No spark to plugs.

This has happened the last 3 rides. Riding along and bikes dies. I keep trying to start and starts in about a minute or two. Lights are still working. Changed coil but still died. Then it was ok for my ride home.
It does not putter like its loosing fuel. It instantly quits. One time it did same in my garage so I check and I had NO spark. Then on its own it started getting a spark.

97 FXSTS (Softtail Springer)

Added March 31.
Replaced the ignition module. no help.
Starts great. runs for about 5 minutes, sets idling, then dies. No spark. Let set for a few minutes then has a spark and starts. When it does die it consistently back fires - once, then dead. seems to me that something heats up and causes it to die.

 

I am dumb as a rock when it comes to the operation of an internal combustion engine, but I can tell you my son had a similar experience with his bike, despite changing the battery twice. Turns out the "stator" was bad and once the battery got discharged and failed to get recharged, his bike died.

 

Fuel filter..... You seem to have enough power to crank it after a minute or 2 so you have power. You need power compression and fuel to run. sometimes a bad valve will stick in a guide so you loose compression. when this happens 1 cylinder will run and 1 wont and when you crank to start is will roll easy for the bad cylinder. You don't say anything about that so I assume you hear 2 cylinders under compression when you crank. So you have power and you have compression that leaves fuel. how old is the fuel filter? is it fuel injected? Fuelie's need more pressure to injectors, if a fuelie is the pump getting weak and can't pass fuel through a plugged filter? I know htese are all questions and you want answers, just trying to help.

 

I should have said it's a 97 FXSTS. Have not change fuel filter

 

drop the fuel line and dump fuel into a can noting how fast it flows, cycle petcock thru on off and reserve. Then remove the petcock and the fuel filter is on the top of the petcock. Common problem is fuel filter gets dirty and over time you get less fuel rate through. If it shuts down you can wait and it will slowly fill the bowl again. if you try to go to fast it will run out again and you will need to wait.

 

Agree with sailmotion, sounds like a stator issue.

 

An easy one is to take the console off and check the connections at the switch. Could be a loose connection.

 

+1 I'm betting the switch contacts are worn or dirty. My bike was giving me electrical fits off and on with no reasoning, finally got pissed enough coming to work one morning I yanked the switch out, took it apart and cleaned everything and moved the worn contact post and bridge to the acc location. Bike has ran flawless since.

If it was the stator I believe you'd lose enough power at the battery to not turn the motor over after repeatedly cranking it.

 

I had this happen with my 95 fatboy. It was definately an electrical issue. The first thing I did was vheck all the connections like mentioned above. If those look good look over your wires, particularly where heat is or zip ties hold them. Those thend to be the obvious spots. If there is any bare wires showing from friction against the wires or melted housing you may be grounding something out and killing the circuit. That is what fixed mine.

 

My buddy's bike did the exact same thing "98 fatboy" would just die while rideing, no spark. Sometimes would start after a few minutes sometimes a hour. Turned out to be the cam positioning sensor. Replaced that and it never happened again. In the service manual there is a test you can do to see if it is bad