I don't think it's a fuel related problem. Mainly because turning the key off and on again wouldn't repair a fuel pump or leaking hose within the tank or similar problem.

More likely is an electrical connection issue, wiring, possibly even in the ignition switch, or PCM itself or something along those lines.

Let us know if it's rears its ugly head again and gets sorted out.

 

Thanks for the advice guys, I'll keep checking things out and try to update this thread if I find any problems or if it does this again

 

Tried the Iron Butt ride again today, this time only making 180km before the bike died for the first time. Just got off the phone with Harley and they want to see the bike in their shop (still under the extended warranty I thankfully purchased). Because of the warranty I'm not going to touch the bike, but it sure sucks to have to trailer it 700km to get it to their shop.

Here's what is happening:
-about three times I was able to turn off ignition, turn it back on, and restart the motor while still coasting after it died
-the other three or four times I had to wait a few minutes with the ignition off. If I didn't wait long enough the fuel primer pump would go off and on rapidly instead of it's normal operation
-a few times the bike also acted like it was going to shut down but a few blips of the throttle would keep the engine running, until each time it would eventually shut down again a few kilometers down the road
-the last time I started the bike the operation seemed normal until I shifted into 6th gear, when I noticed the little 6 light didn't come on. Watching the speedo, I noticed that it would dive down if I applied throttle, and then recover to display road speed when I let go of the throttle.

Sounds to me like it's a bad sensor or a bad ECM, but I'm an electrician and not a mechanic so who knows. Might be time to get a Goldwing for long distance riding, and a garage queen Harley for putts around town. This getting stranded is getting real old, real quick

 

I wouldn't let one problem, even an ongoing erratic one, make me change brands. I have friends with Goldwings and other Asian brands and they occasionally need repair too. No machine is perfect.

Since I am an auto technician I see all makes and models and reputation doesn't mean much. For example the Mercedes S430 I just replaced the intake manifold to repair vacuum leaks so bad it idles rough and set 8 codes....$2400, along with all their common failed molded vacuum tubes and breather hoses.

Anyway, short version is, they'll figure it out and things will be back to normal!

 

Check your battery cables. Had similar issues on my Dyna, turned out the negative wire was broke underneath the heat shrink on the engine side. The heat shrink held the wire just enough to run fine sometimes and have very intermittent issues.. I had to pull on the wire to find the issue.
The smaller cable goes to the frame of the bike.

 

Delivered the bike to Harley Davidson of Edmonton yesterday, appointment for Tuesday. I'm hoping that they will be able to get the trouble sorted out instead of just slapping parts on it in the hopes that will fix the problem. Living so far away from a shop sucks, and there's no one in town here that knows Harleys enough to work on them.

When loading the bike Friday night I wasn't able to start it at all, the fuel primer pump never comes on now and there is no check engine light (other than the normal start up procedure).

Without a bike for a week already has been hard for me, I guess I really got used to jumping on the Harley for an evening ride to burn off the stress of the day. I hope they fix it quick, summer's are too short to miss significant riding time.

 

I had a similar issue, turned out to be the quick disconnect fitting on the tank. next time it dies, push up on the fuel line and see if it restarts. If so, it's the tank fitting that needs to be replaced.

 

I hope they find the problem soon
I was wondering if you checked for any codes? When they replaced the VR and battery did they actually test it and discuss their findings?
Two things stand out from what you've posted, the first was the fuel pump cycling and the second the speedometer and 6th gear light. I believe when you turn the Ignition Switch to On the ECM completes the System Relay's coil circuit and the relays contact closes powering up the Fuel Pump circuit. If the ECM does not see an output from the CKP in 2 seconds it shuts the relay down which would shut the fuel pump off, so why would it cycle? The ECM also sends information out to the speedometer on the Serial Data Link.
You have several things going on and many things that can cause them, grounds, Connectors, bad wires, CPK sensor even the ECM.
I bet you told them everything you mentioned here but if it were me I'd call and talk directly to the guy who will be doing the work.

Another thing I was wondering about was if you are a HOG member or have the extended service plan. Both are supposed to help if you break down and may even give you a bike to ride while yours in in the shop.
Good Luck and please keep the updates coming.

 

I'm a HOG member and (thankfully) purchased the extended service plan when I purchased the bike. So far the only thing not covered was the battery in the previous repair attempt. When they replaced the VR and battery it was late on a Saturday afternoon, after picking me up from the side of the road. The guy who picked me up called in a said it was his feeling that the voltage regulator was toast, and that's just what they went with. Surprisingly, that had been what they had wanted to go with again but thankfully the technician realized that there were other problems, seeing as the fuel pump wouldn't even come on.

I was able to speak on the phone today with the guy who was working on my bike. He told me that there had been a ton of codes, though we didn't get into what the codes had been. They replaced the ECM but hadn't taken the bike out for a test ride yet. He felt like the voltage regulator might have fried the ECM, though I'm still not convinced that the VR was ever the problem.

When I dropped off the bike Saturday I made sure they understood that they needed to really dig in and figure it out. I live 700km away from the nearest (decent) shop and can't be breaking down weekly and bringing it in. I think that grounds and connectors can be ruled out, but the sensors and bad wires can't be until the bike gets ridden for more than just a test ride.

One thing the tech mentioned that really pissed me off is that it's possible my race tuner won't pair with the new ECM. If that's the case I'll probably lose my mind, I literally got that tuner a few months ago and they're not cheap. He was going to try, so I'll wait for word on that.

I just hope I can regain trust in my bike, and that it returns to being reliable, as I was planning on running it for a quite a few years yet. If it turns into an unreliable machine I'll have to look into moving on, which sucks as I paid it off in a year and half and love riding a paid off bike. At 50,000km I feel the thing should barely be broken in, not broken!

 

Hope you get this figured out but it does sound electrical. Can't imagine being 400 miles away from the shop. I read your blog, very nice trip and I am looking into doing a loop around the same parks, love the west.