Had a weird problem develop with my '02 Heritage Softail Springer. I'm hoping that someone has had the exact same problem and can save me some time in figuring it out.

Wednesday I was riding the usually stone reliable bike, when without warning the bike lost power and shut down. The lights stayed on, the engine cranked, but the bike wouldn't start. In frustration, or perhaps desperation, I clicked the kill switch to off, and then on again. The bike started and rode fine. I tried to tell myself that I must have hit the kill switch accidentally, although I was sure I hadn't.

Between Wednesday and today I've put about 200 miles on the bike and it has run perfectly. Today, going down the road, it died again without warning. This time I didn't wait to stop, just worked the kill switch and the engine started running again.

Intermittent electric problems are a bear, I hope someone has had this happen before.

 

Clean and rehab the ignition switch. When this happened to me last summer, that is what i did and have not had a repeat.
I have the thread on this, I'll be right back with a link.
https://www.hdforums.com/forum/softa...le-riding.html

It is actually real easy to do. You just need a pair of circlip pliers and some sandpaper.

 

Thanks, I didn't lose electric power, the engine just shut off. I replaced the ignition switch 5 or 6 years ago when it crapped out. Probably could have used the rebuild instructions then.

 

Beautiful bike, DaddyKnuck.

Maybe there's a problem with the kill switch itself or the wiring in the switch housing. It would take a matter of minutes to open it up and inspect it.

 

I agree with QC. I had the same issue and it was the main ignition. Even if it's 5-6 years old it could happen. On mine all of the electrical stayed on as well. With the bike running, lightly wiggle the main ignition switch and see if it shuts down. On mine it just took a little twist and it would quit.

At least it's an easy check..

 

I will check the ignition switch and the kill button. I hadn't thought the ignition switch could be the problem since it was rectified by flipping the switch. But the new ones are electronic, so it might be.

 

the new ones are also water proof. Older didn't seal as well