I picked up my new 06 Wide Glide a week ago Saturday. I drove it 4 miles and the speedo quit working....went about 1/4 mile and the bike dies. I pull over, put it in neutral and hit the starter and it fires back up, rode about a half mile and speedo starts working again. Ride it for a week and after putting 200+ miles, the same thing happens. I take it in and they call me yesterday and said it's the speedo sensor. I fully understand how that would make the speedo quit working but I'm not sure why it would make the bike quit. How is the speedo making the bike quit?

 

Caston, sounds like you got 2 separate problems going on. Possibly a ground wire not properly grounded to the frame due to powder coating / paint, that was not cleaned off before the ground was attached. This is just a guess on my part. It would seem to me if the speedo quit but the bike continued to run for another 1/4 mile that its not directly related to the speedo. Also the bike restarted and ran for 1/2 mile before the speedo started working again. I think I would at least check all my grounds or have the dealer check them for you. Again this is at best a guess on my part..........................BG

 

It is entirely possible for the VSS sensor to cause this problem being that the input from that sensor tells the ECM if the bike is moving and how fast. etc. as read from the 4 th gear cog in the trans. I would think that if it was the crankshaft sensor, that would give you the results that you experienced here with the engine dying moreso than the VSS. You may have more than one problem as mentioned above, but keep in mind sometimes these bikes develop a mind of their own.

 

Dealer said it will be a week for the part to come in so I went ahead and picked up until then. He said when their service man took it out the speedo quit and the bike didn't cut off this time. He said they had another bike with the same problem ( speedo and cutting off) and the new senser fixed it. It's under warranty so it's just inconvient right now. I hope they get it fixed. I'll take the bike back next week when they get the part.
Thanks for the help guys...I may check out some of the grounding this weekend.