Took my 89 FLHS for a ride today and she started to run like crap all the sudden. I thought it was the carb since I just adjusted the float on the SS Super E to stop the overflow fountain I had going on. Anyways it wasn't the carb, but instead the ignition sensor had melted and was dripping sticky oooze out of the wire-hole of the nose cone onto my front header and creating a nice toxic smoke bomb. When I opened the points cover and looked in, the electronic sensor had lost all of it's insulation "sealant" as it melted off and dripped away.....it is the original ignition BTW.

In 30 years of riding, I never had this happen before and really don't think the ambient temp could be the culprit as the temp was a balmy 45F today here in NC, and the bike ain't runnin' hot either. Could the sensor have just fried itself from age (like my brain) or am I missing something (other than my brain)??

 

Yeah, they do that. Just get another one. I suggest genuine HD for stuff like that, as it seems to give me less problems.

 

Thanks Doc. I have found a new HD original on eBay and am pulling the trigger.
Glad it's somethin' really simple