to the main connect or the small connect... and my 50 amp breaker is under the seat so the side cover location is out... just want to be sure before I starting having beer ... Alot of beer...did I mention beer....Pictures would be great....lol.
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Novice
Joined: Aug 2012
Posts: 20
Likes: 0
From: Kingston ont.
In the Harley shop manual there are two relays under the side cover on the right side and they are electronic fuel injection ...1996 Classic Standard is what this thing is and the schematic shows the starter relay on the right side under the fairing looking at the bike from the front... And yes the 50 amp relay is under the seat just ahead of the battery...
Road Captain
Joined: May 2011
Posts: 684
Likes: 9
From: Indian Head, PA
Ok another question... there is three wires on the starter... The two on the main connect and the one on the tickle wire... Neither wire seems to be a 14 gauge wire so again I am curious are we to attach the wire to the main connect or the small connect... and my 50 amp breaker is under the seat so the side cover location is out... just want to be sure before I starting having beer ... Alot of beer...did I mention beer....Pictures would be great....lol.
Didn't you say you already replaced it? If you actually haven't yet, you should. That could be the problem.
In the Harley shop manual there are two relays under the side cover on the right side and they are electronic fuel injection ...1996 Classic Standard is what this thing is and the schematic shows the starter relay on the right side under the fairing looking at the bike from the front... And yes the 50 amp relay is under the seat just ahead of the battery...
Thread Starter
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Novice
Joined: Aug 2012
Posts: 20
Likes: 0
From: Kingston ont.
What I said was I have replaced the switch ( pushbutton) on the handlebar.. the relay under the fairing the 50 amp circuit breaker and I had the solenoid rebuilt and the starter rebuilt before I replaced the starter with a new one..... And I did all the work myself... So I know the difference between the two... There is a wire that connects to the main post with the cable and then a small 14 gauge tickle wire I am just tired of trying to find the problem and I want to be sure where your going ....
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Club Member
Joined: Jun 2009
Posts: 5,323
Likes: 37
From: NJ
Wow what happened here.....? You said you have 12.5 volts on the hd gauge under way.
You now need to get a true rms volt meter and test your charging system at the battery while she's running over 1500 rpm.
If you don't see > 14 volts no greater than 15.5 you have a problem.
Regulator or alternator problem. 12.5 volts ain't cutting it and if that's all your getting look no further. Youve identified your occasional no crank issue.
If I missed a post I'm sorry but I just couldn't read all of them.
You now need to get a true rms volt meter and test your charging system at the battery while she's running over 1500 rpm.
If you don't see > 14 volts no greater than 15.5 you have a problem.
Regulator or alternator problem. 12.5 volts ain't cutting it and if that's all your getting look no further. Youve identified your occasional no crank issue.
If I missed a post I'm sorry but I just couldn't read all of them.
Road Captain
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 521
Likes: 3
From: Virginia
I'd recommend fully charging the battery and having it load tested. Ideally the battery should be fully charged prior to a load test. I've had my local dealer to this for me and they like to have the battery dropped off so they can charge it overnight and test it the following day to get the most accurate results.
If the load test fails, get a new battery otherwise I'd check the battery terminal voltage with the bike off. A fully charged battery should read 12.6 -12.8 volts dc or slightly higher. Start the bike if you can, and record the voltage with the record function of the multimeter if this feature is available, while starting the bike. The voltage should not drop less than approximately 9.6 volts. Check the voltage with the engine at idle. At idle your voltage should be about 14.5 - 14.7 volts dc. If not, rev the engine to 2000 rpms and recheck. This will let you know if the battery is being charged.
If the battery is not being charged you will need to check the charging system. There are several posts on this forum on how to do this.
If battery is being charged. I'd recheck all connections, fuses, relays etc...
You might want to remove and reseat the starter relay or even replace it just to rule it out. Minimal cost for a starter relay.
If the load test fails, get a new battery otherwise I'd check the battery terminal voltage with the bike off. A fully charged battery should read 12.6 -12.8 volts dc or slightly higher. Start the bike if you can, and record the voltage with the record function of the multimeter if this feature is available, while starting the bike. The voltage should not drop less than approximately 9.6 volts. Check the voltage with the engine at idle. At idle your voltage should be about 14.5 - 14.7 volts dc. If not, rev the engine to 2000 rpms and recheck. This will let you know if the battery is being charged.
If the battery is not being charged you will need to check the charging system. There are several posts on this forum on how to do this.
If battery is being charged. I'd recheck all connections, fuses, relays etc...
You might want to remove and reseat the starter relay or even replace it just to rule it out. Minimal cost for a starter relay.
Last edited by vheflin; Oct 18, 2012 at 05:53 PM. Reason: Had another thought