Harley Davidson can't figure out the problem with my bike

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Jun 1, 2018 | 02:13 PM

JRod209

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Stage I

Joined: Feb 2013

Posts: 1

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From: Turlock, Ca

Harley Davidson can't figure out the problem with my bike

I have a 2006 Harley Davidson Street Bob. It has Vance and Hines Short Shot Pipes, Power Commander, dyno tuned and a few other after market parts that wouldn't seem to be a factor. I use premium 91 fuel for the bike.

I have a question that I hope some people can help me with. My bike had the stator replaced approximately 2 years ago now. It has 12,000 miles on it.

My bike at times will hesitate to start but ultimately start. During the first 10-15 minutes of riding it will ride fine. Shortly after it gets warm it will begin to run sluggish. So sluggish that it sometimes seems as if it wants to die. I can accelerate with the throttle and it will sound horrible as it attempts to gain speed. At times it will even back fire and back fire aggressively when I down shift. To make matters worse, the speedo will bounce up and down as if it is not getting or losing power.

I took the bike to harley and they could not figure out the problem. They switched out the ECM and told me the problem was fixed. I left and got down the street and it was obviously not fixed. They ran diagnostics and it turned up no error codes or problems. After throwing approximately 1,000 at them and trying to fix the problem it still is yet to be fixed.

During my last ride approximately a week ago it got me down the road from my house and just completely died (no power or electrical working either). I hit the battery cover with my fist and got power back and puttered it home. I check what wiring I could throughout the bike and everything was fine including the battery cables and connection.

So there may be two different problems with my bike or maybe one that is causing different problems. Not sure though. Im just tired of having a bike in my garage that I can't ride and Harley Davidson won't and can't fix. Any help would be appreciated.

Joey

Jun 1, 2018 | 02:17 PM

Sparky357

Road Master

Joined: Jan 2017

Posts: 866

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From: N.Y.C

I would find an independent near where you live and let them have a go.

Jun 1, 2018 | 02:25 PM

sdlsaginaw

Cruiser

Joined: Jul 2012

Posts: 214

Likes: 11

From: Oregon

Pull and re-seat each fuse and relay, as you're doing it look for signs of corrosion. Ultimately you may want to replace the main relay since it shouldn't be expensive and appears to be a power related problem.

It wouldn't hurt to clean connections at the battery and the grounding point that the battery negative wire attaches to.

Jun 1, 2018 | 02:31 PM

seniorsuperglideE8

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Joined: Jan 2007

Posts: 15,787

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From: along the shore of Mishigami

When I worked at a car dealership years they had a p/u truck acting the same way. the techs put a tattle tale box on it and I drove for about 30 min. around town, it died. Got back to the dealer ship downloaded the recording and the crank position sensor popped up. That sensor reads the flywheel notches and triggers the signal for ignition. These sensors can be damaged real easy when changing the oil filter, it's the little black protrusion on the front of the engine case by the end of the oil filter. I'm thinking it's heating up and becoming erractic in operation, I would change out the sensor, double check your battery connections again, you mention you slapped the battery case and the bike ran again.

Jun 1, 2018 | 02:37 PM

iaminsider

Cruiser

Joined: Mar 2018

Posts: 156

Likes: 21

From: Farmington, MN

Sounds to me like a failing battery. Battery gets warm and has an internal open within the battery.

Jun 1, 2018 | 02:53 PM

Warp Factor

Outstanding HDF Member

Joined: Aug 2012

Posts: 3,217

Likes: 90

From: Detroit

Quote:

Originally Posted by iaminsider

Sounds to me like a failing battery. Battery gets warm and has an internal open within the battery.

Or a bad cable connection at the battery or ground, which will produce exactly the symptoms you described. They will come loose all by themselves. Remove, clean, reattach using loctite, and then go from there.

Jun 1, 2018 | 04:12 PM

Flstcjay

Tourer

Joined: Apr 2018

Posts: 280

Likes: 103

From: Manitoba

My buddy went through this last year.

There are two two positive leads on the starter. Corrosion builds up between them. Clean those and replace the positive and negative leads from the battery. Corrosion builds up inside the shielding.