Hey all,

My 99 FXDL for some reason almost never starts embarrassment free when its warm. It starts fine first go when cold with the choke out, but if i switch it off when its warm (at a servo etc) then fire it up it almost always sneezes through the intake or makes some other NQR noise. I nearly always have to take two gos at starting it. WTF?

Also, the other night, i started it in front of a mate, with half choke, as it was half cold, and he jokingly beeped the horn, which dropped the idle and made it almost conk out! I tried it again, and it did it again. Double WTF! Could this be related to the hard starting when warm? I was thinking ive got a carb problem, but now im thinking its electrical too! Do i need to get it dyno'ed? Its running Screamin Eagle slip ons and a Heavy breather, but otherwise stock. Its giving me the shits.

Any help appreciated

old saying...........90% of carb problems are electrical.

Sounds like a bad earth with the horn causing the motor to stumble. Check all earth wires and battery terminals. I will leave the carb setting for the guys in the know with the idle jet size and cleaning the carb.

battery/ charging system? it's running off the battery when at idle. does the headlight get significantly brighter when you rev it?

Buy a cheap multi meter from dick smiths or Tandy and check the battery charging system when the motor is running at different revs. It should read somewhere between 13 and 14 volts above idle. If its not the charging system it will help to track any electrical fault.
Good luck

Sounds possible about the charging system, although it turns over pretty easily warm or cold. The motor does sometimes almost give the feeling it doesnt want to fire, but always does, especially when warm, and the headlight doesnt change with revs. My old dirt bike ran on a magneto and you could affect the brightness of the headlight by revving that, but not on the Harley. Ill check it with a multi meter, but i would have thought it either starts and runs or it doesnt! I just checked the plugs and they look fine (clean and white). Im buggered if i know.

 If the electrics are all OK, a common cause of hard starting when warm is a too rich mixture.  Might pay to have the carby checked out. 

How old is the air cleaner

Its only been on for a few months. I was worried about it affecting the mixture given its a heavy breather, but the problem is only noticable at start up, so i cant see how its sucking more air than it needs. It rides fine once its started, no coughing or any noticeable problems.

I think 45 idle 180 main jets with the stage 1 kits but I could be wrong . Have a read of this site and check your carb settings.

http://www.johnsmotorcycleparts.com/keihin-cv-carburetor-images.htm

 clean the reg plug under  near the oil filter them early model t.c.have a bit of oil gather inside the reg too,   alt plug as the oil spills onto when changing oil filters if you don't cover the plug up with a bit of newspaper  , but should pull it apart every now & then to clean anyway ,                               i do on  all shovels & evo's on every service & make sure the male is a tight fit in the female  ( oh yes ),     hogbag is on the money with the jets + set fuel mixture screw 3 turns out  ,      check acc pump also  not working , + all the earths  as on the other posts  on here  

same problem on a 85 fxrs, cheers i'll try these responses

I'd like to say well done houli, it was electrical. My battery finally gave up on me, even after charging overnight, so I put a new genuine Harley one in, and it's a new bike. Starts a treat cold or warm. Rick from ricks bikes explained that most likely all the (limited) charge was goin to the starter and starving the ignition. He said he won't use aftermarket batteries like it had in it cos they just won't cut it. I trust his advice, plus I can't argue with results! Now the only thing I wish it had was a sixth gear!