I'm trying to help a friend with his bike. Twice today it died while riding. He hears a click then it dies. The bike will start right back up and run with no problem for days and then it happens again. Doesn't seem to be related to bumps in the road, heat, or anything else. It just dies.

He's took it to his dealer and they couldn't find a problem. He'll be taking it back for the second time later this week.

I know that these bikes no longer have a circuit breaker. Earlier bikes did but it's now replaced with a maxi-fuse. We've checked the obvious such as battery connections, kill switch, and ignition switch and everything seems fine.

Anyone else have a similar problem?

BTW, any constructive suggestions will be appreciated. A certified HD mechanic will be looking at AGAIN later this week. I just thought someone here might have had the same problem so we can steer the mechanic in the right direction.

Thanks,

Steve

 

A faulty bank angle sensor would cause the bike to shut off, but I don't think it would make a click. It would also say "tip" on the speedo so I don't think it's that. A faulty ECM maybe? Any codes being thrown? It could also be a bad ignition switch.

 

That sounds like an interesting failure mode, could you ellaborate a bit please, and is there a side of the road "fix" to limp home if this is the case?

 

A friend with an '09 E-glide was here for Bike Week. On the way back from St. Augustine his bike quit. When he pulled off the road it restarted, but died again fairly quickly. We started lookin' it over & found that at times everything was normal, & at other times he had a complete loss of electrical power (no lights, gauges, etc.). We managed to get him to the house & went lookin' for the problem. Turned out to be the power feed to the fuse panel. It's crimped with the hot lead on the starter, & had broken. The insulation was holdin' it together & at times would let it separate enough to loose power. Don't know if that's your problem, but it's worth a check.

 

My 05 kinda did the same thing and it was the crankshaft positioning sensor, but it thru a code. Easy and cheap fix.

 

Thanks guys for the help. Problem is, it's not even throwing a code. Therefore I'm thinking it has to be something like a battery cable or a loose conncection. The clicking sound made me think of a breaker but as far as I know, there are no breakers on an 08 Ultra.

We rode together for 300 miles on Sunday and it died twice. All he does is downshift, hit the starter and it starts right back up and runs fine after that until . . . ? No rhymm or reason for the problem.

How does this sound? . . . Get the bike up to operating temp with the seat and side covers off. Get some good gloves to protect from the heat and start pulling on wires and connections until it dies. This might locate the problem.

What do you guys think????

 

No circuit breakers, but there are a few (3 I think) relays. The relays could make a clicking sound.

 

I don't have an 08 manual but I looked in my 07. I see an ECM relay. I was thinking that this relay might be suspect. Seems like it would throw a code.

I'm just trying to get some ideas to throw at the HD mechanic when he takes it in. This will be the second time. Since this is a safety issue, my friend is prepared to push this to the limit and use the Washington State Lemon Law if he has to. Basically three strikes and he gets a new bike.

Fortunmate for my friend he has another bike to ride while he's fighting this out.

Thanks Dawg for chiming in. I know you do your best to help friends and fellow forum members.

Steve

 

By any chance does he have the EITMS enabled? I wonder if it might be something messed up with that which might cause it to shut off. Just throwing out ideas here.

 

Dawg,

What do you think about my idea of messing with the wiring in an attempt to get it to die. The biggest problem at this point is FINDING the problem. Intermittent electrical problems can drive a person nuts.

It took four visits to get my cruise control fixed due to a bad pin in the main harness.

Steve