My 98 Heritage classic just shuts off when riding
 

I changed the ignition pick up ,but my bike still shuts off when im riding and sometimes when it is first started up.Then sometimes it will not start.Did anyone ever have this problem ,and possibly know the fix?

I'm not a mechanic but several things could cause this. It may be a faulty/loose ignition switch, or it could be something in the stator/voltage regulator/battery triangle of death.

When it won't start does it crank over? Have you checked for spark when it doesn't start? How is the carb and fuel? You have to check these basics first...But does sound like an ignition problem, maybe a bad coil?

Yes the bike will crank over,and sometimes I have spark and sometimes I don't,not sure if its a bad wire or coil.But usually when a coil goes bad I figure it just goes at once not sporadically,but I can be wrong.I removed the battery and checked the wiring all looks good there,once I put it all back together I had spark and ran the bike and road for a hour,all seemed to be ok , but then it will happen again.

You either have a bad coil or bad ignition module. I would replace the coil first it's cheaper

Thanks Scudda ,I will try that first,I do have a spare ignition module and tried it but still the same,so maybe it is the coil.Thanks again Bro.

If you have one of the rotary style ignition switches, try starting your bike and ever so lightly just wiggling the switch a little and see if the bike dies on you. They have been known to wear out and cause the bike to shut down while riding.

I also had a problem in the past with my battery cutting in and out on me while riding. The bike would lose all power and then restart with a loud back fire, I went thru the whole system before I found out it was the battery. Found that out during a load test at Advance Auto. They will check your battery for free.

Ok thanks Olds73 I will check that out.Its been driving me crazy.....It a good possibility that's the problem.

My friend had the same problem on his 96 heritage, the bike would intermittantly shut down the electrical system. The fuse/connector (in front of the rear wheel) that is powered from the voltage regulator was corroded.