My 2001 VL800 attempts to start but will remain running. After about 5-6 attempts the battery has to be recharged. It ran fine initially.

Bent valves- my 96 civic had that too. it's a manufacturing fault. Have you mechanic do a leak down test.

your battery drained somehow, just recharge it and try again. if it wont stay charged then get it looked at. good luck.

When trying to start with a low battery the engine Sometimes will stop on the top of the firing stroke putting it under extreme compression..almost like being stuck..you must turn tne engine backward a little just enough to get it off the compresdion stroke then try and start..This very same no click no nothing even when jump start happened to my cub cadet this summer after trying to start with a low battery...i used a pipe wrench and turned the dry shaft back and it started..then and all summer...give it a try good luck..

was the start like cold start? Wath was temperature.

Hi, the oil for a vl 800 intruder 2001-2004 is
10w40 SG, it holds 3.4 litres, buy 4 litres and recheck level after initial starting,
Regards Paul

remove the starter...use jumper cables to "run the starter manually...red to big lug, black to body (anywhere is fine) should torque hard at initial run and continue to run smooth...if it buzzes or vibrates, it's bad...replace...

It's eight years old now, and if as you say it has had intermittent use, then the battery will probably have died unless charged at last once a month.

I wonder how good your rechargeable batteries are-even these lose their ability to recharge fully after a while. Try some non rechargeable good quality batteries in it and see if it then works properly.

Have you checked that you have power to the coil on cranking?You may also want to check wether you have a good strong spark at the spark plug.It could be an ignition module breaking down.If you have no power to the coil you may need to change the ignition relay.Its close to the battery.