So i have not been riding my 17 street bob for a couple of weeks. We just had a baby girl enter this world and i have been consumed w our new baby. I actually have not been wanting to ride like i always do anymore. It's crazy how much a baby can change your life.

But back to it. I washed the bike up. It was collecting dust and spider webs. Checked the tire pressure. Aired it up. Checked the oil. So as i get on the road i get to 55 in 5th gear its jolting. Accelerating then lowering in speed. Thought it was odd but shrugged it off. But right after i realize its not running on the engine but costing. I pull over and the bike is not running. The red oil light is on. But its alway like that just b4 start up. It goes away after start up. So i turn the power off and turn it back on. Running the kill switch to on. Start it up and its running again.
so i get back on the road and i get back up to 55 mph. It starts jolting again. Making me go forward then backwards. Like it wants to go then die. It last a little bit then goes away. So i continue on. No further issues.

what could this be? Battery being weak from sitting? Just working out minor "bugs" from the long sit? Or something i should look into as a possibly more serious issue? Like i said, its working fine after that incident but just in case it happens again. What could it have been?

 

First thing I would check is your spark plug wires being loose from washing it.

 

Screw the bike. Congrats on your new addition! Good luck keeping from getting wrapped around her finger. Mine is 11 going on 21.

Back to the bike. Bad gas or condensation in tank did just what you're describing on my old metric.

Good luck!

 

sounds like bad gas to me!

 

Thank you for the congrats man! Im 35 going on 36 so im pretty late in fatherhood as they would say with her being my first baby. Well last i started it up was about 3 weeks ago or more. I had no issues then. But only for a 15 minute ride and i had topped it off w gas. I use 91 octane and i usually go to the shell stations, like it matters lol.
So if its possibly bad gas. What harm would it do if i just ran the bike on it till it needed another refill? Sounds like a dumb questions, if its bad gas im sure itd be bad on the engine but idk. Just curious.

 

Hey Gil...like you, I started late and had my baby girl in 2006 when I was 36 and son 3 years later. ENJOY YOUR TIME!!! Not much longer I'll be pushing 50 but they keep me on my toes and young! Congrats again man!

Some HD pros will be able to offer better advice but here's mine. I'd run what you have in there until it gone. Perhaps a shot of Seafoam? It's what I did on my old metric and worked. BUT, I'd wait for some HD pros to give you some better direction. Good luck!

 

Was it a violent back and forth, or a on/off sputtering as the engine stopped combusting? If it was violent you could have some kind of knock/timing issue.

If you've ridden a carb bike to the point that you switch the petcock from main to reserve, you understand the motion I'm trying to describe for "sputtering"

You said you washed it prior. Did you water-log the air filter, starving the bike for air at higher speeds, or forcing the engine to suck in water?

Checking the spark plug wire connections would be a good thing. Check the tightness of the connections on the battery.

Three week old gas shouldn't be bad, but it is one of your variables. You could either run it down and add more new fuel, or you could completely drain it and replace. Did you somehow get water in your gas? It has happened at gas stations before.

Did you hear it make any weird sounds when starting or running? Does it sound like only one cylinder is firing? Does your bike display any error codes?

congratulations on fatherhood

 

Sounds like a bad battery. The ECU requires a constant voltage and if its dropping mid ride it'll shut off. Chances are it starts back up via momentum (like push starting) since the ignition is on once voltage comes back up. I would load test the battery or find someone who can. Remember just because the voltage may read above 12 when sitting doesn't mean the battery is good, you need to perform a load test.

 

Meeehhh, methinks you've got a critical wire loose. Not you, the bike.

 

Not sure if you fixed this or not yet... but, just had something similar to this happen to me after purchasing a 2007 FXDBI that had sit for a while. I first thought it was bad gas or plugs... turned out, i opened up the tank and needed a new fuel filter and pump. After replacing, runs like a top.

Hope this helps.