2007 K-9 won't start

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omahabiker

Member
A couple weeks ago, went on a 75 mile ride after work, got home and turned the bike off in the driveway. About 15 mins later, tried to start the bike to ride it into the garage, and nothing. Battery is fully charged. When I push start, all I hear is a brief click from the compression release. That's it. Dealership tows the bike in, and puts a new switch on it. I pick the bike up on Saturday, it starts right up and I ride it for about 25 miles. Get it home, and put in on the battery tender. Sunday, it starts right up, and we go for a ride. Ride about 35 miles outside of town, and stop for a bite to eat. We go to leave, and my bike is doing THE EXACT SAME THING as before. Turn the key, lights come on and battery is fine. Push RUN, and then hit "START" and all it does is click. So, had to have a friend come trailer me back into town.

Has anyone else run into this problem? HELP!
 
emcclary

emcclary

Active Member
Check your grounds and battery cable. If the battery cable is loose strange things can happen. I was riding my 07 one night and it just died and I couldnt start it after a few minutes I got it started and drove it home fine but when I pulled the seat the cable was loose. My dealer just did my 2500 miles servicce and he told me the cable was loose again even thought I check it regularly now.
 
emcclary

emcclary

Active Member
Check the starter wires too if you havent already. Does everything light up as normal (speedo, tach, etc) or do the lights just come on?
 
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omahabiker

Member
We checked the starter wires too. Everything else worked as normal. Speedo needle moved up and code flashed in the odometer when I turned it on. Lights were on, showed the mileage in the odeometer, and blinkers worked. The horn did not work though now that I think about it. But, since I never use the horn, I have no idea if it worked to begin with. Might be unrelated...not sure.
 
emcclary

emcclary

Active Member
Wait for one of the other electrical gremlin gurus kick in then our bikes are not know for their great electrical systems someone else may have something else for you to look at. I just know loose cables and bad grounds are culprits lots of the time. ALong with our not so water proof switches, circuit breakers etc etc :D
 
Oscar Maldonado

Oscar Maldonado

Guru
Calendar Participant
Even if your tender shows that your battery is good to go your battery can still be shot.

It happened to me when I first got my bike. The battery took the charge but didn't hold it when the bike was turned off. Found that I had a dead cell in the battery.
 
pink chopper

pink chopper

Member
If your battery cables are tight(tighten with 10mm wrench) and your showing 12 volts at the battery it sounds like the EHC to me...What does that show when you turn it on and hit the button. I haven't seen alot of PCB's go bad for your year(fancy word for handlebar switches) so I doubt it's that. What makes me think EHC is that you said your horn didn't work....thats a typical thing that happens when your EHC goes bad...wonder if they checked that out at your dealership...they can hook it up and test it...Something else to look at is a battery strap..make sure your battery is securely fastened in it's battery box with a rubber strap...if they bounce around at all it welds the plates together in the battery and fries them..
A way to think about the EHC is that the EHC controls the chassis...meaning, lights, horn, starting,etc....the ignition module controls the engine..
EHC-Chassis
Module-Engine

Hope you get it figured out but I'm betting bad EHC.
Vickie
 
Ohmster

Ohmster

Kansas Motorcycle Works
It could be one of several different issues. First, disconnect the green starter solenoid wire and inspect the terminal. It could be broken inside the plastic shroud and only making contact some of the time. If that looks good then turn the key to the on position and use a DMM and check for voltage on the green wire. It should be around 8vdc with the key on. Hit the run button, wait 2 seconds then hit the start button. You should see 12vdc on the wire at that point and time. If you do it could be a starter solenoid. If you dont then it could be a wire issue between the EHC and the starter. Since you are certain the compression reliefs are clicking then it isnt a PCB issue since the EHC is "seeing" the start input. I would check the terminal and the voltage on the green wire and go from there.
 
G

Gas Man

Cool isn't cheap
Calendar Participant
Ohmster said:
It could be one of several different issues. First, disconnect the green starter solenoid wire and inspect the terminal. It could be broken inside the plastic shroud and only making contact some of the time. If that looks good then turn the key to the on position and use a DMM and check for voltage on the green wire. It should be around 8vdc with the key on. Hit the run button, wait 2 seconds then hit the start button. You should see 12vdc on the wire at that point and time. If you do it could be a starter solenoid. If you dont then it could be a wire issue between the EHC and the starter. Since you are certain the compression reliefs are clicking then it isnt a PCB issue since the EHC is "seeing" the start input. I would check the terminal and the voltage on the green wire and go from there.
Click to expand...
Listen to this guy... look where he is from... it has been said... he has "inside" intel
 
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omahabiker

Member
Thanks for all the help guys. My local dealer did all of the troubleshooting you suggested. Apparently, it's a starter problem. I guess Big Dog has a new updated starter that should fix it. So, it's ordered and should be here next week. Hopefully that will resolve the problem. Thanks again!
 
TCALZ06

TCALZ06

Well-Known Member
omahabiker said:
Thanks for all the help guys. My local dealer did all of the troubleshooting you suggested. Apparently, it's a starter problem. I guess Big Dog has a new updated starter that should fix it. So, it's ordered and should be here next week. Hopefully that will resolve the problem. Thanks again!
Click to expand...

Are you saying that you were told there is a starter problem? Just curious because I have a 07 K9
 
B

Big Walt

New Member
Big Dog Colleagues,

I am having the exact problem. The only different is that my bike is a 2005 Pitbull with 1,600 miles on it.

"Ride about 35 miles outside of town, and stop for a bite to eat. We go to leave, and my bike is doing THE EXACT SAME THING as before. Turn the key, lights come on and battery is fine. Push RUN, and then hit "START" and all it does is click."

OHMSTER, Let me know when the dealer replaces the starter if they replace the complete starter or just the solenoid?

The other day I rode for a few miles on around 40 degrees (cold as fu@#, probably down to 35 with wind factor) and when I came back it was good to start it. Instead, next day with regular 50s’ degrees in WA and the problem came back, all it does is CLICK.

My bike is out of warranty and I am just a soldier that trying to enjoy my ride after a 15 months deployment to Iraq just finished. Thanks for all you help.

Great forum and a lot to learn from you guys… Thanks in advance, Walt.

PS: Chris (Gas Man), Thanks for the invitation to the Forum!
 
Ohmster

Ohmster

Kansas Motorcycle Works
Currently when your dealer replaces a starter they replace the whole thing, not just the solenoid. When you say all it does is "click" is that the starter solenoid you hear clicking or the compression reliefs clicking? You might have a starter issue, you could have a wiring issue to the starter or possibly an EHC issue. If you have a tool bag on your bike it would be handy to have a very cheap DMM in there so when this problem happens, which is after you have been riding a few miles, you could pull the green wire on the starter solenoid and hit your start button and see if your getting the 12vdc input there. That would help narrow down which direction to look at.
 
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