Hey Guys,


The bike: 2002 FLHPI Road King Police. ~36K miles.


Went out for a short trip today, only about 5-6 miles each way. On the way out, no problems. After arriving at my destination I forgot to shut off the ignition switch for about 30 minutes. I realized What I had done and turned the switch off.


The bike sat for about another ninety minutes or so. I hopped on, turned the ignition switch, waited than hit the run switch. Waited until the engine light went out than started the bike. I started for home on the freeway for three to four miles.


As I was exiting, I noticed the speedo went to zero and the bike just shut off. I was able to coast to a parking lot. I tuned off the run and ignition switches and sat for a moment letting what happened sink in.


While I was formulating how I was going to get the bike home, I decided to try and start the bike. Much to my surprise, it fired right off. I rode cautiously for a few than wound it out a bit. After a mile I turned onto my street. As I did so, the bike died again. I rolled into the driveway and parked for a few minutes. By the time I had opened the garage door, the bike was able to start again.


Some back ground. It was close to 100 degrees in San Jose today. Also, I had some work done on the bike several months ago. When I got the bike back, the speedo was not hooked up. I made the connection and it worked fine. A few weeks later, I noticed that I had an intermittent issues with the speedo dropping to zero for a moment, than working again. This happened four or five times over the last few months. Two weeks ago, I went to start the bike and neither the speedo nor the odometer were working. I shut off the ignition, tried it again and everything worked. I had load tested my battery three weeks ago, it tested fine. The charging system seems to operate within spec.


I have a couple of questions.


I have been reading about the circuit breaker issue that affected the 1999-2003 fuel injected bikes. Not sure if the could account for the erratic speedo issue but it certainly sounds plausible for the loss of all the electrical power today. I thought I would replace the CB and the power lead off the starter as some owners reported increased resistance and heat due to corrosion in the crimp fitting.


I pulled the VSS and it had some metal "fuzz" on it. I cleaned it up as best I could and re-installed it.


Could leaving the ignition on have drained the battery so much that the charging system caused the CB to overheat?


Does it sound like I have two separate issues? Maybe just bad luck on the faulty speedo reading and a CB failure today?


Any obvious things I should be checking outside the items above?


I have other things on the bike that need fixing but this just became first priority.


Any input is welcomed.


Garrman

 

Nearly exact same thing happened to me. Although, I did notice before failure, a couple of times the speedo/tach simply dropped to zero, then came back & ran normally, never quit. Then 3 days later, she died, grave-yard dead, while I was tooling along at 70 mph. Had to tow her home & scratch my head & a** for a few hrs. Next morning, she fired right up & ran perfectly, like she was sayin "Wanna try your luck again, sucker?"

VERY long story short: ignition switch. Nothing more. I suggest replace yours first (DONT just dismantle clean & grease it - I tried, waste-o-time ultimately) & see what happens. Cheap, easy, only issue is getting it keyed like the original (if you use a fork lock). Sure cured my issues totally. Maybe you burned the contacts when you left it on for so long?

 

On my sporty, the battery terminals had vibrated slightly loose. Tightened and it runs as strong as ever. First sign that terminal is loose is speedo goes weird after 50+.

Same issue with 2013 Superglide. Died on freeway. Then started up. Took it to a Harley Dealer, had no idea what might be the issue. Rode it home, checked the battery terminals, both were finger tight. Ridden 500 miles now, no issues.

Therefore, I always checked the battery terminals first. Next thing is a broken pin in a connector. Then check wires where the insulation is getting worn or just as bad, pinched. I had a springer that pinched a wire and wish I had caught it before it shorted. I could not figure out the issue, but it was oh so clear that mother Harley's son and routed a wire incorrectly and the springs on the springer could grab it and eventually pinch it enough to short it. I could have seen it if I had looked. Last is ignition switch. This is where I would start anyway.

 

Hi Guys,


Went down to my friendly neighborhood Harley dealer in San Jose and picked up a new 50 amp circuit breaker along with some dielectric grease. Popped the battery out, cleaned up terminal ends and rerouted the speedo and power lead off the starter. Double checked the charging system (14.4 volts at 2,000. Ok but not great) and buttoned the bike up.


Went out on the freeway for a nice 20+ mile thrash. The bike ran Perfect. I threw in some hard right and left clover leafs because when the bike died, it was coming out of a corner on both occasions. Thought the TSSM might be faulty.


At present, all seems well. I will start putting money aside for a new ignition switch.


Thanks for the input and safe riding.


Garrman

 

FYI, if you have a shop manual you can take apart the ignition switch easily to clean it and put contact grease on the contact tabs.

 

Are your turn signals self cancelling right now? If not, that and the fact that your speedo is intermittently cutting in and out is an indication the speed sensor is out. I just went through this on my 2000 Fatboy. Cost about 70 bucks at the dealer...

I also had a defective regulator at the same time. Fixed it, then still had the engine light, speedo cutting out and back in and the bike dying on me. Read in the forum here about the speed sensor, swapped it out, and have been in the wind since!

 

Great suggestions. I will try the dis-assemble and clean route before I spring for a new ignition switch because at this point, what do I have to lose?


Cleaned up the VSS last night. Lot's of metal "fuzz" on it. Not sure if that was a smoking gun but it sure can't be helping anything. Turn signals are working perfectly.


BTW, the only thing worse than an electrical problem, is two electrical problems.


Garrman