Problems starting my 2023 Indian FTR Sport

[2WheelsorOne]

I was wondering if anyone has had this problem with their Indian FTR 1200. On the 1st start of the day my bike labors to start. The starter turns slow and sounds like it is struggling. Almost sounds like there is a short somewhere drawing on the battery. Sometimes I have to hit the starter button a second time for the bike to start. This happens approximately 7 out of 10 1st starts. On occassion it starts up beutifully with no problem and then the next day its back to struggling to start on the 1st start of the day again. I thought it was an insufficient factory battery so I bought a lithium-Ion battery with twice the cranking amps and the problem remains the same. After the bike is warm it starts like a champ with no problems. I took it back to the dealer and they checked the generator/alternator, battery and starter motor and said that all was well. Anybody have any ideas what this could be or what I can do to correct the problem?

 

[edgelett]

there's not many people with a 2023 FTR so we haven't seen anyone else report this problem yet. it sounds like possibly a fueling problem if you've changed battery & checked everything else.
Has your dealer reported the issue back to Indian?

 

[rich5150]

Interesting, following this. I just brought home my 2022 Base FTR, same exact issue. I've had a battery tender on the thing for a few days straight, same behavior, labored initial turning the motor over at first, barely fires after 2-3 seconds of cranking. I've ensured the battery has 13.1VDC before cranking the bike over.

Once warmed up, the bike fires right up. Same exact battery voltage 13.1. Typically with other bikes I've had, this has been solved with an AGM battery with 1.5x the amount of cold cranking amps, not sure this is the "right" fix though until I have more data. I know the Indian chief used to (or still does) have some sort of decompression system on it, where it keeps the exhaust valves slightly open every 3rd stroke or something like that to allow easier starting... but I don't believe the FTR has anything like this.

I was wondering if anyone has had this problem with their Indian FTR 1200. On the 1st start of the day my bike labors to start. The starter turns slow and sounds like it is struggling. Almost sounds like there is a short somewhere drawing on the battery. Sometimes I have to hit the starter button a second time for the bike to start. This happens approximately 7 out of 10 1st starts. On occassion it starts up beutifully with no problem and then the next day it's back to struggling to start on the 1st start of the day again. I thought it was an insufficient factory battery so I bought a lithium-Ion battery with twice the cranking amps and the problem remains the same. After the bike is warm it starts like a champ with no problems. I took it back to the dealer and they checked the generator/alternator, battery and starter motor and said that all was well. Anybody have any ideas what this could be or what I can do to correct the problem?

 

[Staedtler]

You are correct, FTR does not have any decompression device.

 

[MacBayne]

OP, I have a strong feeling that this is an electrical issue, either battery charging issues, contact points, or relay issues. I have posted a wall of text on another starting issue thread that I am sure encompasses your issue and before you read it, I would like to ask about your experience with multimeters.

Electrical issues intimidate most people. Even though we don't share our name or pics of our faces, in forums, a lot of people still feel embarrassed about ignorance of the subject.
From the language you used posting the question, I don't think that you own a multimeter. They are cheap AF. I have used multimeters worth 10k, professionally, but use a Sperry DM-6400 at home. I bought it for $20 in 2012.
I will walk you through testing the electrical system step-by-step, if you want. I only ask for specific numbers to questions.

Thread in question:
https://www.ftr1200forums.com/threa...hats-wrong-with-my-ftr.1452/page-2#post-21545

 

[Speed Kills]

2023 FTR Carbon here, yep I get that too. The other day she threw a CEL after not starting in the cold, but it cleared itself thankfully. I've also experienced where the bike is already started and running strong for a solid 10-15 seconds and then abruptly cuts out. I had a 2022 Carbon before getting run off the road and can say with certainty the 23's are not nearly as well-built so far.

 

[dgarciains]

I don't see anything new with this thread, but my 2023 Sport just did the same thing and then died completely, had to go back to the dealer. Anyone have info on final solutions to this issue? It's obviously rare, or this thread would be replete with comments, but it is a quiet thread. Which is good. It had all the common surging issues, plus at high speed (70+) the cruise control would shut off and power would start to sink to the point I'd have to downshift and throttle it up to get back to normal driving. And cruise would not work again until restarting the bike on another day. All other starting issues just as described above by other users, but on the day that it died, yesterday, it started up no problem at all and ran great, but after stopping to get gas it never started up again. That was four miles from home.