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[Scott7d]

I have a 2013 Road King that occasionally starts a little hard. The best I can describe it, is some "gasping" and a hard cough before it fires up. When this happens I also have to hold down the ignition button a little longer than normal. It seems to not do it once I start it after it's warmed up. I can try to get a video at some point. In the meantime, any suggestions? I'm getting a few things done to the motor and a dyno tune soon, so maybe that will fix it. It's just weird because it doesn't do this every time.

Thanks!

[hrdtail78]

Cranking fuel is dependent of engine temp.  So, it probably doesn't have enough fuel for the colder starts.  Cough out of the AC is usually a sign of not enough fuel.  I would suggest mentioning it to your tuner and have him look at it as he is tuning the whole thing.  Pretty simple fix for him.

[Scott7d]

Good to know, thanks for the reply! I will definitely pass this along to him.

[GMR-PERFORMANCE]

Make sure teh silly little rubber cap has not popped off the intake manifold.. I super glue those back on.. I see them missing all too often

[robertg]

When my throttle body gets all covered with oil, my bike doesn't start that well. A little bit of fuel injection spray cleaner fixes it.

[nytryder]

Just where is this silly little rubber cap you speak of?

[Aussie]

Correct me if I am wrong, Looks like its the Purge Tube Cap.

[hdaliaconis]

Same year same issue.  I'll check for the missing cap and keep watch on this tread.

[Scott7d]

I have a new battery on the way. I'll let you know if that makes a difference.

[nytryder]

Thanks Aussie for the reply and diagram. I'll give mine a look. Have had a couple issues of popping back through the intake lately.

[dont57]

My SERK4 did this on average about 1 out every 6 times, wound up being the compensator. I have not had it happen once in 7 thousand miles since the compensator was replaced.

[Scott7d]

My SERK4 did this on average about 1 out every 6 times, wound up being the compensator. I have not had it happen once in 7 thousand miles since the compensator was replaced.

The thought of possibly having to replace that with 15k miles doesn't thrill me, but I'll check into it.

[Scott7d]

Started up the bike with new battery after leaving on the tender over night. The damned thing almost did a wheelie when I started it up. So that answers that!

[Scott7d]

My SERK4 did this on average about 1 out every 6 times, wound up being the compensator. I have not had it happen once in 7 thousand miles since the compensator was replaced.

So even after the new battery I am now still having the problem from time to time. When I explained the symptoms to the tuner, he also said it sounded like it could be the compensator. Been doing some research on symptoms and it sounds accurate. Some rough starts with a loud "clank", spitting air out the breather, and some rattling at low speeds when letting out on the clutch.

Very frustrating since the bike has 15k miles. Was ready to put money into some upgrades, not repairs.