Newbee asking for help here....I have a 2006 dynawide with 1,200 original miles that seems to be possessed. The bike sat up for a number of years with a tank full of ethanol which led to a leaky quick connect and an inoperable fuel gauge.

I brought it to the harley shop requesting the 1,000 mile service and repair of the quick connect and fuel gauge. $580 later I received a "serviced" bike, a small bag of parts and a bike with a not leaky quick connect, a still non-functioning fuel gauge and an engine that runs fine until about the 40-50 mile mark, when it sputters, farts, and dies. Fortunately, if I click the kill switch off then back on again, or turn the ignition off then back on, it starts back up and runs fine....for now. Almost like it reboots.

Sooooo...if anybody has any ideas, experiences, or remedies that doesn't include a return trip to the harley shop it would be MOST appreciated. The scenery within a 20 mile radius of my shop is getting old fast.

thanks 1,000,000 for you help

 

You didn't say if you drained out the old gas and put in fresh, along with a fuel treatment like Seafoam. If not, that's where I would look first.
You may not want to bring it back to the dealer, but seeing as how they just serviced it for a good chunk of change, and it's not running right it might be something they did or overlooked.

 

Take a 5 gallon gas can, add one can seafoam and some octane boost, and finish filling it with the highest octane gas you can find, then drain the gas out of your tank, and refill with the treated gas, and ride. At the very least that will clean out your fuel system.

 

Could be a crank sensor or a heat related problem. Do you just shut it down and start it right back up or do you wait for a little while. It doesn't sound like a fuel problem.

Could also be a coil is starting to go bad and when it heats up it can't produce a strong spark. That would cause miss fires, the coughing and sputtering you discribed.

Did the dealer ever tell you why they couldn't fix the fuel gauge. It could give you more insight in your trouble shooting direction. I'm not sure if the sending unit in the tank is tide into the fuel pump assemble but that would be something to check.

I probably put more questions than answers to your problem but I hope one of my suggestion gets you back out riding for longer than 20 minutes

 

Im thinking contaminated fuel. You need to do like Nevil said.
I had the exact same issue with a bike yearss ago and flushing the system did it.

 

Three years ago I bought a very clean 1998 Sportster that had set with old gas for 3/4 years . After I got it home I got that old gas out and used Seafoam and carb cleaner .

It took 50 miles or more to get it to run right but from then on it ran great .

 

Sounds like leaky internal fuel lines in the gas tank. My 06 developed pinhead size holes in these lines and had the same symptoms. It could also be a fuel pump.

 

This was a very common thing in a lot of bikes. My 06 Deuce had the same thing. I would get up to highway speeds and the thing would hate life. Replaced these and never had the issue again. I would check this and clean the entire fuel system like mentioned.