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Bike won't start/stay running

n8higgies

New Member
I bought my first HD less than a year ago (09 FXD) from a private seller. Took it to the dealer for the 10K service a few months ago. On one of the first times riding it after the service, it just died on me driving home after about an hour ride. I waited about 10 minutes and it started back up and I made it home. A few days later I took it out and only made it a few doors down before it quit on me. After starting to push it home I finally got it started and got it back home.

After that, sometimes it would start, and other times it wouldn't. Now it won't start at all. It will crank and crank but not fire up.

The battery is fully charged. The spark plugs are new from the service. All the fuses are good. The starter seems fine since it is cranking the engine over well.

I've noticed the fuel pump isn't turning on when I put the kill switch to run now either. I checked the system relay and it tested good. I also connected the 30 and 87 pins of the system relay with some wire and the fuel pump will turn on then, but not with the relay in and the kill switch to run.

I just tried another check related to the starter relay that I found on this forum left by Hoople. He said to connect the 30 and 87 pins from the starter relay (the same thing I did with the system relay to check the fuel pump) and the bike should crank and fire up. It cranked and cranked but didn't fire up.

I am at a loss at this point. Not sure what to try next. Seems to be a lot of good info here, so I'm asking for your help. Any ideas?

Okay, so while waiting for someone much smarter than I to respond, I went back out to fiddle with things and think I found the problem. The starter relay has five pins on the relay itself while the system relay only has four. However, I noticed that there isn't a fifth pin to connect to where either relay goes. So, I switched the relays around and tried it. This time the fuel pump would turn on, but the bike wouldn't crank. So I left the five pin relay in the system spot and tried jumping the 30 and 87 pins where the starter relay was--it started. It looks like my system relay (the black one with four pins) must be bad somehow. I tested it with a meter, and it tested good, but for some reason isn't working in the bike. Long story short, I'm headed to get a new relay tomorrow and from the looks of it now, it should fix the issue. I'll post tomorrow and let you know.
 
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I'm headed to get a new relay tomorrow and from the looks of it now, it should fix the issue.

Sounds like you have it solved. You really can't test a system relay with a meter alone. You need to pick the armature with a battery and then measure the voltage drop across the contacts while current is flowing. (a real pain) Just easier to substitute the relay with a known good one like your doing.
 
Re: Bike Doesn't Turn Over/No Lights

07 HD FLHT cannot get it to turn over. New battery, new key faub batteries, kill switch is off...put in key and when I turn it on there are no lights anywhere on the bike. Would appreciate your thoughts....
 
Re: Bike Doesn't Turn Over/No Lights

Check fuses, ground connection, power at switch, clean tight battery connections, amount of charge in battery. Hoople, feel free to add.
 
Re: Bike Doesn't Turn Over/No Lights

07 HD FLHT cannot get it to turn over. New battery, new key faub batteries, kill switch is off...put in key and when I turn it on there are no lights anywhere on the bike. Would appreciate your thoughts....

Welcome to The Forum, check for voltage at the starter solenoid, you should have battery voltage at the main terminal, check that wires are clean and tight there also
 
Re: Bike Doesn't Turn Over/No Lights

07 HD FLHT cannot get it to turn over. ..put in key and when I turn it on there are no lights anywhere on the bike. .

FLHR is a unique animal, not sure if your FLHT is the same. But the FLHR uses an ignition relay,, See attached schematic. If your FLHT is the same, locate that relay and check to see if it picks when you turn the key on. Contacts in relay may also be toast. With no lights being part of your problem, that's a good candidate.

If you don't have that relay, get back for more info.
 

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