I wouldn't rule it out but your battery would have to be very weak to cause your exact symptoms.

That is, a decent battery will run one for 20 miles or so with the charging system totally unplugged because the module/ignition will still work down below 9 volts or so. I ran mine over 40 miles once (good battery, without lights) when a stator cooked, never missed a lick.

I'm gonna stick with my guess you have a short in the lights circuit.

 

thanks for the help! I will go through that circuit and see what I can find.

 

t150vej is usually right, but just for the sake of it I will throw in my 0,2 cents: The ignition switch.

Contacts inside sometimes gets corroded or realy dirty so that the 12 volts is not powerful to be able to pass through enough to keep the lights strong or motor running.
If the contacts are very bad the bike will shut down completley.

I had one that I had to open up and clean out, polish the contacts and regrease with special grease for electrical contacts. No problems after that. (And cheaper compared to buying a new one).

 

Do you have a rubber mallet/hammer?
Take off the seat.
Place bike in neutral.
Start bike.
Then hit hard parts of bike with rubber mallet/hammer.
Hit parts like rear axle,
Shock mounting bolt.
Frame
Tap end of bars.
Basically try to vibrate different area's in order to isolate area of concern..a loose connection or a short to ground.
Kinda/sorta part of shake and wiggle of wires.

 

good idea, will have to give that a try

 

x2 on this one, my 86 wide glide being ridged mounted seems to be hard on ignitions switches (key), very similar symptoms. difference is i rarely ride at night and i have a mech drive speedo so i don't see those things, my bike would stumble like it was running out of fuel and eventually the bike would cut out all together, id coast to a stop turn the ignition key on and off and it would start back up and id ride off. sometimes it would just blip and stumble and other times cut out completely and it was really random go three rides no problem and next time bingo fault back again. man i spent a few dollars chasing that fault. eventually replace the ignition switch (key) with one of the old style Barbell types and no more issues. if you go down this route be careful if you have flat side fat bob style tanks different models have different height ignitions and clearance under you dash panel for ignition terminals can be an issue and cause shorting.

 

Step 1, pull your key switch, pull it apart, and clean it contacts, then add a little dielectric grease to the parts when putting it back together.
Hence chances are with the lights dimming as well, corroded contacts on the switch board that the heat/corrosion is causing over time,and this is causing fall out pretty much everything down line of it.

Step 2, replace our main fuse breaker. The metal square box one at the end of the voltage regulator wire. Over time, they can get corroded since water can get in them.

Step 3, since the bike has dual fire coil, meaning that the coil fires both sides at the same time, swap the plug wired to the other sockets, and see if the problem follows the cylinder to tell you if the coil is going out. If no, then double check your spark plug wires for cracks that are causing a lose of spark down line of the coil.


Step4, pull the nose cone cover on the bike,and take a look at if the sensor is melting. If yes, SMP has replacement sensors for $50. Hence the nose cone sensor on the right hand side of the motor, is what is controling the spark in the first place. Before you remove the old sensor, mark both sides of the V on it to the case with a scribe,and when you install the new sensor, use the V scribe line marks to align the new one.
Note, the SMP sensor does not have the kill tilt sensor on it, and if you need the motor to die if you drop the bike, then replace the sensor with a Oem sensor (at three times the cost of the after market SMP sensor..


If the bike has fuel injection, then it will be running a crank sensor (is on the front side of the case shifter side). SMP has these sensor for way less than OEM, but if the cable is not cracked, then might want to trace its wire down to where it barrel connects to the ECM connector. Hence barrel can spin open to cause connectors to disconnect from each other, so best to use a Zip tie to hold them together as well.

 

I'm thinking you should start with the charging system. Obviously everything's affected so it goes all the way back to the power supply. Poor or corroded contacts on the ignition switch or a weak charging system, where 1 cylinder would cut out but the motor not totally die.. Do your AC test on the alternator and then check all your connections for your regulator. It's possible you're going to find that you have a weak stator but enough to keep it going for a while.. Keep in mind a week stator is also going to create a week battery.. it's an easy test and it's free.. If it does turn out to be the problem, I would use nothing but Cycle Electric, don't even waste your time with anything else.. There is a sticky up too to assist you...

 

Agree with you on the charging system check, but take your reading from end of voltage regulator cables at the main circut breaker and ground point, not at the battery terminals down line of these.


The main circuit breakers are not water tight, their contacts can corrode over time, and cause all kinds of charging system problems/lower voltage down line of them.
As for main circut breaker, auto parts stores carry them on the cheap, isntead of begin raped by HD at three times the price for the same unit instead.

 

Also include in your trouble shooting the connector at the block where the voltage regulator plugs in to the 2 pin terminal connector on the block. Known issue and the poor contact can be hidden from view till you get it apart. Check the bolts that secure the voltage reg to the frame for corrosion. Those provide a necessary ground to the frame and resistance can build up over time.